Actively Practicing Effective Management

Anyone can exercise these practices in their own style of management, and there are some examples of how you might apply and think about each of the 5 practices below.

Honor Your Teams’ Dreams

Schedule some dedicated time with your direct report(s) to understand what they hope to achieve and what they are looking to learn in their role, and then create an opportunity where their work is celebrated and seen.

You Might...

• Hold 1:1 meeting where you directly ask a direct report what goals and professional dreams they have, and set a cadence to revisit their progress in the future.
• Hold regular team/group meeting where the group intentionally shares their goals and shows-and-tells some of their latest accomplishments aligned to those goals.
• Offer opportunities and pathways for a direct report to contribute to projects that align to their goals.
• Remember that sometimes a direct report may not know what their dreams are yet! Be ready and mindful to help them along that path by asking what most inspires them in their work and who/how you can help connect them to doing more of what they are good at.
  

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Give Away Your Legos

Think about what makes up your team charge with a set of functional building blocks, and then think about which components, or "legos", you might be able to share or delegate to other team members.

You Might...

• Consider making some of the important work that you do repeatable for another person to learn -- remove ambiguity from the mix to be able to teach it to a potential direct report.

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Create A Continuous Feedback Loop

Develop a clear and simple way for your direct reports to communicate feedback with you and with each other. This doesn't have to be necessarily fancy, but it should offer a way for thoughts, new ideas, and feedback to be shared and visible to the stakeholders involved and create an opportunity for improvement.

You Might...

• Encourage quarterly performance reviews for both direct report and managerial feedback.
• Offer a monthly "Retro" where the team maps out and contributes to what works, what doesn't, and how you might collectively improve/change in the future. Commit to leaving with actionable takeaways that the group contributed to and voted for!

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Encourage Thinking Big

Ask for direct input and contributions from your direct report(s) on work that contributes to the big picture of the business, and help them to take on new challenges no matter what role they currently have.

You Might...

• Share a presentation about a new direction or new initiative the business is taking on and ask direct questions to every team member on how they see themselves and/or their work changing as a part of that. Invite them to be bold!
• Welcome exploration and making mistakes in effort to build something new! And set the tone for how the business approaches learning from those mistakes.

Lead With Empathy

Remember the human aspect to all of your direct reports and even to those who you report to. Think about opportunities that you can show compassion and understanding for your team members directly and also for the collective business unit, and create a safe space for your team to come to you as real people when they have challenges.

You Might...

• Share a presentation about how everyone's work contributes to the larger "why" and big picture of the business to help them see how their work is meaningful.
• Open up and be vulnerable about your own experiences/life in an appropriate setting that makes your team members feel that you are also human and relatable
• Point out when you made a mistake and how you learned from it for the better.
• Make it known that you care about the wellbeing and health of your team members and offer safe spaces to offer them an opportunity to check-in on how they're doing.

Reflection Questions

After thinking about the ways that you can actively apply the 5 effective management practices, remember to check in with yourself over time to see how you're doing:

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• Do I understand the hopes and dreams of my direct reports, and empower them to be the best version of themselves?
• Are there any opportunities for sharing wisdom and/or delegating work that could further the learning and development of my direct reports?
• What new ideas could improve the way we share feedback as a team, and from direct report to manager and vice versa? Do people know how to do this today?
• When was the last time I challenged my direct reports to think big and consider how their work really impacts the mission of the business?
• Do my direct reports feel some autonomy to get creative and make mistakes as part of their learning?
• What are some ways I can encourage a human-to-human connection between my direct reports and myself?
• Do I understand the circumstances of my direct reports and what they need to feel supported?