Domain 6: Management
Posted by Communications2 on Jun. 12, 2022 / Member Resource / Subscribe 0
Management
Written by Sarah Kapp
Management is a complicated topic, and it is often confused with leadership. But being a leader doesn’t mean you are a good manager, and being a good manager doesn’t always give you leadership skills. As a manager, some basic skills you need are HR, coaching, accounting, coordinating, planning, and directing. But what skills push you to be a better manager?
The honest answer isn’t about you at all—it involves promoting and encouraging your employees. Here are five ways to encourage your team:
- Know You and Your Team’s Strengths/Weaknesses: Growing up, I had always heard that the smartest leaders and managers hire people who can support the team by adding a skill that may be lacking. This enables each member of the group to feel needed and supported.
- Know Your Teams Ambitions: Have you asked your team recently what part of their job they enjoy? What role do they hate? What makes it hard to wake up in the morning, and what gets them excited about their career? Knowing all of this can help you retain your best talent. While you can’t always do what you want in your job, allowing employees to do more of what they enjoy can give them a sense of pride and excitement.
- Get in the Trenches With Them: Is there a big proposal coming up? Is your team going to be staying late or working the weekend? Showing up with pizza and asking what you can do to help can go a long way. Showing care and consideration of their efforts will create value.
- Development: What is career planning and pathing, and why is it important? Are you familiar with the term “dead-end job” and have considered how to combat it? How do we get people to stay? Asking your team for their career goals then showing them opportunities to grow in the company is a major step forward. Even if they say they don’t know what they’re looking for, give them ample opportunities to build skills and try everything that allows them to learn what they enjoy.
- Leadership: Management and leaderships are two different things, but you can have a manager with leadership skills. Demonstrate genuine care and concern for your team and others. You are managing a group of people with individual histories and lives. Being their manager doesn't just mean making sure their work is done. Take time out of your day to find out if everything is going okay at home. Are they struggling with relationships at work? How can you help them and make their job a little bit easier?
A good manager will get the job done, but a great manager with also make sure their people are happy. Remember that being a better manager means taking your team, prioritizing and elevating them, and encouraging them to pursue what makes them excited to get up in the morning.
Sarah Kapp is an experienced marketing professional with a B.S. in Marketing from Westminster College. She was hired as Terracon’s Marketing Specialist in 2019, covering Utah, Nevada, and Idaho and supporting the Rocky Mountain Transportation Team. Sarah has eight years of construction industry experience, including proposals, marketing campaigns, email blasts, social media strategy, business selling, and marketing strategy planning and research.
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