Five steps to evolving your management style

What does your leadership style say about you? For the many company owners wondering what the future may hold, actions – more than ever – speak louder than words. As key decision-makers, managers not only have the power to impact the direction of a business, but also the performance of employees that are crucial to a firm’s success. As SMEs are forced to adapt to new and challenging economic environments, management teams must echo this by providing tailored support to their workforce so as to motivate them, and ultimately improve productivity. While it may feel drastic to adopt new methods altogether, steps can be taken to deploy these techniques over time in order to withstand new climates – without the risk of undermining existing processes. Approaching times of uncertainty with confidence, we take a look at five ways to reboot your management style.

Engage with transparency
It may seem obvious, but failing to maintain open lines of communication with employees can have detrimental effects on the day-to-day running of a business – not to mention leaving both you and your workforce in the dark. An ethical, straightforward approach (where everyone knows where they stand) can instead enhance efficiency and improve staff wellbeing in the process. Managers willing to listen and better understand team members can go the extra mile by tailoring their interactions so as to best correspond with individuals – from face-to-face (or currently, online) meetings to phone calls to updates via the company WhatsApp group. Whether you’re usually based in the same building or out of the office most of the week, an honest and transparent leadership style comes with its many benefits and can help guide a business through the toughest of storms.

Empower with coaching

While managing and coaching a team are two different things, leaders that strive to ‘teach’ colleagues – as opposed to ‘tell’ – will only help motivate employees to further their skills in the workplace to everyone’s advantage. Not only are team members more likely to take pride over something they control, but they’ll also want to take ownership of new processes – improving efficiency by doing so. Moving towards a more collaborative working environment where individuals are encouraged to share their expertise can not only help employees upskill from within but pave the way for future leaders of the business looking to advance their careers (as and when the opportunity arises). Ultimately, a commitment to continuous learning can help employees reach these goals, as well as improving the performance of the team as a whole.

Embrace self-awareness

Empathy goes a long way in the workplace, and practising self-awareness can help put things into perspective when the going gets tough. Ask yourself: what really made you proud last year, and where was there room for improvement? Taking stock of your own strengths and weaknesses, while also being open about them, sets a good example to your team as a manager willing to grow alongside them. This is by no means an easy change to make, with your own mental health often the first thing to suffer when things get busy. However, by being vigilant you can maintain the act of self-awareness every day. This can help you achieve a number of things, from asking the right questions to reaching the source of a problem with a cooler head, but it will ultimately improve your relationship with colleagues for a brighter, more productive tomorrow.

Encourage personal feedback

When was the last time you received an honest piece of feedback from a fellow professional? By adopting the ‘growth mindset’ through the act of self-awareness, it’s just as important to seek constructive criticism from others to remain on the same page. Whether this comes from your mentor, contemporaries or even a family member, open-ended self-assessment can help you to retain focus and hone your leadership skills further; seeking feedback from your own employees is another great way to really identify areas in need of improvement (while also validating their opinions). Once having received these pointers, however, it’s equally as important to act on them; by taking the time to process, record and reflect on feedback, you’re more likely to apply this to your everyday processes and improve them for the better.

Enhance with technology

From productivity to business growth and beyond, leaders with a better grasp on company-wide operations can enhance existing processes and focus their efforts elsewhere with the help of Enterprise Resource Planning technology. Oracle NetSuite ERP offers improved alignment between technology and specific business needs; for leadership teams, CEOs can benefit from improved visibility when it comes to tracking revenue, reducing costs and re-evaluating business goals. Condensed to one platform, NetSuite enables a collaborative working environment for all, giving multiple users easy access to data from anywhere at any time. Not only can this streamline the delegation of tasks, but it also equips teams with better tools to excel in their everyday roles from a single, integrated solution.

With an in-house team of dedicated ERP professionals, BrightBridge can assist your business with a NetSuite package tailored to your needs. Find out more about our NetSuite services, or get in touch to discuss further.