Mind Tools for Managers

Chapter 10Get the Best from Members of Your Team

Building on the previous chapter, your primary purpose as a boss is to get the best from your team. If Chapter 9 was focused on what you do as a boss to motivate and inspire those around you, this chapter shifts the emphasis to what your team members do. In other words, it is about how you structure their roles and responsibilities and define the appropriate interventions so that they can work to the best of their abilities.

It is often said that managing others is an “unnatural act” – that is, it requires us to behave in ways that don't come easily to us. Many managers are promoted through the organization because they are high performers. They did their previous job well, they delivered results, and they enjoyed the praise and recognition that came with success. But as soon as these people are given significant managerial responsibilities, they are expected to develop a completely different set of skills – for example, delegating interesting projects to others, putting them in the spotlight and praising them for doing a good job, and investing time more generally in the “people” rather than “task” aspects of work.

It should be no surprise that many managers struggle with this transition. Learning how to get work done through others takes time, and many managers never master skills such as effective delegation. When you see a dysfunctional workplace, a common root cause of the problems is senior managers who insist on being involved ...