The 12 key behaviors of a great Manager

Download slide deck here.

Background

Organizational success lags behind in a lot of companies due to a common misconception that great Managers are difficult to find. While that might be partially true, the actual issue is that there are not enough processes in place to coach and nurture employees into becoming great Managers. Great Managers are not born, they can be taught skills and learn behaviors in many different ways in order to lead successfully.

In this webinar with Joliene van Grieken, Marketing Director at Impraise, Wendy Hanson, COO and Co-Founder at BetterManager, and Chris Wells, VP of Customer Success at BetterManager, we discuss the role both HR and Managers play in identifying and enabling employees (leaders) to become great Managers.

Topics covered

Here’s a complete overview of the topics covered. If you’d like to jump to a specific one, simply look at the timestamps and head to that moment in the video, we recommend watching the entire webinar as it is peppered with amazing insights!

1. The impact of Managers (7:25)

Discussion question: "What's the difference between a good and a great Manager?"

• Do we need Managers? Research done by Google on Project Oxygen (7:40)
• To be a good Manager, you also need to be a great leader (10:28)
• Having great role models helps create a trickle down effect (13:25)
• Building human connections allowing for more empathetic leadership (15:20)

2. 12 behaviors of a great Manager (16:20)

• Skills Managers can learn and practice to add value (17:05)
• Shifting from a 'tell-a-holic' directive mindset to a coaching mindset (17:25)
• Enabling a coaching culture (17:45)
• The importance of praise and the impact it can have (19:20)
• How can Managers understand what their team needs (22:18)
• Switching from day-to-day execution to wider strategy and perspective (25:05)

1. Is a good coach
2. Understands and leverages each employee's unique strengths
3. Does not micromanage but instead empowers
4. Is truly interested in each employee's success and wellbeing
5. Recognizes excellence and praises it
6. Is productive and results-oriented
7. Sets clear expectations
8. Is a good communicator and listens to the team
9. Helps employee's with career development
10. Has a clear vision and strategy for the team
11. Has the key technical skills to advise the team
12. Makes good hires

3. HR processes to support Managers (27:00)

Discussion question: "How can HR put the right processes in place to start coaching Managers to success?"

• Setting the tone (27:40)
• Investing in your people (29:00)
• The difference between and coach and a mentor (30:25)
• How can HR get buy-in (32:15)
• Creating a safe space for people to develop and learn (36:30)

4. Practical tips for HR (38:40)

Discussion question: "What practical tactics can HR implement to integrate coaching into their organization?"

• How to get started today and bring coaching into your business (39:00)
• Leverage your own experience as a catalyst for change (40:15)
• Integrate coaching into existing leadership programs (41:40)
• Enabling first time Managers (44:30)

5. Q & A (48:40)

• How do you create a safe space for people to feel comfortable to raise their hand for development opportunities?
• How can you tell if you're micromanaging?
• What advice would you give to a Manager to effectively check-in on their employee's mental health and encourage them to be open?
• How can Managers protect themselves and how can HR help?
• How do you onboard people effectively in a pandemic while working remote?

Recommendations:

• eBook: 12 Key behaviors of exceptional Managers
• Research: Google Project Aristotle
• Research: Google Project Oxygen

We hope you found the webinar insightful, if you have a spare 2 minutes we would love your feedback on your key takeaways and suggested topics for next time.