Top 13 Management Mistakes: Part 2

Part 1 of the article is available here. In this article, CleverControl asked experts what are the most serious and frequent mistakes that managers and leaders make and how they affect the overall company's success.

Contact is contact. The manager often expects an immediate response, prompt expert advice, and regular reports from the subordinates but him/herself is always silent. Employees have to "chase" the manager, make appointments, and so on and so on. "The lack of quality feedback to employees suggests that the manager does not fully understand the quality level of his or her activities,” says the head of marketing at Ivido World Brian Robinson.

This occurs when "employees don't understand how to evaluate their own activities, what result is a good result," says Hope Morocco.

"Another managerial failure is when the manager, instead of trying to explain to the employee what he or she did wrong, does the work for the employee. In the end, the employee learns nothing; and the manager enters a vicious circle where it is necessary to constantly do everything him or herself, – said the head of PR Department at “Tour Unity” Julia Holland.

"Inexperienced managers make some other mistakes,” continues Julia Holland. “For example, the use of "all stick no carrot" methods and pressure on subordinates, incorrect assessment of the complexity of a task, inaccurate allocation of responsibilities and resources."

Christopher Carpenter, head of corporate communications at You Outsourcing: "One of the most inexcusable mistakes of managers is undermining the confidence of employees. This can be done in different ways: for example, criticizing a subordinate in public. For many employees, this is a very hurtful event if it involves outsiders. And even if the criticism is justified it is unlikely you will be able to count on an atmosphere of trust in the team after it. I believe in the following principle: praise in public, criticize eye to eye only."

Another blunder according to Brian Robinson is personal attacks and "yelling". If the manager yells then he or she clearly discredits him or herself as a leader and as a professional.

Theresa Dixon executive of the consulting bureau "Quick Halo": "I believe that worst mistake of all times is familiarity, even in small companies it is unacceptable. Subordinates, for their part, must always be acutely aware of the manager’s responsibility (hence that’s why the boss is always a "senior" even if there is no big age difference). By the way, in medicine, in this respect, the issue has been resolved since ancient times. The biggest part of the responsibility is always taken by the doctor, so the nurses clearly observe the chain of command. And the better they understand this the more and better they help. These nurses are highly valued by the doctors. Familiarity is not acceptable."

Christopher Carpenter, head of corporate communications at You Outsourcing: "A common mistake of managers is the desire to engage in micromanagement: they immerse too deeply in the tasks that they set for the subordinates, control them when it is not necessary, and do a lot of extra work which could be easily delegated to employees. Besides the fact that it takes up a huge part of the manager’s time, it also often annoys subordinates and deprives them of any initiative and takes away any opportunity to new employees to grow professionally. I knew one manager who would give a task of preparing a progress report for which he created instructions which were several times the volume than the report itself. In the end, he spent on such instructions more time than his subordinates spent on reports. The manager did not have enough time for more important tasks and his employees gradually lost interest in the work and did it less efficiently. In the end, he felt emotional burnout and changed jobs and in the next team he was advised to change the style of leadership straight away and trust more in his subordinates."

The most valuable qualities of a professional are the ability to discard personal emotions, to have a sober look at the problem, and to adjust the actions. The team feels the greatest enthusiasm with the manager who corrects not only subordinates’ mistakes but also his or her own.