Five Ingredients to Become an Effective Manager

"It's common for managers to feel as if they are pulled between the demands of top leaders and the needs of the inviduals," F. John Reh.        

The Question: What is the secret to become an effective manager?

Managers act as a bridge between strategy and team.

The manager is accountable to senior executives for performance.

And front-line employees for guidance, motivation, and support.

That’s why managers must be organized and prioritize their daily tasks to ensure they are productive and complete their work on time.

Today will be sharing a hack on how to become an effective manager.

The Research

While managers often view their role as task or supervisory in orientation, this view is an illusion.?

At the most fundamental level, management is a discipline consisting of five general functions:?planning, organizing, staffing, leading and managing.?

According to Bill Davis from the University of Arizona, these five functions are part of a body of practices and theories on being a successful manager.

These five functions reflect a manager's day-to-day responsibilities.

Some Advice?

Before we talk about the day-to-day responsibilities, watch this quick video on how to become an unfireable manager ??

Your Hack

This week your hack is to?set clear day-to-day responsibilities.

As a manager, not every day is the same. Some days, you’ll be pulled into hiring meetings; others, you might be organizing your corporate retreat.

But it's important to set clear day-to-day responsibilities so you don't feel overwhelmed by the pile of tasks and duties.?

Here are five day-to-day responsibilities and their relation to the five general functions of a manager.

• Setting Meetings & Goals?(Planning): Think about this as the process of choosing appropriate goals and actions to pursue and then determining what strategies to use, what actions to take, and deciding what resources are needed to achieve the goals.
• Communicating Information?(Organizing): Communicating is the key to establishing relationships between workers and aligning the company's shared vision with tasks priorities.
• Training?(Leading): A manager's role includes articulating a vision, energizing employees, inspiring and motivating people using influence, persuasion, and effective communication skills. While helping workers grow and develop in the team.
• Hiring or Terminating Employees?(Staffing): To build a high-performing team, managers need to be part of the process to recruit and select employees for positions within the company (within teams and departments).
• Providing Evaluations & Feedback?(Managing): With feedback and constant check-ins, a maanger can identify how well they are achieving goals, improving performance, and taking action.

Parting Thoughts

As a manager, you have a flow of different tasks and roles to fulfill.

You act as a bridge between two islands at the company.

And you have to do it all while completing your own task.

Today's hack should help you set clear day-to-day responsibilities so you are not overwhelmed by the constant demands of the job.

But the learning doesn't stop here, read our recent blog to dive deeper into these five roles to help you become an effective manager. ??

How to Set a Day-to-Day Roles and Responsibilities for New Managers

Unicorn Startups need Unicorn Leaders.

Unicorn Labs will be launching its podcast next week!?

We have terrific guests from CEOs to VPs of talent, new entrepreneurs and seasoned managers sharing their stories on how they became Unicorn Leaders with high-performing teams.

Make sure to follow us on social media and check next week's newsletter to see who are the first two guests ??