Although some managers are amazing, most managers are not that good at their job, and that’s because most people were never trained to be managers.
Today I am going to go over 4 mistakes amateur managers make, some managers keep on making them for decades – but you? You will never make them again – because you are a professional.
management mistake #1 – waiting to the last moment before hiring
Mistake number 1 that amatuer managers tend to make, and that you professionals never will, is that they are waiting for the last moment before you hire new people.
Most managers and business owners understand that hiring a new person or a new team in a bigger organization is expensive and sometimes risky and that’s why they tend to procrastinate it.
Professional managers and business owners know that a new employee or a new team also requires time, focus and effort to train and emerge into a company or project so they know that if they will wait until everybody is at their maximum capacity of work – there won’t be anyone to train the new people.
Another problem with that approach is that the new people will be hired into an atmosphere of stress, and will be expected to deliver results super quickly, something that will generally hurt the quality of their training. And will make your life miserable…
Do you, as the manager, want to work with constantly stressed employees?
My personal rule of thumb is that in a growing company as soon as I can think of a part time job for someone that is really important – I hire someone full time.
I do that because I understand that the hiring and training process takes time and his job description might be expanded by the time this process is done and also it allows the employee to add new responsibilities to his job title that personally fit their strengths and interests.
Of course you should always create a strong financial understanding before you hire new people but if you think that once your current team, or you yourself will be at 100% workload you will have enough money to hire a new person – your financial plan is broken.
If your business cannot be profitable with employees under 75% workload or less – you are going to suffer.
And that’s the number 2 most common mistakes amateur managers and business owners make.
management mistake #2 – too high expectations from employees
They expect their people to work as hard and as effectively as themselves.
Some people you hire may and should be better than you at some things, some of them might actually work harder than you – but that will usually be for a limited amount of time.
For how long would you work as hard as you did if you were in their situation, and when would you ask for a raise or look for a promotion?
Many managers and business owners look for people as ambitious and as energized and motivated as themselves that will stay at an entry level job in a small company in which it’s hard to see a place for promotion, for many years – the person they are looking for simply does not exist.
The simple personality traits and position in life that will create this amazing energy will also be the same traits that will look for a major opportunity.
As a manager and a business owner you should do what is possible to motivate your people, train them and make them more productive – but you should also build your business or management model to be profitable under 75% productivity or less.
I personally wouldn’t get into a business that wouldn’t be profitable even under 40% employee productivity.
But if you do find a superstar productive person – you should find an opportunity for him.
And that’s mistake number 3 – many managers and business owners are afraid to hire superstars or to offer them majorly rewarding contracts.
management mistake #3 – not hiring superstars
Of course this should be done with caution but, especially in small businesses, in my opinion, business owners should not be afraid to pay a superstar employee more than they pay themselves.
Ever since I started my business there has almost always been at least one person who would be paid more than I was – including now.
You must remember that as the manager you get rewarded on the success of your people, and you should not compare yourself to them. And as a business owner you must remember that at the end of the day your equity in the company raises in value when the company grows.
So when thinking about how much money you make you shouldn’t only think about your own paycheck and the profits of the company but also consider the raising of the company’s value.
In the end of the day – if that person helps you make more, who cares if he makes more than you?
management mistake #4 – thinking too short term
I often see managers stress over a bad week or a month, and of course, especially in young companies a bad couple of months can be really problematic – but sometimes this is just the way things are and we must expand our range of observation.
We must think a bit longer term.
I am not saying a bad week should go unspoken of. And sometimes we should make difficult conversations after bad performance – but we must also consider the long term effect of our behaviour and the culture we want to create.
I personally want to live my life with little stress and with a warm supportive environment.
This is why this is the way I try my best to behave with the teams I manage – under amazing circumstances but also under more problematic circumstances.
Think long term,
Hire great people and understand they will have better and worse times,
And plan the culture you want to create
Because you?
You are a professional.
