What makes for a good management model in business development?
Contrary to what most business programs and existing management paradigms will tell you, you do not need a background in company management to be a great manager who supports business development. For whatever activity in which you are engaged – be it management of your family, a basketball team, a circle of friends, work, or planning for future leadership roles – there are ten factors you should consider as a general rule. I have developed these factors from my own experience in leading various businesses and formulating novel approaches to business development.
With nothing but a sheet of paper on the table, I asked myself how I was performing as a manager and brought up this topic with my employees. I was able to come up with the following factors based on my background, training, and experience and by utilizing my employee and customer feedback methods to improve business development continuously. I had my employees review me and give me a score from 1 to 10, collecting the feedback anonymously. I received a score of 8. While this is encouraging, it’s also certainly a reminder that everyone has things they could be improved, so don’t let it get you down if you think you might fall short on a few of the points here. Instead, focus on ways you can improve yourself!
- Effective delegation. Delegation is one of the first major responsibilities encountered by anyone leading any group activity or anyone considered for promotion to management. Managing involves the ability to appropriately assign tasks to the right people and oversee them. The division of responsibilities among appropriate employees is very important. For example, if I somehow managed to mentor a soccer club, reprimanding a protector for failing to score more goals would be inappropriate. It is critical to delegate the right tasks to the right individuals in family and work, just like in soccer; otherwise, it would be inappropriate to anticipate positive results in an organization. Score yourself or ask others to score you on the effectiveness of your delegation of tasks.
- Team development. I would not have the option to delegate the right tasks to the right individuals if I neglected to foster a decent group. Let’s continue with the soccer metaphor: if you have six attackers and two defenders, your club will be strong on offense but poor on defense. Who you decide to bring onto the team has a major impact. Gathering the right group of people to build the team’s strengths and address its weaknesses will ensure the team performs better as a group overall. Score yourself or ask others to score you on the appropriateness of your team development decisions.
- Leading by example. Be a genuine model for your subordinates. If leaders in any activity want to see effort and accomplishment from the team, they need to put that effort into them Behavior is infectious, and people are subconsciously motivated by the behaviors they observe. For example, in a family, children will often act based on their parents’ actions, even if they’re disciplined. To promote good behavior, parents will need to demonstrate the good behavior they’re seeking from their children. While employees are certainly not children, the subconscious adoption of observed behavior exists in the same way. If you want your employees to go the extra mile, you need to put in more time and hard work yourself, especially during times when employees may be arriving early and staying late. Presence of leadership at work can be an inspiration for employees. Score yourself or ask others to score you on the example you set based on your given expectations.
- Diligent review. An effective leader needs to ensure that employees deliver on their work, and of course, leaders will need to scrutinize the results, but setting a good example means giving each employee’s results the attention they If we fail to read and scrutinize a report, the report will not be developed and will be given no importance. Reviewing an employee’s work product is an act that deserves effort and attention, just as the employee’s workneeds both. If it takes hours of an employee’s time to produce the work, as well as costs in electricity and other overhead, consider applying a general minimum standard for work product review, such as ten minutes or longer, to ensure thorough and appropriate attentiveness to their work. Score yourself or ask others to score you on the diligence you demonstrate in reviewing work products.
- Empathetic feedback. Yet another important trait for managers is displaying a level of emotional connection and availability. A manager must build empathy. I put myself in the place of an employee when I tell them something, endeavoring to effectively choose every word I say. Feedback should be fair, and its delivery should be preceded by consideration of how it might affect the recipient. Ask your, If I were the recipient of this feedback, how might I be hurt by certain words, and how will my work be impacted after hearing them? Effective feedback corrects problems, promotes productivity, and improves the workplace environment, culture, and employee retention. Sharing strong feedback means implementing an empathetic approach, so always try to put yourself in the employee’s shoes. Score yourself or ask others to score you on the empathy you display in your managerial feedback.
- Task awareness. A good manager must have some knowledge of each employee’s tasks and must have some comprehension in the off chance that we may need to step in, delegate effectively, and set appropriate expectations. We may not have the same level of knowledge and experience with a given role or task compared to our employees, and of course, we may not be better at performing the role or task than the individual who is assigned to it. Even so, if we do not prepare ourselves with basic understanding and awareness of the underlying tasks, our assessment of the employee’s output might only be limited to presentation rather than substance. We can’t be closely familiar with every task in every role of the business, and no one expects any good manager to be an expert in every topic, ensuring basic understanding and awareness of the tasks required will help good managers make decisions on expectations and to review the product. You won’t be a very effective manager without some awareness of the tasks involved in all roles and in any event. Score yourself or ask others to score you on your general awareness of the tasks involved for your group members’ work.
- Fair treatment. There must be balance among the company employees. You can’t prefer one subordinate to another, as that may upset the company’s If you choose to arrange a meal for some employees, you should extend the invitation to all employees in the group. Returning to the soccer example, imagine that a soccer team comes home with the win, and the winning goal was scored by one attacker. It would be wrong to place him above the other team members. A team win is a group effort, and the defenders won the game too. Sometimes, we connect more with one employee over others. This happens, and it is natural due to the nature of human connection, but an effective manager must prevent any favoritism or bias. Treating all employees equally and fairly will build team culture and cooperation and will also lead to greater respect for leadership. Score yourself or ask others to score you on your fair treatment of group members with respect to each other.
- Planning ahead. An effective manager should always be a step ahead of the game. Good managers should develop routines and strategies, such as compiling daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual plans based on productivity, goals, and projections. The act of writing down your goals, objectives, and tasks – both short-term and long-term – can help you keep them in mind and structure your efforts in managing your team. I love writing and prefer pen and paper to electronic records because writing with pen and paper helps keep my plans in my memory. You can find whichever way works best for you in being mindful of your goals and planning Often, managers frantically formulate plans and pore over data to map out the future when the team is struggling, but they forget to continue to do so when things are going well. Always be planning, and keep those plans in mind on a daily basis. Score yourself or ask others to score you on your ability to plan ahead and your mindfulness of your plans on a daily basis.
- Staying positive. It is very important to be positive in life in general, including during our interactions with our families, friends, and employees. I liken a manager to a lamp. A bright lamp overhead will light the whole room. But even a small speck on its surface will cast a large shadow over the room. Managers are like lamps. Negativity spreads easily through a group engaged in any activity. Of course, we all experience periods of low motivation, frustration, or sadness, but good managers need to be mindful of how even a little display of this type of negativity can cast a shadow over the whole group, just like the lamp. This is amplified with managers, since they are role models who are often looked to for guidance and direction. Keep the lamp bright with a positive attitude and energy, and it will keep the room well lit. Score yourself or ask others to score you on your ability to stay positive for the group.
- Open communication. This factor overlaps slightly with empathetic feedback, but it is distinct and important enough to justify its own factor for scoring. Maintaining accessibility between employees and leadership promotes positive culture and productivity within any group activity. Furthermore, just as employees rely on current and former employers for opportunities and feedback, former employees may provide the same for their prior employers too. Fostering a good communicative rapport with your employees builds trust and confidence in both directions. Try not to make judgments on the personal lives and mistakes of your employees, and instead focus on remaining available to them as a line of trusted communication, both during their employment and for a period thereafter. You brought them onto the team for a reason, and they will look to you for guidance and development, share valuable feedback and suggestions, improve themselves, and bring opportunities – all of which is based on a foundation of open and healthy communicative trust. Our employees have repeatedly been offered higher-paying jobs from outside companies, but they have chosen to stay with us. This level of loyalty is strongly attributable to the culture of open and healthy communication between employees and leadership, and the continuous feedback and improvement that we maintain. In turn, employee loyalty and trust should be a great motivation for a good manager of any group! Score yourself or ask others to score you on the openness of your communications with your group.
My advice for new managers or those looking to improve is to try to implement and follow these ten factors as closely as possible. In my business, I’m always trying to improve our business strategies, outreach methods, and team development through feedback, both internally and externally; therefore, I encourage you to ask your employees to score you, as I did. Not only will you gain perspective from your employees’ viewpoints (highly valuable in honing your personal development and improvement), but you will also empower your employees to share valuable feedback, opening up the employee-leadership relationship within your company!
Anar Zeynalov is a marketing and business management specialist and co-founder and director of T Project Catering company.
