Nine Management Mistakes All You New Managers Can Avoid

Since my early days in college, I've studied management styles, reading about businesses, top leaders and entrepreneurs, usually in my free time. As the low man on the totem pole at one of the largest organizations on the planet, I had the opportunity to work with great managers and I was able to watch less than perfect managers struggle through the process.

Today, I'm a co-founder of a small company. And I'm quickly learning that management is no easy task. It's an art that probably takes years to master. Every manager, no matter how great, still runs into challenges that question what they think they know, every single day. So for your reference (and mine), here is a list of nine management mistakes that new managers can hopefully avoid.

1. Doing too much work
Going from employee to manager is a promotion. It means more responsibility, and the responsibility is making sure everyone else gets their work done. Then you get yours done.

If you're at the office (virtual or not) for 10 hours, a majority of that time should be devoted to talking with employees, figuring out how to improve your team—their assignments, their self-management skills, and your relationship with them. The funny thing is that when you become a manager, and your personal task list shrinks, I guarantee your time at the office will grow. Since you're not spending all day in front of a computer checking off your to-do list, you've got to get the actual work done somehow. And often, it will be early in the morning or late at night, when everyone else is still sleeping or celebrating the end of another work day.

2. Failing to realize what "work" is, now
In high school and college, work consists of papers, studying and calculus problems. When you graduate to the real world, typical entry-level work means sitting in a cubicle, staring at a computer and putting together PowerPoint presentations or creating Excel documents. Then, all of a sudden, you're promoted to manager and everything changes.

High School, college and entry level life are all about hands on, check off my to-do list type of work. Management work is completely different. It's talking, it's thinking, it's planning, but it's still work and it's more vital to the bottom line. If you don't turn that corner and come to grips with the fact that when you're just chatting with someone about their weekend, you're actually doing work, then you will fail as a manager, because this means you think it's about you, when in reality it's about everyone else.

3. Delegating the grunt work
You have a lot of authority as a manager; you can delegate all of your work if you really want to. But be careful. Before you delegate anything, ask yourself the question, "Am I delegating this because it's boring and tedious, or am I delegating this because it truly makes more sense for someone else to do it?"

Obviously, you have to delegate grunt work sometimes. But when you do, be sure to explain why you're delegating, how its helping the company, and be sure to delegate some interesting work the next time around.

4. Failing to ask for advice
Ask for advice. All the time. There is no secret to getting the most out of your employees. The best thing you can do is ask the people who have been there before. If you're a first time manager, someone must be managing you as well. Pick the one or two people who you believe are great managers and ask them what they would do in your position.

You don't have to take their advice. But you should consider their advice seriously and decide if it applies to your situation. Even CEOs need mentors. I bet there isn't a single CEO out there who doesn't have a handful of mentors. So find your managing mentor and ask for advice.

5. Keeping an "eye" on employees
You're a manager. You're not a supervisor. It's not your job to keep an eye on your employees and to know what they are doing at every second of the day. Your job is to mentor, train and coach them so they can be successful in this job and the next.

We no longer work on an assembly line, so much of how people spend their time is up to them. The best you can do is trust that you work with good people and that they will get the work done when it needs to be done. It's about results, and results can be independent of time.

6. Failing to prepare
Whether it's a task, a project or a meeting, great managers are always prepared. What your employees produce is always a reflection on you as a manager, so the best thing you can do is prepare as much as you possibly can and give your team as much direction as they need.

Again, it's all about results, and if you delegate a task to someone without clearly explaining what you are looking for, things will get lost in translation. Your employee may produce exactly what he thought you wanted, but it won't be what you were looking for, and it WILL be your fault because you failed to properly prepare him for the project.

7. Being too Nice
Everyone is not going to love you. And if you want to be a manager you have to get beyond taking things personally. From my experiences, this is and will be a big problem for Generation Y, especially when we find ourselves managing someone older. We've been taught to be nice and respectful and courteous, but nice can be misconstrued as timid, and a timid manager is not someone who inspires trust and confidence.

It's ok to demand things from people. It's ok to tell people to do something rather than ask. And it's ok if everyone doesn't think you're the greatest. There's a fine line between being tough and being an asshole, but that's what management is. It's an art, and it's that fine line that you must learn how to toe if you want to be a great one.

8. Pretending to have all the answers
Nobody has all the answers, so there is no need to pretend that you do. If someone asks a tough question and you don't have a great response, just admit that you don't know. Snap decisions and answers feel great. They can make you appear cool and in control, but remember that a quick response to a seemingly innocent question can lead to someone wasting days or weeks working on something that you didn't properly think through.

It's OK to go back to your office, talk to the right people, figure out what the best approach is, and then answer the question.

9. Taking a break
Unlike the tasks on your to-do list, management is never over. You may think you're done for the day after you settle an issue, or after you meet with everyone on your team. But the truth is, it never ends. When you take a break from managing, that's when things start to go south.

When you forget to go chat with your extroverted employees and you forget to check in with your newest hires to be sure they are ok, there's a snowball effect. Not only is your work as a manager not being done, but because you're not managing, your employees are not doing their work, and it's your fault, not theirs. So whatever you do, don't slack off. It's all on you now.

Leave your thoughts here. (9 responses)

This article´s comments All Employee Evolution comments

Kevin Cannella - OfficeArrow

Jun 5th, 2008 at 3:34 pm

Great advice. I admire the emphasis you place on socially interacting with one's employees. I also agree with admitting when you do not know something, but being resourceful enough to find the answer.

Thank you and enjoy.

The Office Newb

Jun 5th, 2008 at 10:28 pm

In regards to #5, what do you suggest as a course of action when one of your direct reports spends all day streaming videos and surfing facebook instead of producing results?

Sometimes people can't handle all that freedom.

Ryan Healy

Jun 6th, 2008 at 7:52 am

Good question. IF they are streaming videos and surfing facebook all day, but they still go home and produce what you ask for or even go above and beyond, then I wouldn't do a thing.

BUT, if there are no results, it's time for a talk about expectations. If they still don't produce, then it's probably time to part ways.

-Ryan

Jason Unger

Jun 6th, 2008 at 10:22 am

Great article, Ryan. One of the things I'm finding as a new manager is teaching what needs to be done, but not being so hands on as to actually do the work.

It's a fine line that you have to determine — but that's part of the job!

Scott M

Jun 6th, 2008 at 10:52 am

Good post! A couple of thoughts.

3. Delegating the grunt work – Make sure that your employee actualy KNOWS how to do the task you are delegating to him. All this popular talk about empowering employees doesn't work if they don't have the skills or knowledge to perform the tasks and make the decisions you are delegating to them.

5. Keeping an "eye" on employees – The key word here is "goals". You must set clear goals or you will need to watch your employees all the time. And while I hate acronyms, this one is actually useful – S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely). Also, don't forget to take stock of what your employees actually do all day. You may have set the goals, but they may be swamped with requests from other people, unbeknownst to you. Keep in touch or you'll lose touch.

8. Pretending to have all the answers – Remember these magic words: "I don't know, but I'll find out and get back to you."

Sean

Jun 6th, 2008 at 10:57 am

5. Keeping an "eye" on employees You're a manager. You're not a supervisor.

Well, depending on your business climate, sometimes you're both. I might even say that most times you're both. It's unrealistic and naive to trust blindly. I wish it weren't; I sincerely do. But experience has taught many of us otherwise.

One thing I struggle with: how does a manager provide the constant feedback that Millennials require, and yet not watch what it is they're doing? Focusing only on results rather than day-to-day methods might seem appropriate, but that feels awfully disconnected and one-sided to me. Shouldn't I be able to learn from my Millennial staff the same way they're expecting to learn from me?

Your job is to mentor, train and coach them so they can be successful in this job and the next.

I was with you until "and the next", unless you're talking about another position within the same company, which is a big part of how my company operates. But if you're hoping I'll mentor you right into your next job, possibly with a competitor, I really wouldn't hold my breath.

jehan

Jun 6th, 2008 at 11:35 am

Great post, hopefully one day I'll be in a position to apply it!
But yah, my direct manager is pretty awesome, but I never really thought about why- he does indeed exhibit a lot of these qualities

Rich

Jun 6th, 2008 at 12:57 pm

Being too nice:

We all fall into the compassion game with our employees. However, I do agree there is a point or a line drawn in sand when you are manager and not friend. Being too nice will set you up. One day in the future of you being the nice guy will have to exercise the managerial authority you are given and explain to people you delegate and they do not delegate. You end up being less than a hard manager when that happens.

Keeping an eye on your employees:

Statistics speak for themselves and there is no need for you to follow people around. I get a status daily from my team lead and it is her responsibility to ensure that my development is heading in the right direction. If I have to add my help to eliminate speed bumps she may encounter it gets done.

Donna

Jun 6th, 2008 at 7:45 pm

It's important to remember that supervising or managing employees does not require physical oversight. The old-school micro-management style of constantly "looking over your shoulder" does not bode well in many work environments. From my experiences, a critical component that seems to be missing is the "know-how" it takes to evaluate performance effectively. Doing "work" for the sake of "work" is meaningless. How you measure the "work" is what's critical. I think this is actually a huge hurdle for many organizations that are hesitant to turn to a more flexible or telecommuting environment. They have no real exertise in measuring work!

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