From the digital era’s upgrade to the pandemic, many staff members and employees have had to work under slightly less micromanaged settings. This brought about the age of self-sufficient staff, a breed of employees and staff members that have had to adapt to working from home, working in a hybrid environment, as well as working in offices that have decreased drastically in size. As managers, business owners, and company executives, we are aware that we may need to adjust management styles to better suit our business and people. But how do we do that? In this article, we will take a look at the necessity of managers in a self-sufficient staff world, how managers can achieve desired results while managing self-sufficient staff, and the skills you may need to employ to keep your engines running smoothly.
Managers And Why We Need Them
In a normally functioning business or company setup, different managers have different responsibilities over different teams. The working world has mastered the art of realising that one manager across all departments is not ideal and therefore delegating the responsibilities to those capable.
Managers are essential to the running of a company; they ensure work gets completed, deadlines are met, great work is put out, consumers are well taken care of, and the business is running smoothly. Managers are essential to keep the entire company in the loop, manage expectations, and their people. This can be done through check-in meetings, project plans, involving project managers, collaborations, and more. When in a brick-and-mortar, office-like setup, it is almost easy to gather your team for any announcement, brainstorm, meeting, etc. But online, it is different. With more and more people opting to work from home, managers need to adjust their management styles. This includes scheduling meetings, giving clear and concise deadlines, regular updates to and from the team, and open communication.
Speaking of Communication…
One of the best ways to manage a ‘work-from-home’ crowd is to keep your communication open. From Exco to staff members, you will need to manage them in a clear and concise way. Many companies operate with project management software and sites that help them track the progress of any work. This software is then made accessible to all the resources that need to view, and/or update it as the projects progress. Managers are usually the people who update these things and keep staff members in the loop on the progress of every project. It is important to have open communication lines, so on top of the project management software, ensure your company has a chat software where you can keep each other posted, as well as regular check-in meetings to assess progress.
Involve Your Team In Decision Making
While managers work to ensure staff members do their work, their reports and updates on the company are helpful in navigating which decisions need to be made. As a company owner, manager, or executive, you may need input from other managers to help with the decision-making. To preserve the success of their companies, executives must make a number of crucial decisions every day. Finding ways to include your staff in this crucial decision-making process, whether it be strategic, tactical, or operational, is key for managers. Some of these decisions include:
- Strategic decision-making: Making decisions with a long-term or major impact on the organisation, like restructuring a department or adding a new client. One method to demonstrate to your team that they have a voice in the future of the business is to be open and upfront about long-term organisational goals and big-picture decisions.
- Tactical decision-making: Discussions that centre on the quick actions your company must take in order to accomplish long-term objectives, such as adding a new team member or intern. Their input is crucial because these are little measures that will probably have an impact on the team’s everyday operations, as well as the managers themselves.
- Operational decision-making: Decisions affecting the team’s busy, everyday operational activities. Team participation is essential since it fosters useful suggestions and potential fixes to ensure that systems or processes function properly. When teams are actively involved in the daily operations of the organisation, they are more likely to perform successfully.
Modern Day Managers Require Modern Day Learning
As a manager, owner, or executive, you understand the importance of continuous learning and growth, not just personally but for the company as well. And while managing today’s workforce may seem like it still works as it did before, a few things have changed. It is essential for a manager to equip themselves with the necessary skills and education to manage the self-sufficient staff they are exposed to. Courses such as UCT in collaboration with GetSmarter’s management online short courses are essential as they help with business skills in administration, budgeting, team leadership, training, and customer relations can serve managers across diverse industries.
Final Words
Whether self-sufficient or needing a hand, employees do need to have a point of authority they go to when they seek clarity, want to voice grievances, need updates on work, and more. So, as an executive or manager, you are not going obsolete simply because the world has become digital; you are actually the glue that holds the human-centric and tech-centric worlds together.
