Great Managers

[Friend of a Mouse]

I recently became a supervisor for my company. I am trying to think back to the things that good supervisors/managers have done for me so that I can be a good supervisor for my employees. What are some of your more memorable managers or supervisors that you feel have helped you? What about bad experiences that you had?

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Great Managers, pitch in. Don't ever be too busy to help!

Bad Managers, call you out on mistakes in front of everyone. I hate this!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

"My job is not to do your job. My job is to clear all the roadblocks that would otherwise interfere with you doing your job"

Said my favorite manager ever. I try to do the same now that I'm in that position.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Bad managers yell at you, in front of everyone and when they realize they were in the wrong, bad managers can't apologize.

Bad managers can only find things like straightening wall decorations in the office to do when everyone else is working.

Bad managers ask you to show them how to do a part fo your job, then quit after three minutes "because it is too hard."

Bad managers say the wrong thing. Example: A massive layoff is never, ever a positive event when people barely making ends meet are let go. You can't twist this, in any way, shape or form. No matter how many times you say it.

A good manager supports their employees.

A good manager, even if they don't know the details of your job, respects you enough to either let you do it and soar, or asks you how so they can learn.

Good manager: Respect. Let's say that again. Respect.

A good manager is smart enough to call you out and disagree with you, and give you corrective ideas. A bad manager will just shut you down without any guidance.

 

[superme80]

One of my favorite managers just let us do our job. He knew when to involve himself, and when to let us work. He was quick to praise and gave constructive criticism.

Worst manager seemed to think he was god. He acted like he knew everything. He was by the books even though the books seemed to net a large loss for the company due to our location. He never understood that.

 

[CaliBear]

"My job is not to do your job. My job is to clear all the roadblocks that would otherwise interfere with you doing your job"

Said my favorite manager ever. I try to do the same now that I'm in that position.

Your former manager said what I was going to suggest much better than I could. Every manager should have that motto.

Don't overdelegate. Bosses who makes others do their dirty work are transparent. And don't gossip with/ in front of your employees. They aren't your friends and it will make them distrust you. That should go without saying, I know, but I really did have a group of managers discuss who should be laid off with me in the room, and some of them were pretty nasty in their comments.

 

[Skywalker]

And don't gossip with/ in front of your employees. They aren't your friends and it will make them distrust you.

I agree with this! I had a manager that was buddy buddy with one of the employees, they talked, joked and gossiped about everybody! The manager never did wise up that her "buddy" was only sucking up to her, and it made her look like a fool.

Also, micromanaging...please don't. If you treat me like I am two years old I will start to get resentful. Let me do my job.

 

[Janepod]

Be the same person every day. No one wants an unpredictable manager, or someone who can't keep outside stuff from affecting their job.

 

[sam_gordon]

Great managers understand work is not everyone's #1 priority... family usually is. Employees can't always control what happens to their family (thinking sick kids).

 

[Jennasis]

Say thank you. When I ask my employees to stay late, come in early, cover for another, help with an extra project or otherwise help me move mountains I THANK THEM for it.

 

[tvguy]

"My job is not to do your job. My job is to clear all the roadblocks that would otherwise interfere with you doing your job"

Said my favorite manager ever. I try to do the same now that I'm in that position.

I agree generally, but at least in my industry, clearing the roadblocks generally means doing my job.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They are not afraid to address the problem issue or person.

A bad manager will make a policy to punish everyone because they do not have the guts to go to the offending person and put the hammer down.

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Oh, forgot. Lead by example! Don't tell me that tardiness or lateness is unacceptable, then show up late to work four days a week. And the same goes for cell phone and Internet on the clock, if u can spend 45 minutes playing online, so can I. Basically If u want 110% from your team, give them 110% in return!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I agree generally, but at least in my industry, clearing the roadblocks generally means doing my job.

In the case of my old boss, it meant keeping upper mgnt out of my way.

With my employees, it means making sure other departments (specifically, the owner) don't go directly to them when they need help with something. Clear it through me first because I may have them on a much higher priority already.

 

[SarahWeasley]

I wish my current manager would make me feel like I could rely on him to help solve problems, particularly when my co-worker (our team is just us two) and I have a fundamental disagreement that I think needs the input of a third party. Trying to meet with him about it makes me feel like I'm just creating a huge hassle, as if my real job, rather than trying to produce the best results I can for the customer, is to just not bother him so I don't look like I'm creating problems.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

This is one I used in manufacturing, but it can apply elsewhere:

Never stop someone in the middle of a task unless your "hot rush" absolutely cannot wait another minute. I've seen mgrs stop someone in the middle of a production run to build a hot order. They tear down the machine, set it up for the hot order, spend twenty minutes on the hot order, then tear down and go back to finish the original order. Ten minutes later, the original order is complete, and it's still 6 hours before the trucks will arrive to pick up today's shipments. All that setup time is now wasted.

What's more, if you ARE going to make a new setup on the machine, don't just run the hot order. Run all the orders you have in the que that take that setup.

 

[Bob NC]

Nobody ever wants to be suprised by a managers behavior.

Fair - Firm - Consistent are words to live by.

if u can spend 45 minutes playing online, so can I.

This belief probably gets a LOT of people in trouble.

 

[design_mom]

The best manager I ever had *never* laid blame in front of other employees. If there was a problem with work our department produced, she said "You are right. This is not acceptable. We will fix it." but she never threw an individual under the bus. Then she would address the issue individually or with the team (depending on whether it was an individual or team issue). But you felt confident that if you were doing the best you could, she would back you up.

I agree with a previous poster who said that a bad boss is unpredictable. To one boss, I was either a "rockstar" or "totally incompetent" depending on my ability to decipher what he wanted (which he often didn't explain very well...and if you asked too many questions you were automatically "incompetent.") Sometimes I was both a rockstar and incompetent within the same hour, but there was no in-between. It is very stressful to work that way... and fortunately, I lasted longer than he did!

 

[Planogirl]

A good manager keeps the workers informed. People aren't just worker bees but are part of a corporation and deserve to know what is going on around them.

A good manager also keeps themselves informed. Not much is worse than someone in charge not having a clue what is going on around them. I've seen it often.

Also, a good manager is flexible. Not every situation is the same. It's good to understand that and work within the parameters of rules without being completely rigid.

 

[StephMK]

Don't discount your workers' concerns. My old workplace had horrible morale in part because the managers just keep trying to act and talk like everyone should be sooo happy to be there. Workers did not feel valued.

They keep changing the computer systems and telling everyone how the productivity should be so much better when the systems are not user friendly. Acknowledge the challenges.