So Now You’re a Manager

At some point in your career, you might be promoted to manage a PR team. Even if you’re the sole communications person in your organization, you could find yourself managing an intern or other teams for a project. But being a manager is more difficult than it sounds.

Early in my career, I was asked to hire and manage a new employee. I was terrified. What if I didn’t know how to answer a question he might ask me? What if he pushed back or tried to undermine me? What if I had to fire him? 

On his first day of work, my new hire showed me a quote about the importance of editing one another’s work. The quote was true, but I took it badly and things went downhill from there. Since then, I’ve made it a priority to learn how to manage people.

I realize now that each of us brings our own personal baggage to the office — from previous jobs, family relationships, childhood traumas, etc. And the baggage we carry can undermine our job performance, including how we handle stress and high-pressure situations. 

It’s a manager’s job to be curious about these differences and to find ways of managing people that make all team members feel recognized for their talents. As a manager, I try to follow these guidelines:

Empower people.

I frequently ask my team members, “What will help you succeed?” We then work together to make those things happen. We design ways to remove barriers to their goals. For example, if someone says they need training, I work to provide it. If another team member needs more resources, time or money, we work together to deliver it. When resources are limited, we work around those barriers, too.

When I first managed employees in my agency, I thought my responsibility was to make sure they did their jobs well. I later realized that when you’re “in charge,” employees simply respond to your direction — which imposes limits for everyone. Asking people how you can empower them to succeed helps them think creatively about what they need and why.

Know it’s OK not to have all the answers.

As managers, when we think we know everything about a given topic, it shows that we’re not open to new ideas — which stops others from contributing. When I catch myself repeatedly coming up with “the” answers for my team, I stop, ask them questions and listen. How do they see the situation? What are their ideas?

This approach has saved me many times. Once, it even helped us land a top client — one I had thought we could not handle. My team convinced me that we could generate the right results for this potential client. We got the account.

Observe how employees respond to structure.

Some team members like to follow plans. They want to know with certainty the next steps they should take. Others respond better to limited structures that give them more freedom. Sensing the level of structure that each person needs — and then providing the right amount — helps everyone work better. 

One team member loved to come up with all sorts of wild ideas. But this tendency irritated a co-worker who wanted to create a plan and stick to it. The truth was that we needed both of these approaches to reach the right results for our client. Helping the team to see one another as individuals who take different approaches to the same goal has helped us work together. 

Learn their goals. 

The best fit for employees occurs when their jobs align with their goals for our organizations and for their own careers. For example, if a team member’s professional goal is to learn more about website design, we can try to assign her to a project that requires website training.

Ask for feedback.

Good managers ask for feedback from employees and then listen to it and make changes when necessary. As a manager, my most important lessons have come from my teams. For example, I learned how my actions were affecting them — which was hard for me to hear when I thought I was right. But as managers, our job is to empower our teams to perform at their highest level. When we get in the way of that optimal performance, we have to change our approach.

A senior account executive helped me learn a crucial lesson. She said my micro-editing of the staff’s work was driving everyone crazy. After I took a walk and calmed down, I saw that she was right. My anxious drive for perfection had made me forget the importance of empowering my people. I changed course, to everyone’s relief.

Be honest.

Firing a team member is one of the hardest things a manager must do. But when we’ve been honest with our feedback and have openly discussed areas of discord or disconnection in the person’s work, then the ultimate discussion about leaving is not so surprising. If a job is not right for someone, it’s better for that person to find something more suitable. 

Some of the best compliments I’ve received as a manager have come from fired employees who later got back in touch to thank me. They might have initially been upset to leave, but once they got over it, they found jobs they loved. As managers, our honest feedback can be the impetus someone needs to gather their courage and find a more gratifying job elsewhere.

Finally, let’s all make sure we have fun, that we are nurtured and fulfilled by our work. If you can help your team to feel that way, both personally and collectively, then you’re a top manager in my book