Boss – (n)
- a person who employs or superintends workers; manager.
- a politician who controls the party organization, as in a particular district.
- a person who makes decisions, exercises authority, dominates, etc.
Do you use the word boss?
I don’t. I use the words supervisor or manager interchangeably but never identify myself as someone’s boss. When I think of a boss I think of someone who is bossy and overbearing. Yes, I know that is only my interpretation of thw word. Since that is not my management style at all I stay far away from the word. What kind of manager are you?
Mini Self-Assessment:
- What is your management style?
- How would your team describe you?
- What is your criteria for delegating work?
- How do you build the trust of your team?
- What is your supervisor super power?
Check out these 10 tips taken from ‘The Manager’s Cheat Sheet: 101 Common-Sense Rules for Leaders’ written by Inside CRM and published on IT Toolbox:
- Include your staff in your plans. Don’t make your work top secret; let your employees know what’s going on and how they are expected to contribute.
- Know your subordinates’ jobs. You don’t want to be caught with inferior job knowledge.
- Be flexible. It’s fine to be firm in what you expect, but allow for flexibility in how it gets done.
- Get the most out of meetings. Be organized and prepared for meetings to increase effectiveness and time savings.
- Instruct rather than order. You may be the boss, but you don’t have to be bossy. You’ll have more success if your requests are more tactfully delivered.
- Give credit when it’s due. Don’t take credit for your employees’ ideas or hog their limelight. This action not only fosters resentment but also makes you seem untrustworthy.
- Make sure employees are well compensated. Employees deserve to be rewarded for hard work. Make sure yours are well compensated for their time and they’ll be more productive and happier to come to work.
- Don’t micromanage. While it’s fine to keep up with what your employees are working on, don’t constantly look over their shoulders.
- Don’t interfere with employees’ work. If your employees are getting work done, don’t stress about how it gets done. Even if it’s not being done they way you’d do it, it’s best to let employees use their best judgment.
- Never discuss employee matters with their co-workers. This kind of gossip always gets back to the person and will make you look unprofessional.
Nicki Sanders, MSW, is a travel and cupcake lover with a passion for self-discovery and career advancement. She has a strong background in developing and managing interns and successful internship programs. She is an accomplished manager, professor, coach, trainer, and group facilitator who has packaged her Master of Social Work degree and 20 years of diverse work experience into Packaged For Success Enterprises, a full service training and professional development company.
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