How to Be an Effective Manager in 7 Simple Steps

How to Be an Effective Manager in 7 Simple Steps Being a good manager is all about running the show while producing effective results.  You are not only seen as a leader but are also expected to be fair and approachable.  For many managers, their duties are limited to  getting the work done, however, how you get the  work done is equally important and one cannot learn  to do so overnight. So unless you hail from a  management background or are trained to do so, you  may find yourself in a tight spot. The good news is that it is not impossible to become the perfect manager   following these  tips will help you understand management  more deeply and help you become a more effective manager. 1) Delegate work wisely: The key to effective management is to delegate the  work you should assign responsibilities and tasks to your employees. Most employers feel they have to control every small thing their employees do, and this can be disastrous at your position. When you delegate work to your  employees, you are multiplying the quantity of work that can be accomplished. Also, you  are helping develop your employees’ capabilities, leadership skills and confidence. 2) Set achievable goals: Every employee must have something to work for and therefore it is the duty of a manager to  set goals that his subordinate will strive for. Not only will these goals give the employees  a new purpose and direction, they will also ensure that all employees are marching  towards the larger organizational goals. So fix measurable goals and regularly monitor  the progress towards their accomplishment. RELATED:  How to Set AND Achieve Your Personal  Goals 3) Communication is essential: There are managers who do not understand the importance of communication this  can be bad for them as well as the organization. On many occasions, managers have  to serve as the link between the top management and the executive-level employees. Whether you have news related to work or whether it is an informal interaction, a good  manager always makes an effort to keep his subordinates in the loop. Employees must  remain updated as to what has to be done how in order to do their job efficiently and on time. READ MORE:  7 Phrases Employees Want to  Hear  from their  Boss 4) Make time for your subordinates: Management is mainly about making people work. When an employee needs to  talk to you, you must make sure that you make time to see him and step aside for a  discussion. It is okay to put your work on the back-burner for a moment and focus on this  person in need of your assistance. 5) Recognize achievements: Every individual is hungry for appreciation. The day you begin appreciating your team  for their efforts, you subordinates will be a happier lot. All employees are, at some point  or the other, seeking praise for the work they do. However, very few bosses understand  this need and do not do much to contribute towards recognizing and rewarding them for  a task done well. Thus, if you want your employees to have job satisfaction it is vital to  give them a pat on their backs.  To be a good leader, you must show your good qualities to the world and inspire others. You will have to be the change you wish to see in others. So start behaving as you  would want your subordinates to behave at work. However, do not forget in the process  that your role and position are different from the other employees. 6) Come up with lasting solutions: Managers must be effective problem solvers. No matter how huge a problem is, there  is always a solution to it. The trouble with coming up with quick fixes is that in your  enthusiasm to come up with quick solutions and move on to another task, you may  overlook another viable option that may have taken longer to develop and apply but  could have been a long-lasting solution. A good manager believes in dealing with the  root cause of the problem, rather than just superficially fixing it. 7) Stop playing the blame game: It will always be someone’s fault. Fingers can be pointed towards you. Not that you  should start pointing fingers to evade the situation! It is possible that you do not have  a stellar team, but that should not mean you should settle for mediocrity in work. You  must hold the power to inspire employees so that they exceed all expectations. You  do possess the power to sack people who aren’t doing what they were hired to do. However, you can’t go on blaming everyone in the team for one person’s failure to  perform or your own failure to lead. Bonus) Build on peoples strengths: A lot of managers target the weaknesses of employees and talk about how to improve  them. You should distinguish yourself by paying special attention to core areas that  represent the strength of your subordinates. This will encourage them and this is how  you will receive your biggest return on investment. Conclusion: Being a good manager can be a challenge sometimes and in order to succeed in this  position, you must realize that your success is directly dependent on the success of  your team. So go on and motivate your subordinates as happy workers bring more  productivity and respect to their manager. Author: Devika Arora is a prolific writer who compiles relevant  facts and analyzes the current state of affairs pertaining to education  and career building on behalf of Shiksha.com.

Response to People Who Hate the Term Personal Branding - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Response to People Who Hate the Term Personal Branding - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Im always surprised at the vehemence with which people say they hate the term personal branding. Im not a brand, Im a person! they demand. Except you are. As Kyle Lacy and I said in Branding Yourself, A brand is an emotional response to the image or name of a particular company, product, or person. Basically, people have an emotional response to us, our work and our experiences, our relationships with them, and even our face. For good or bad, people like us or dont like us, based on all of this stuff. When they think of our name and our face, they have an emotional response. But Seth Godin made a great statement about branding that may explain why its an important term to use: I believe that brand is a stand-in, a euphemism, a shortcut for a whole bunch of expectations, worldview connections, experiences, and promises that a product or service makes, and these allow us to work our way through a world that has thirty thousand brands that we have to make decisions about every day. In other words, when we use the term personal brand, were not talking about a corporate reputation, a logo, and a tagline. You cant/shouldnt reduce a person to a tagline and logo. To paraphrase Seth Godin, personal brand is a euphemism, a shortcut for expectations people have of us, our network and personal connections, the experiences we offer, the promises we make, our reputation, and our accomplishments. If we accept that the term personal brand is a shortcut word for all of those things, then maybe it becomes a little more acceptable to people. Because Im going to get tired of launching into that entire explanation. Author: Erik Deckers is the owner of Professional Blog Service, and the co-author of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself and No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing. His third book, The Owned Media Doctrine, will be available this summer.

Accurate Representation of Millenials in the Workplace

Accurate Representation of Millenials in the Workplace [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv52oVIcUKkeurl=http://nextforce.collectivex.com/] Check out this clip from a 60 Minutes segment on Millennials in the workplace.   Although weve heard some of the stereotypes before, the video makes our generation of workers out to be very narcissistic, casual and even a bit lazy.   I suppose this could be an accurate representation of some, but Im really hoping it isnt true for all of the workers in the twentysomething age bracket!   Have you ever scheduled work around your yoga class?   I sure hope not!   Or refused to follow the dress code, or stay late once in a while?   Eek! The video suggests that twentysomethings are all about themselves: their plans after work, their texts, their friends.   That we were raised to do extracurriculars for fun and participation, not to put in hard work practcing and mastering something. Another very interesting point that I personally resonate with is the fact that many recent college graduates decided not to work traditional summer jobs growing up, but instead volunteer or travel because they feel that it looks better on a resume.   Although   I feel diversifying experiences is very important and these experiences are valuable, many of the best lessons Ive learned came from working 2 or 3 summer jobs at once- many of which were not glamorous or fun.   Those summer jobs teach you how to be on time, deal with authority, and also motivate you to do great things with your own life so you arent stuck working at that type of job for the rest of your life. I fear that those who spent their college years climbing mountains, traveling, and building homes for the poor may face a huge Quarterlife crisis (or let down) once they graduate and find out that working in an office (or hospital, or wherever you work after college) is not so adventurous and glamorous after all.   That disappointment has the potential to lead to a lifetime of being unsettled and feeling that any job you are doing is just not enough. Let me know your thoughts!

The Truth About Who You Will Never Be

The Truth About Who You Will Never Be There’s something you need to know about who you are and who you will be. More importantly, there’s something you need to know about who you will never be. It might sting at first, but give me a minute and that will change. Actually, everything might change. I begin by saying… I used to want to do great things. I mean REALLY great things. I wanted to be at the MLK level. The Mother Teresa level. The Oprah level. I wanted to lead something evolutionary (or revolutionary, as the case may be). To achieve the highest honors, win the toughest challenges, advance humankind to some super-duper nth degree. To be known for this super-duper, nth degree kind of achievement. So many of us do this: We don’t just want to do excellent work, but to over-perform in everything we do…and to be recognized for our greatness. By everyone, all the time. We don’t just want to play a sport, but to win every time…and to be recognized for our greatness. By everyone, all the time. We don’t just strive to be a good parent, but to have our kids be the brightest and best students there are…and to be recognized for our greatness. By everyone, all the time. And then what happens? For me, as I aged and despite my best efforts, it soon became clear I wasn’t quite reaching the level I envisioned. The pressure was on and time was ticking and I wasn’t amazingly amazing yet.   Which, to me, meant I was a failure. Until the day I saw Oprah. The Oprah Offense When I say I saw Oprah, I mean I  really saw her…me and thousands of other people lucky enough to snag tickets when she came to town. On that fateful day, Oprah talked about her show and about the difference she’s been able to make because of her fame. She talked about changing people’s lives all over the world…about helping women in Africa and increasing safety for children here in America. And then Oprah Winfrey looked at all of us and said the following… “You know, chances are you’ll never get to do what I have done.” My first response was to be totally offended. My first thought, the not-super-mature… Screw you, Oprah. But then my ego took a second to breathe, and I thought about what she was actually saying. And that she was right. Odds were, I wasn’t going to become a wildly famous, perpetually obsessed-about, astoundingly wealthy woman who uses her unlimited dollars and celebrity to make a difference all over the world. All the time. After all, Oprah status doesn’t just happen…and it certainly doesn’t happen to most of us. It’s very, very rare. And yet…many of us won’t rest in our quest to get it. We set these goals and we fail to realize that they are impossible…and then we berate ourselves for failing to achieve them. For failing to achieve Oprah status. Which isn’t just nonsense, but also a pretty terrible thing to do to ourselves. Let’s face it. In addition to her incredible vision, hard work and grit, Oprah was also incredibly lucky. Her efforts were made in the right places at the right time, when people were ready for what she had to offer. Even she said this that day. It’s this luck factor that we need to think about when we aim for Oprah status. Her level of achievement is a huge exception to a much, much more common rule. As I finally got what Oprah was saying, I felt a bunch of pressure lift from my shoulders. Because Oprah gave me permission to not be Oprah. Now, let me stop here to clarify what I am not saying: What I am not saying is that we shouldn’t try to achieve amazing things in our lives What I am not saying is that we shouldn’t aim high and exit our very comfy comfort zone in order to try new things And what I am really not saying is that we shouldn’t try to make a difference in some way Now…what I am saying: That every achievement we make is an achievement to be celebrated…even if nobody knows about it but us That making a difference for just one person (or animal or tree or what have you) needs to be honored That, even if our efforts fail sometimes, we are still good people That, as long as we’re trying to make our lives meaningful in some way…to do well at work and in our sport and with our kids…that what we are doing is enough. No, its great. And so are we. That, chances are, we will never be Oprah. That we shouldn’t even try to be. That, instead, we should just try to be our best us. In the end, it turns out our best us is the greatest thing of all. This guest post was authored by Deirdre Maloney Deirdre Maloney helps people exceed their goals and sleep better at night. She does this as an international trainer, facilitator, writer and coach. Her writings have been featured in Forbes, Inc. and Entrepreneur, and her books include Bogus Balance, The Mission Myth and the Tough Truths series. For more information visit www.makemomentum.com  

10 great pieces of advice for undergrads from a PhD student

10 great pieces of advice for undergrads from a PhD student We’ve all had moments of uncertainty about the way things are going and especially about the future (panic mode activated!). But sometimes talking to the right people can help calm those nerves. Over the summer of my second year, I had the opportunity to meet a PhD student who gave me some advice about studying a Biosciences degree. Though some of this might be more relevant for incoming first years, its never to late for the rest of us! So let’s take a look at what she had to say, shall we? Don’t bother buying course textbooks â€" just borrow them from the library Unless you’re the type of person who loves scribbling all over your textbook, why bother spending money when you can get a perfectly good copy, probably even the latest edition, from the library for free? Email your professors for career advice and internship opportunities â€" especially for lab experience If you are particularly interested in a field that one of your professors is researching, and want to get further experience, send them an email asking for opportunities. They might offer you a summer internship where you get to work on your own project under their supervision. And you might even get funding from large councils like BBSRC! Just because you’ve studied a degree in the subject, does not mean you need to get into this field after graduation Its highly possible that after three years, you may find the subject you studied isnt your cup of tea at all… which is completely fine! Whatever your new interests may be, take that leap of faith and give it a shot. Don’t let fear stop you from delving into alternative opportunities. As a Biosciences student, I might choose to work in consulting, environment, health, business development or even teaching after graduation. In the cheesiest way’s possible, the world is your oyster! Speak to people in the year above about their experience Besides your professors, your peers (especially the ones in the year above), are the best people to turn to for advice. If you know that you need help writing essays for a particular professor, just ask these people. They’ll tell you exactly what to include to impress and get those high marks! Pass knowledge down to your juniors As your seniors have been there for you, be there for your juniors! Let’s not forget how much you struggled the first time you had to hand in a piece of coursework or had trouble choosing your dissertation topics. Question your lecture material, question your extra reading, question everything Never take anything you read or hear as gospel, even when it comes from your favourite professors. By questioning it all, not only will you come to your own conclusions, you will probably end up getting those high marks that every student is looking for. Get involved in extracurricular activities Any experience is good experience Extracurricular activities give you skills that are muy importante! These are also extremely good ways for you to meet new people, try something different and can even be a healthy distraction from work. Oh and lets not forget that it looks pretty good on your job apps and interviews (especially if you end up on a society committee!) Be careful about jumping straight into a PhD after your Bachelors If you want to pursue a PhD straight after your undergraduate degree, be careful! You have to be prepared for late nights in labs or library, lots of failed experiments, some crazy levels of discipline and extreme motivation (after all you will be researching one thing for three years!) Are you ready for that kind of commitment? Or do you think you’d rather take some time out, maybe consider a master’s program and build up your skill set? Really question why you would want to do a PhD and make sure you do you research before coming to a conclusion! Look for jobs where you have managerial advantage Ideally, in the long run, you should aim to get into a managerial position. Look for roles which give you a chance to grow and eventually allow you to lead. Ultimately, this is where a lot of opportunities lie! Enjoy your undergraduate degree and don’t worry about the rest Honestly, go make these three years the best time of your life. Do what you want, work hard, party hard, make your mistakes, then learn from them. You’ll have good days and you’ll have bad ones too. But whatever you do, never give up. University is one hell of a journey, so have a blast! Connect with Debut on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for more careers insights.

Job Loss

Job Loss The loss of a job has emotional effects similar  to the death of a  family member or friend or a divorce.   (The first 3 are inevitable, I am hoping the 4th might be preventable.)   These emotional effects are predictable.   There isnt much  we can do to avoid them.   Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote On Death and Dying.   She outlined these predictable phases of emotions: 1 Denial Denial is a conscious or unconscious refusal to accept facts, information, reality, etc., relating to the situation concerned. Its a defense mechanism and perfectly natural. 2 Anger Anger can manifest in different ways. People dealing with emotional upset can be angry with themselves, and/or with others, especially those close to them. 3 Bargaining Traditionally the bargaining stage for people facing death can involve attempting to bargain with whatever God the person believes in. People facing less serious trauma can bargain or seek to negotiate a compromise. 4 Depression Its a sort of acceptance with emotional attachment. Its natural to feel sadness and regret, fear, uncertainty, etc. It shows that the person has at least begun to accept the reality. 5 Acceptance This stage definitely varies according to the persons situation, although broadly it is an indication that there is some emotional detachment and objectivity. When I was in outplacement, I would go to company sites and meet with people minutes after they had loss their jobs (a little like ambulance chancing, I know). The intent was to help them. First by listening, second, by letting them know they were in for a rough emotional ride and third, give them some next steps to take so they would have something to focus on besides the loss of their job and feelings. In my role as a trainer, I have seen ANGER many times. It walks in the room with the participant, like a two-headed monster. Every word that person speaks carries anger- their tone, their words and their body. It is not pretty, and it is probably going on interviews with them and torturing their family too. I see situational depression quite often too. When I was coaching one job seeker, I saw his appearance deteriorate over the course of several months. He began his search in khakis and a collared shirt, but weeks later started wearing sweat pants into the career center. Then he stopped shaving regularly and began to get dark circles under his eyes. It was scary to watch this happen. I advised him, along with others, to seek professional help. He then stopped coming to the center all together. Last I heard, he was still seeking employment. Getting stuck in one of these emotional places happens quite frequently too. It is easy to stay angry, or feel sad- it is usually much harder to stop those emotions. However, it is possible and must be done. So, when you experience prolonged periods of emotion, change what you are doing. It doesnt really matter what that change is, just do something different. The act of taking control, driving your own bus, can be the boost to self esteem needed. It can get you out of the rut. Take the example of a time when your car got stuck in the snow. You dont just push down harder on the accelerator do you? OK, yes, at first you do, but when that doesnt work, you try other things- turn the steering wheel, use reverse, pray. As a last resort, you may have to call for help, AAA or a friend. In job search, sometimes you need to ask for professional help or enlist the help of a supportive friend-sooner rather than later.

The Importance of Questioning Yourself When Writing My Resume

The Importance of Questioning Yourself When Writing My ResumeIn this article I'm going to talk about the exact questions you should ask yourself when writing your resume. I'd also like to tell you a little bit about myself and how I learned to do resume writing. Hopefully, by the time you've finished reading this article you'll understand exactly what to ask yourself when writing your resume.Writing your resume is a complicated process, one that requires a certain amount of mental discipline. As well as knowing what you need to put on your resume and what you should avoid, it's also important to know where to get ideas for your resume. This isn't a straightforward process however and can be a little difficult to grasp.Once you've put together your resume, the next step is to start sending it out to employers. The good news is that getting a call for an interview is extremely easy and most people don't even realise they're doing it. I first realised this was the case when I realised t hat my friends and colleagues all had a better chance of getting hired if they sent their resumes in than I did.And you know what? They don't spend any more time on it than I do. I spent nearly 2 years sending out resumes every week. And when you consider that I get hundreds of them back, I was literally wasting money and time every single day!The vast majority of people who get interviews are not so lucky. It's much easier to avoid having to learn about the ins and outs of resume writing than it is to avoid overpaying for an expensive book on the subject. The key is to master the basics, then you just need to apply what you've learnt.The first thing you should do when writing your resume is to take out a notebook and write everything down. Put everything down, then look at it again, go through it again and make sure you understand the points you wrote down.Also, use your email address as the contact information on your resume. Don't just put a simple address at the top of the page, write a little about why you are the best person for the job and why your prospective employer should hire you. Don't forget to include your contact details.After that, write a cover letter and all the pages necessary to fill in the rest of your resume. Remember that the resume will only be read once it's been typed up, so put a lot of thought into it. When you've finished you should then send it off to whoever the employers are, just to make sure it gets there!