EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT: THE 10 GOLDEN RULES

So your job title doesn’t include “manager”? Don’t lose heart as you’re most definitely managing something and you will most likely handle some management duty at some point in your career. But as an entrepreneur you’re already a manager because every one of your responsibilities has some management element to it.

Being an efficient manager isn’t about driving those you supervise or employees to work harder. Forcing people to work a certain way can breed resentment as well as disloyalty whereas being too soft can lead to habits of laziness or boredom.  There is no right management style this is because each employee and company is going to have an individual perspective and its own organization culture.

Universally there are obviously some wrong management styles that must be avoided. This can be done by following the 10 “golden” rules of effective management:

1.   Consisitency

Can be considered the first rule because it applies to most of the others. Before you’re effective as a manager you have to be consistent in your management style. Such as rewarding the same behaviors every time they appear, discouraging the same behaviors when they appear and treating every member of your team with an equal, level-head.

2.   SET THE GOAL OF WORKING AS A TEAM

If you want your team to work together, have them work for something together. Setting goals just for the department or one individual breeds a limited mentality and forces team members to remain isolated. Instead, give your people a unified focus and purpose, to inspire them together.

 3.   Clarity, accuracy and thoroughness in communication

The way you’ll communicate to your team will most likely dictate your eventual success. When relaying instructions, recapping meetings or just doling out company updates, strive for the clarity, accuracy and thoroughness of your communication. This goes for any other medium, whether that means in-person communication, email or a phone call. Clarity, accuracy and thoroughness are the best way to avoid miscommunication and keep your team on the same page.

4.   Reward and recognize hard work publicly

Whenever a team amber does something exceptional reward them with a bonus, a small trophy, or just vocal recognition. This done in from of the group will make the intended recipient feel good and show the other team members that hard work is rewarded. Just remember consistency as stated above will save you from being seen as playing favorites.

5.   PRactice What you preach

You as the visionary, leader, and manager should set an example in terms of your behavior. If you show up late, your team will be less punctual, if you lose your temper easily others will be amiss when it comes to checking their emotions in check, if you cut corners and are not honest, your team is likely going to be the same, if you’re corrupt or collect bribes so will your people. So by all means strive to be your own ideal perfect worker, especially in front of your team.

PS: You can schedule some time to have a chat with me if you need any help with different aspects of your business, I have grown to know a number of resources to help your business succeed as a business owner.

6.   Be AS Transparent as possible

I have learnt over time that as a business transparency should be at the core of your business matters. This is because it shows your integrity as a leader, and builds trust with the individual members of your team. If you lie about something, or withhold information, you could jeopardize your relationships and the respect you command as a leader. Remember a good name is better than riches.

7.   don’t “one-size-fits-all” everything

Your team is comprised of individuals with unique preferences, strengths, weaknesses and ideas. Never use the exact same approach to motivate, encourage or mold all of them. Focus on individuals, and customize your approach to fit each one. Just always remember to be transparent and consistent in the process.

8.   Encourage opinions and ideas

It can never over emphasized that you will be dealing with different individuals from different backgrounds and with different personalities. Therefore the more people you have actively participating in the decision making process the better, especially in the attempt to making improvements to the organization and its processes. By all means try not to chastise a team member for voicing an opinion respectfully, even if it goes against your original vision or isn’t well thought out. Cutting someone down for voicing an opinion builds resentment, and discourages people from sharing their own new thoughts. Employees need to voice free to voice their opinions as this builds a sense of ownership for the business.

9.   Make work fun

You don’t need a pool table or dress code abolition to make work fun. You can make the workday more enjoyable with such new elements as surprise lunch outings, a dedicated break room or even just casual conversations with your workers. Help your people enjoy coming to work, and they’ll do their best work for you.

10.            Listen atentively and ask questions

Ever heard of the grape vine? Usually rumors coming from there shouldn’t be left unattended to, try to find out the root of that rumor and you can work on problems before the pop up. Also if someone doesn’t agree with your management style or doesn’t like the direction of the company, don’t silence that person. You will discover that in divergent views a new innovation might stem forth. So listen. And ask questions of your entire team: What do you think of this? How do you feel about that? This open dialogue makes it easier to proactively identify problems and work together to create a mutually beneficial environment. It will also make your employees feel appreciated and acknowledged

Whatever I have written above isn’t cast in stone, there’s plenty of wiggle room to apply your own personal “brand” of leadership and management. They stand as fundamental truths that govern effective management rather than a strict instruction manual to success. Stay true to these principles in addition to your own and you will unify your team in a rewarding and enriching environment.

What other rules can you add to this list, please feel free to share your ideas below… feel free to leave a comment and share. 

 

MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN STARTING OR RUNNING A BUSINESS?

The first time I set up a business was when I got to University, of course before formally setting up a business I would look for ways I could make an income which I tried odd jobs. So the first business I ever registered was an enterprise and we would order computers from South Africa to Zambia and sale them to students. We got a steady market and it was slowly getting ground around the university community until we hit a roadblock and lost money and that’s how the company stopped operating. Going forward I have gone ahead to set up well performing companies, some changing lives and some offering a much needed service and along the way I have made a mistakes, some big some small.

By the way mistakes in starting and running a business are normal. Ask any business person you know, and they will be able to list countless blunders that they have committed in their career, actually hindsight is always 20/20.

Below are some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

1.   DON'T TRY AND DO EVERYTHING YOURSELF

Of course it’s your business and it’s your baby but at some point you got to let go because that’s just a great strategy. Here is why you need to keep this in mind. If you’re in it for the long haul and you’re making the right moves and you have an awesome working system your business will grow and will most definitely become too much for you as one person, you will then have two choices: either hire someone else or do everything yourself and risk burning out before the company grows into something big enough to allow for other people in management positions.

Asking others to help will most definitely work for you. It has worked really well for me because they're able to take on more responsibility as my company grows. This way, you don't have to manage all aspects by yourself while also doing what is required of an owner and manager role. 

2.   FIND A MENTOR AND MAKE DELIBERATE MEETINGS REGULARLY

Going back to point number one above about trying to do everything yourself. .. You can't. Why a mentor? You ask? Well one of the most important things is that Mentors are a great way to avoid costly mistakes and it also help you grow in business (that rubbing shoulders with great people kind of thing). It's worth your time when they provide access not only to their networks of contacts, but also to insight that might save you from making some common mistakes as well. If they have thrived and made it in your community with all the social, economic, psychological underlying factors am sure you can learn a thing or two on how to maneuver your business for success in your community or area of focus.

Think about all the times when this could come in handy: say you have an idea for how you can move forward with something in your business or maybe even need advice on what salary increase would be fair given your recent success. A mentor wouldn't just offer you suggestions — he or she would already know first-hand which answer is best.

3.   FIND LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE, NOT LIKE-SKILLED PEOPLE

Like minded in this case is people who are differently skilled but like minded for example people motivated to try building something bigger than themselves. Some areas might still be lacking professionals but work with what you have and build your business till you come across equally enthusiastic individuals who have different skill sets.

4.   PLAN, PLAN, PLAN (WITH THE FUTURE IN MIND)

One thing I have always kept in my mind from the informal businesses I started is that I would like to set up something that will be bigger than me in more ways than one. Over the years I’ve come to discover that this is actually a company infrastructure mindset. So you ask yourself: If my business tripled in size overnight, would I have the right employees to take care of it? Would they know what their roles are and how they're expected to act when things go wrong? Will there be enough computers, desks or equipment for them all if we grew too fast? (Because trust me, rare as it might be, it might happen). Think about your team's workload now — can you handle the added strain that comes with growth at scale without investing more time upfront, so each employee has less work on his or her plate as operations expand exponentially over time?

When those potential scenarios become a reality (and they will), you don't want to squander them because you didn't plan ahead. 

5.   PAY NO MIND TO THE PESSIMISTS (NAYSAYERS)

When you start to tell people about your business, they will question it. Peers and strangers alike are going to be hostile or give you their passive-aggressive opinions about your business, and that's okay. Just remember it's your business, not theirs so all those opinions you take them under advisement. You decide to start on your own, take a risk and do something you're passionate about. It’s normal at first to question what you’re doing all the time. Such as do I have enough capital? Do we have enough money for the payroll? Can we afford another employee? Are we growing at a sustainable rate? You should also remember that it's important not to become a naysayer yourself. If you believe in something, to hell with what everyone else says about your dream. Go after it and get it.

6.   END THAT BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT – ITS OK

This is a hard one I know. When you begin doing business with someone, they may have been the best client in town when it comes to monthly revenue. But then you discover that their product might not be what your company needs especially for its long-term viability.

For example a client is causing 80 percent of your headaches and is contributing less than 5 percent of your revenue. Honestly does this math add up? So when you “ditch” this client it means you have freed up more time and have cut down on unnecessary annoyances. The significant thing that will happen you can now take all of that free time and put it toward marketing strategy and doubling our best clients. This will most definitely play an essential part in your business growth over time. It may be counterintuitive, but sometimes letting go of business can create more revenue opportunities.

 

7.   SPEND SOME MONEY FOR THE RIGHT TOOLS NEEDED FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Spending money is always a tough pill to swallow when you're just starting your business, but it's something that could ultimately pay off in the long run. Software/equipment is expensive upfront without any guarantees of how well it'll perform or whether the company will stick with it over time. But one technique you can try is always evaluate every new piece of software/equipment you buy based on lifetime value instead of immediate cost-benefit analysis. As soon as you or your team starts using a service/equipment, more often than not, you’ll start seeing significant benefits from said service/equipment, which usually pays for itself relatively quickly.

For example hire a photographer  pay for professionally edited high quality photos that will help your business to stand out. Might not be cheap, but the time you save by using your images instead of searching online and risking using same images as everyone is just about priceless. The legal safety that comes with these quality pictures will save you from getting sued or having our work taken down. The upfront cost is a drop in the bucket relative to the payoff in the grand scheme of things.

It's not uncommon for startups to make mistakes while building their business. You will want mentors that you can lean on and learn from in order to stay successful. Still, some things should be avoided, so as long as occasional mistakes happen, they won't hurt your company too much. Test new ideas and get feedback so you know what features need work or if the whole idea needs changing altogether.

One thing you can take from this is that failure is just a lesson waiting to be learned from. Sure, it's tough when you pivot your business model and test new ideas for feedback only to find that they don't work out the way you'd hoped, but every mistake or setback always comes with something valuable in return if you don't let your pride get in the way of admitting what needs changing.

 What other business startup mistakes can you share below… feel free to leave a comment and share.