I interviewed one of my roommates and my sister and discovered the following characteristics about their favorite and least favorite managers:
Favorite Characteristics: - Easy to talk to about problems - Positive atmosphere, the managers were encouraging and supportive - Constructive criticism and provide lots of direction - Felt like managers had a good understanding of job tasks and have reachable goals.
Least Favorite Characteristics: - Lack of direction or consistency - Managers that were ‘short’ and intimidating - Managers who lack direction and are unable to staff adequately - Managers who are unable to pick up the extra slack when absolutely necessary
I think that after talking to my sister and roommate, as well as my own experiences there are few characteristics that are necessary in order to be a good manager. Managers need to be open to suggestions, be able to plan and multitask, and they need to be easy to talk to and levelheaded. Managers also need to be able to delegate tasks and set reachable goals, they need to have a good understanding of the processes of the business, and be able to provide constructive criticism.
Good points. I would agree with your observations. These sound like such simple things, but it turns out it is harder to be a good manager than we think. Part of the problem is we often know what we don't like, but don't know how to do things differently. I compare it to parenting, we may not like how our parents handle situations. However, if we haven't thought about it or come up with new strategies we will suddenly hear the very words we hated coming out of our own mouths. Managing is similiar.
I interviewed one of my roommates and my sister and discovered the following characteristics about their favorite and least favorite managers:
ReplyDeleteFavorite Characteristics:
- Easy to talk to about problems
- Positive atmosphere, the managers were encouraging and supportive
- Constructive criticism and provide lots of direction
- Felt like managers had a good understanding of job tasks and have reachable goals.
Least Favorite Characteristics:
- Lack of direction or consistency
- Managers that were ‘short’ and intimidating
- Managers who lack direction and are unable to staff adequately
- Managers who are unable to pick up the extra slack when absolutely necessary
I think that after talking to my sister and roommate, as well as my own experiences there are few characteristics that are necessary in order to be a good manager. Managers need to be open to suggestions, be able to plan and multitask, and they need to be easy to talk to and levelheaded. Managers also need to be able to delegate tasks and set reachable goals, they need to have a good understanding of the processes of the business, and be able to provide constructive criticism.
Good points. I would agree with your observations. These sound like such simple things, but it turns out it is harder to be a good manager than we think. Part of the problem is we often know what we don't like, but don't know how to do things differently. I compare it to parenting, we may not like how our parents handle situations. However, if we haven't thought about it or come up with new strategies we will suddenly hear the very words we hated coming out of our own mouths. Managing is similiar.
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