Management Mastery

It is important for a manager to be proactive in developing relationships with their clients (and every manager has them) where the client feels they can communicate openly and freely with the manager -- even when that involves communicating negative news. It is important that managers learn of issues before they become major problems and that involves having an open, trusting relationship with the client. This episode discusses how to build such a relationship.

It takes patience and effort to develop and keep talented staff. In this episode we cover many of the things that keep talented staff motivated and happy -- and reduce their likelihood of being poached by a competitor or another department in your company.

Your most talented staff can be your greatest asset. But they can also need a lot of attention. It is also important that you not overlook talented staff who may be introverted and not immediately stand out. Identifying and developing these members can greatly benefit your department.

At the same time, you can't ignore the less-talented staff and how to motivate them and head off feelings of jealousy or resentment is also covered.

Nothing can be more nerve-wracking than being told, "The Boss wants to see you." In this episode, we discuss how to prepare for such a meeting in order to maximize the potential for a positive outcome (no matter the topic) and minimize the chances of a negative one. The secret comes down to a single word: Preparation. We'll tell you how to prepare for such a meeting.

Listening is probably one of the most important skills a manager can have and most people feel they are good listeners. However, many are not. In this episode we discuss techniques for good listening and why they are important.

Preparation is critical for any meeting with your boss -- especially one you asked for. Of course, you want to be prepared on the specific reason you asked for the meeting -- but your preparation needs to go far beyond that to maximize the positive impact any meeting can potentially have on your relationship with your boss. It will also reduce the potential for a negative response from the boss.

This is an encore of an episode on your first meeting with a (new) client.

Everybody makes mistakes -- it is a part of learning and growing in any job -- especially management. What is important is how one handles the mistake -- how they get out ahead of it and what actions they take to prevent the mistake from happening again. It is important to own responsibility for the mistake -- even if it was by one of your staff and not you directly. You are responsible.

This is a repeat episode: Building and Maintaining a Network

It is estimated that 30% to 50 % of any department staff are "introverts". They can be extremely talented members of your team, but can easily fade into the background and their potential contributions lost if not identified and handled correctly. In this episode, we talk about how to fully utilize the introverted members of your staff.