Archive for the ‘Developing As A Manager’ Category

The best performers in a particular profession are usually exceptionally good at what they do. As a result they often find themselves promoted into roles where the success they achieve no longer just depends on what they do but also on their ability to manage and get the best from others. For some it can be a struggle but often some simple things can make big differences to your success.

1. Promote Yourself

This might seem like a strange tip, but you really do need to step into your new role and recognise you are doing a different job. One of the common mistakes people make is to spend 100… of their time doing all of the things they previously did, leaving no time to manage.

2. Find Out What Makes You And Your Team Members Tick

If you are to effectively motivate yourself and other team members, you need to understand what motivates. Remember that what motivates you might turn others off completely. Some potential motivators include:

• Achieving deadlines
• Getting regular feedback
• Variety of projects
• Attendance at a training event or conference
3. Get Some 360° Feedback

One of the most powerful things you can do is to get some 360° feedback on your strengths and development needs. Pick a cross-section of bosses, peers and subordinates and ask them for feedback. If you self-assess and get feedback from others, you will get some clear insights.

4. Put A Development Plan In Place

As you move into a new role, you will have development needs. If you don’t, why have you taken the job? List out all of the skills, knowledge and personal attributes that you will need to perform at your best. Use you own and the 360° feedback to identify your development priorities. Use this information to set out quarterly development activities.

5. Make Time For Planning

If you are going to successfully respond to competing demands, you need to make sure you are focusing on the activities that matter. Make time weekly and daily to look at where you are spending your time. Key to effective multi-tasking is to make sure that you are responding to immediate needs and laying foundations for the future. Setting out the work schedule for the next quarter is an example of laying foundations for the future.

6. Get A Great Team To Support You

Having the right people around you, doing what they do best, is essential. Make time early on to review your team. If you find you have square pegs in round holes, do something about it. While it might be tempting to just to ignore the problem, it is not a good long-term strategy. It might be that the person who is not right for your team could be ideal in another part of the organisation that will utilise their strengths.

7. Find A Mentor, Buddy Or Coach

When you move into management it can be a lonely existence. It can feel like you are carrying the load of everyone and not having any support yourself. Finding a mentor, buddy or coach can offer you the opportunity to talk confidentially with someone who can act as a sounding board for you. There could be someone in your organisation or a previous boss or colleague who might be able to fulfil the role.

The Bottom Line: At the end of the day, moving into management is a major change for internal auditors. By recognising the challenges and taking steps to address them, you can ensure that you make a smooth and effective transition.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to become highly effective managers. He invites you to sign up for his free e-course, Management Mastery, at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk

If you are reading this, the chances are that you are already a good manager and want to be an even better manager.

So what can you do?

1. Believe in yourself as a manager and don’t let doubt stop you from taking action.
2. Cut yourself some slack and recognise that you don’t need to be great at everything.
3. Learn how to invest your time wisely so that you don’t become overloaded.
4. Find out the strengths of your team and start to utilise them.
5. Start listening more to the feedback from others so that you don’t get surprises too often.
6. Make managing something you make time for rather than viewing as an optional extra.
7. Keep developing yourself.

At the end of the day, some simple changes can make an huge impact.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Myth # 1: You need to be good at maths

People often say to me when speaking about Finance that they need to be good at maths.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Provided you understand simple arithmetic, things like addition, subtraction, averages, percentages and multiplication you have the base knowledge interpret financial information. 

Myth # 2: Finance is complicated

Actually it is very simple.  The vast majority of managers get a budget statement that will tell them:

Whether they are on target?

Whether they are behind target?

Whether they are doing better than target?

The key thing is to compare the budget (expected position) with the actual position and take action accordingly.

Myth # 3: Finance is for specialists

The recording of financial information, the creation of the systems for planning and management of finances is led by specialists.

Financial management is the responsibility of every manager. 

So what other myths have you come across when it comes to Finance?

As a manager you need to deliver results and support the team you manage. So what are my top 5 tips to being a better manager:

1. Be clear on what is expected from you
2. Use our time effectively
3. Know your team and what motivates them to deliver
4. Know your own strengths and weaknesses so that you spend your time doing what you do best
5. Keep learning and developing yourself