BLUF: I have been a team leader for 18 months, managing those who were previously my peers. I like my job, (love lots of aspects of it even!) and have a team of good people. However I don’t consider that I manage my people well enough. I am very much a high C and a perfectionist. I beat myself up a lot about it and wonder whether I would be better going back to an individual contributor role.
A little more detail –
I did the job of my directs for over 10 years. I understand their frustrations, and it is my aim to empower them, get them more engaged in their role and therefore in the business as a whole. In the role that I have now I'm now able to give them support, remove obstacles that get in the way of performance, develop and improve processes and of course, I want to develop each one of my directs.
However, I’m not satisfied with my own performance in terms of managing the team, and I’m starting to think that is as much down to me as them:
We operate fortnightly 1-2-1s, (in between these we do talk/discuss stuff on a day-to-day basis.) I encourage my team to prepare in advance, but it’s always a struggle. I feel like I make time to listen and generally don’t give unrealistic deadlines, but behind the good relationship we have, I still feel a kind of kick-back: the stuff I’ve asked them to do seems to be at the back of their list of priorities.
To counteract this I try and ensure we agree actions and timescales. However, increasingly I feel like it’s my own fault I make slow progress with these, as I don’t follow-up sufficiently afterwards. Why not? I don’t know. I just want them to do pretty much what I do when I’m asked to do something – just get it done! Yet I know everyone isn’t made the same way and I can’t expect or compare my behaviour with their behaviour.
I have made a conscious effort to pull up my ‘I’ and ‘S’ traits to fulfil my leadership role, and also to consider where my team are coming from and move towards them if necessary. I try and catch myself shying away from conversations and put myself out there. Mostly, as bad I think it is going to be, it’s not half as bad when I do it - and I do get a whole lot of satisfaction when things do come together every now and again.
Do I not love this side of the job as it's hard and takes me out of my comfort zone, or because actually I'm just not suited to it and I should just admit that to myself and look at going back to an individual contributor role? I'm a proper perfectionist, so it nags away at me every day that I should do better and it’s starting to wear me down a little.
I'd appreciate any advice given here. Thanks.
Couple thoughts
First, you need to delegate reporting - there is a cast for that http://www.manager-tools.com/2010/07/assign-work-and-reporting
Stop chasing your directs for updates - assign the task and the reporting.
Second, I make great use of Outlook to "force follow-up" - I set little reminders to make it as easy as breathing. Every month, we need to send reminder letters to clients. If no one has given me an update by the 3rd business day, I ask for one. People do forget or get busy. It is still my responsibility that the work got done, so I need to follow up.
As a high C, maybe request a weekly e-mail from each team member with status updates. You have it in writing & can use it to see patterns in task completion or problems. For instance, if Joe reports this week that he does not have project 2 done, ask him for a timeline. Next week, you will either see progress (give positive feedback!) or no progress.
Be sure you are setting realistic timelines and goals. Ask for input then ask for committment to the timelines. Let people know that missing deadlines is no longer acceptable. Be willing to take heat for this. If you made a commitment to your boss & broke it, would that be ok? Then why is it ok for your people?
I find follow-up to be the hardest part of my job. Like you, I want it done when I said I want it done. I have had the most success with Outlook & also setting the standard that commitments must be met. If you say it will be done Tuesday, it will be done Tuesday or we'll have a conversation about the employee's ability to manage their workload. It isn't a fun one, but it has to be done once a year or so.
Os are weekly
I recommend (re)listening to basics and the rolling out the trinity podcasts (http://manager-tools.com/manager-tools-basics and http://manager-tools.com/2009/10/management-trinity-part-1).
Also, one-on-ones should be every week, not every two weeks. I do standard O3s now with my directs and it has helped our working relationship immensely. I have a standing meeting with my boss every other Monday morning -- it gets canceled often so we can easily go 4-6 weeks without meeting -- needless to say our working relationship and ability to communicate to one another is fairly weak.
Good luck.
Thanks
@ aca0162 thanks for the podcast reference for delegating reporting - I had missed that one! I like the Outlook idea and will go with the email follow-ups, particularly as both myself and one of my directs are part-time so only see each other 3 days out of 5.
@ Applejack - yes I'm re-looking at my 121s agree it's probably a good time to re-visit these podcasts.
Thanks guys