After some research, we found a handful of repeated mistakes that employees feel their managers make. These can easily be overlooked by leaders, and sometimes we don’t realise we are making them. Even when something might seem small to us, it could have a huge impact on your employee’s morale, so it’s worthwhile taking in some of the points we have listed in our article below. By being more aware of the actions you are taking to be an incredible leader, this in turn creates respect, loyalty and productivity in the workplace.
1. Are you micromanaging?
Micromanagement takes place when you are closely monitoring and controlling employees or your subordinate’s workplace. Why is this a negative? When you micromanage, you create a lack of freedom, and this damages your employees trust. You may be micromanaging by constantly requiring approvals, needing to be cc’d on every email, you may find it hard to delegate and have the mindset that no one is capable of doing the tasks you set before they even try.
2. Are you scrutinising your employees?
Heavily scrutinising your employees can be detrimental when it comes to employee satisfaction, as they may feel they need to become defensive when explaining thought processes behind their work. When you are continuously asking what your employees have been doing, how they came to their findings or why they took the route they chose, this leads to frustration. Trust your employees and build knowledge by providing efficient training.
3. Are you creating favouritism?
Giving praise in the form of public celebration boards can create favouritism without you even noticing or meaning to. Creating a sense of competition is a brilliant tool for the right workplace and team. However, it can also call out the ‘losers’. Remember that everyone has different job roles, so achievements are hard to measure. For example: your admin staff may work tirelessly to keep the cogs turning behind the scenes, but just because they may not have a specific project they have achieved – doesn’t mean they are not as hard working or in need of reward than anyone else.
4. Are you out of touch?
If you spend too long trying to please your superiors and ensuring they are ok, you may become out of touch with you employees. Do you really know the day-to-day problems they face? Start becoming more focused on the realities of the ground floor. Recognise achievements of your employees and step in to ask them about how they are getting on. It’s important to stop problems in their tracks before they get out of hand. You don’t want people leaving the company without you truly understanding why.
5. Are you not being clear?
This is especially important in high pressure, fast paced environments. We can’t stress this enough; you need to have crystal clear communication to successfully manage a team. It’s important to think about whether you are giving any mixed messaging, contradicting what others have said, and ensure you are providing clear deadlines to work towards.
6. Are you creating a recipe for burnout?
All these actions can lead to burn out within your team. Constant worry, uncertainty and unpredictability are all factors that apply to your employees when you make these seemingly small mistakes. Always remember, it’s not up to each employee to manage their time off. You are responsible for ensuring your team are not understaffed, as when your team feel burned out and have too much to do, they won’t feel they can have any time off. It’s a vicious circle, and sometimes the only way out is leaving the company to relieve the pressure.
Always keep in mind as you lead your team, that creating a healthy environment to work in is just as important as the actual work that needs to be done. These aspects work together hand in hand. Happy employees are productive. Consider looking into your management strategy and be honest to yourself if you feel you may make these mistakes sometimes.
It can be difficult getting out of a rut, and there are so many aspects to managing a team. We understand the difficulties faced as we have worked with so many managers. So, if you would like to discuss your options and strategies to be a successful leader, please reach out to WhizzMind as we would love to help you achieve your goals.