You should learn these skills to become a good manager

One manager is burdened by managing a department of ten employees. While the other one manages a team of seventy people whistling and still has time left over. How is that possible?

Of course, the pressure depends on the structure of the organisation, the industry you are in and the overstretched labor market.

Fortunately, you are not completely at the mercy of the gods. As a manager, you can also have a lot of control over the stress level under which you work and the quality of your leadership.

We have three important tips for you that are very easy to remember. They were so picked from the Delft blue tile that hung in your grandmother's hallway, but still super up to date.

Hear, see and shut up. Sounds really easy, but it can make a world of difference!

1. Hear

With a bricked up agenda and all those balls to keep in the air, you may be in danger of forgetting it. Really listening to what someone tells you. Sit down for a good conversation, hear the things that aren't being said, and then ask questions.

Eliminate excess ballast from your agenda and make more space for individual conversations with your team members. To do that, choose a time when you know that both of you can really focus on the conversation and not on the stacks of work or queues of customers that are still waiting.

Open your ears and listen to what's going on.

How does the employee feel, are there any developments on the market or in the team that you should know? What does he or she need from you as a manager?

Often listening is enough, but of course try to come to concrete agreements and good solutions if you have real questions.

Sometimes it's half an hour qualitytime enough to make the connection with each other.

The investment is small, but the return can be very high. Although the starting point is initially to open up to the employee, you will find that, as a good listener, you get a two-way street.

The employee feels heard and supported by you, which increases job satisfaction and self-confidence. Your employee becomes more productive and independent, which makes your management a lot easier.

2. See

Fortunately, it's possible again: live to the workplace. Take advantage of that. Make sure you are present in the workplace often. By being there, you really become visible in the organisation. People know where to find you earlier for consultation and involve you more quickly with questions or bottlenecks.

On-site presence has another important advantage: you get an insight into the organisation yourself. You notice how departments work together (or not), get a better picture of technical or logistical problems, and you can literally and figuratively feel the temperature.

But you can also sharpen your view of the organisation in another way. List what input could make your work as a manager easier.

Are you still missing some information that could help you plan your plans? This data is often already available in the organisation, and it only needs to be extracted from the basement of Business Intelligence.

It can therefore be worthwhile to sit down with someone from Finance or Automation and express your questions and wishes.

3. Shut up

As a manager, speaking up too early deprives employees of the opportunity to express their ideas. And we're all familiar with it: quickly fill in that awkward silence with a quip or remark during a conversation. So the interlocutor decides not to say something you were just waiting for. Too bad, missed opportunity!

Keep your mouth shut and stay on your hands a little longer than you're used to. See what happens then. You'll probably discover that most employees can fend for themselves just fine. That's not surprising either.

They are grown people, who also make their own decisions at home. Why shouldn't they be able to do that at work?

As a manager, by not filling out everything for your employees, you offer them extra space. To share your own ideas or come up with solutions that will also work in practice. Yes, sometimes they will make mistakes in that freedom, but is that a bad thing?

You can learn from mistakes, especially if they can be shared with colleagues without embarrassment. This creates a learning organisation that encourages employees to grow in their field and as a person.

As a manager, it's up to you to facilitate that development. And really, that takes a lot less time and provides a lot more than running yourself over and over again!

We offer much more than tile wisdom

‍In addition to being a fan of this kind of tile wisdom, Pluvo is also an expert in modern online solutions. Handy apps and platforms that support managers and employees in their work and development.

Would you like to know more about this? Share your questions and wishes with us via chat. Or request a demo of our online knowledge sharing opportunities.