Early on you will need to establish how assertive your management style will be. Become too friendly and you’ll earn a reputation as a pushover. On the flip side, if you push your staff too hard you risk inciting resentment. Be aware of your demeanor, remain relaxed, and be firm when addressing situations that are significant. Don’t swing your weight around too much early, but stick to your guns when it matters most and you’ll be fine.
What are your expectations for the staff? Before you can manage your team, you must know exactly what you want them to do. Being clear from the get-go can help you avoid becoming a micro-manager later on. If questions or conflicts arise, it will be helpful having carefully considered their role and your goals for them beforehand.
Every manager makes mistakes, and it’s likely your staff will be happy to point them out for you. Make yourself available and acknowledge your short comings when they occur. Amend directions given to staff to reflect changes made from employee input. They will be happier to work for someone that is able to adapt and overcome.
Delegation
Management and delegation go hand in hand. No one expects you to do everything and be everyone but it can surely feel that way, especially when things go wrong. We have a few tips to help you smooth the path to creating an efficient staff.
- Consider what it is you would like done and how exactly you would go about doing it yourself. Think of who on your team may have the skills to complete the project and ask yourself why?
- Choose who will take responsibility over a project and give your employee a reason to complete it. What you’re asking will benefit the store, but that may not be clear to your employee.
- Is this task long term? Make it clear how long your employee will be responsible for new tasks and when you will review the assignment. Avoid hovering, but let it be known you will follow up. When projects are assigned and forgotten, they will rarely continue to get done.
- Don’t become a seagull manager! Consistently delegate projects and avoid swooping in only when big changes need to occur. Managers often fall into this habit when reacting to problems.
Goals
Have clear and simple goals, post them, and measure your success.
Sure you want your business to perform better but what exactly does that look like? It’s likely your employees have different ideas of what success is and how it should be accomplished. Your bartender’s focus is on beverages, your servers want to flip tables quicker, and your chef wants to increase the average ticket size. It’s likely all of these are true to some extent but you are responsible for the big picture and giving your team focus.
If you want to accomplish your goals you must be able to communicate the results to your staff. Requiring your team members to change their behavior is difficult; it will be easier if you are able to visually refer to your goals and how your management has positively addressed them.
Leave any tips you have for new managers in the comments!
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