8 ways to be a better boss

Be a good listener and everything will sort itself out usually. Yes. I CAN MAKE THEM WORK, but I cannot make them do the extra things that a workforce that has a good moral can. I worry more about moral than I do most other things. Criticism is sometimes needed but its in how you say it. Call it coaching if you will but I tell my staff when I am in a tough spot and ask them to help me out of it. I believe the more rules you have the less enjoyable a place it is to work in. I have three. No one gets hurt. We get the job done correctly. Keep peace in this workplace. Indirect labor (the coaches or bosses) do not make you money. Direct labor makes you money and our job is to remove the roadblocks that direct labor has to contend with. The day of the “bull of the woods” foreman is done and I for one am happy about that.

I really think we’ve taken this coaching approach a bit too far. Let’s be frank…companies exist to earn a return for their shareholders and people work to earn a living. And at the end of the day, its about delivering the results, and having a bit of fun while you work. (Note: it is called work, because you have to, er, ah….work - otherwise we call it something else like vacation. I know you wanted it to be fun, and easy, and oh, yeah…you wanted a bonus for just showing up… Seriously, buck up. Get back to work. Sure, play nicely. But it is work…and if you don’t deliver the results you’ll find your job going to someone who’s happy to earn one-tenth your salary in some foreign country while you scramble to avoid foreclosure on your home. Sure…we’ll have some fun at the office, celebrate birthdays and whatnot, and thank folks for their efforts. Oh, one more thing…your boss is your boss, and whether you like it or not s/he does get to direct your efforts. Sure, you’re smarter, work harder, have more degrees….blah, blah, blah. Please get back to work. (By the way…if you’re so smart, quit. Surely, you’ll be making millions on your own in no time, smartypats.) So…treat poeple nicely, do your job, and don’t expect to be coddled. Quit whining…Jonny in marketing hit me, Betty is sales isn’t sharing, Fred in operations won’t return my calls….quite whining. You’re a big boy now and expected to contribute to the world around you.

As a divorced disabled woman living on disability and trying to help support daughter and grandkids maybe Warren needs something special to do with all that money. How about sending me some just out of the goodness of his heart Anywhere between 1/2 mill to 1 mill would be nice

Two things:

1. Treat employees equally. When an employee sees another coworker coming in late day after day without accountability, but they follow all the rules of attendance, animosity can occur. Make sure to hold all employees accountable to same thing.

2.If you as the boss work a billion hours of overtime by choice and don’t give a crap about your family or put work as the only important thing in life, don’t punish a good worker who does a good job in the hours they are supposed to be there.

3. Earned vacation are just that….earned time. don’t make your employees feel guilty for taking vacation just because you never take vacation.

No I work for infallible autocrats that change rules constantly and spend the majority of their time pointing fingers and worrying that the workers want their job.

It is ALL in the relationships. The first meeting I had with my department employees were always individual meetings so that I could address any concerns or questions. Next, I told them that the company’s best interest came first and it was our mutual goal to take care of the shareholders and that I looked forward to working with them. I then stepped back and said that if they ever had another job offer to let me know, because I also wanted what was best for them personally. That last statement always knocked their socks off and in 20 years of work in four different companies, I never had an employee leave. I always thought that if they knew I had their best interest at heart, they would work to their potential and that’s all you can ask.

Wow, I am a one person account and have to train people. This is all good points but very glad I am not a Boss or Manager. Taken classes to become one… It’s too much trouble and have to remember all this & more & feel like I have to be people’s babysitter or Parent. So that is why I do NOT want the job of being a Manager. Just take of ME and my customers by myself.

I am in 100% agreement with the first tip in that a strong relationship is critical to successful coaching.

Three years ago I relocated and started working for a different company. I was new to the organization and didn’t know anyone. In my current position I am not a coach or supervisor over anyone.

However, in the past three years I have achieved the reputation as a go to guy, coach and mentor. This reputation not only applies to those I work directly with but also with cross-functional departments within the organization.

The only way to have achieved this in such short time was to focus on building relationships. Not only with those you have to work with but also with those that do not directly impact your job. No one knows what the future holds or who will be significant in your career development. Building strong relationships with everyone is critical to become an effective leader (In my humble opinion).

One of the greatest compliments I ever received was from a director that said, “You are incredible, you even know the cleaning lady’s name”.

Do you know your clean lady?

I think the best way a boss can say something is “i would have…” or “I wouldn’t have…” so that he or she is not saying you’re wrong, just that they would have done it differently.

A way to leverage coaching in our teams, once it is consistently and well demonstrated by the boss, is to turn it into the ‘currency of the realm’ so that peers and colleagues find it natural and helpful to coach each other. The 8 skills can be practiced by us all, so that learning becomes continuous, unthreatening and more fun.

How can I give this to my boss without appearing to say to him, “Hey! What a great article! Here are some tips to help you be a better boss because you really need the help.” ??? There is not a good way to tell your manager they need to improve, right? My manager is of the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” mindset. He’s as completely hands off as he can be. Expectations are blurry. The burden is on me to extract expectations and goals out of him. Not just every day questions to do my job - big picture stuff like goals, timelines and due dates. In addition, there is no awareness of a problem until the annual review. Instead of bashing my boss, I will just close now and refer back to my original question. Is there any way to tell your boss s/he might could work on improving?

Annie here — This is a tough one! You could try printing out the column and sliding it under his office door while he’s out, with a note suggesting he think about it — signed, A Well-Wisher. But readers, you probably have better suggestions than that! Ever critiqued your boss without rocking the political boat? How’d you do it?

I have lead three teams now and have achieved excellent results. After reading the “8 ways to be a better boss”, I have found that I follow most of these tips. I have also discovered that one of the most important factors to my teams success is that I provide constant feedback, (positive or constructive). If someone doesn’t know what they are doing wrong or right, they have a hard time improving and usually take the path of least resistance (not doing it). I each person set goals and then monitor their progress. Just the fact that they know I’m monitoring their progress, it helps keep that goal in their mind at all times. I am very specific on what they need to work on and when we will sit down again,(formally) and discuss their progress. I work hard to ensure that everyone on the team feels that they are part of the success. I assign specific projects to each one of them and then have them present their progress to the rest of the staff. It’s a joy to watch each person grow and become a valued employee of the company.