As a manager I always try and follow a certain way for managing my team. And the keyword for me is maintaining the correct balance between various aspects of regular work. Like, giving time to innovate AND delivering on tight deadlines; taking time-offs AND putting in extra hours; etc.
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The author of Burned Out and Handling Burn Out blog, points on 5 ways to keeping your team from burning out:
- Keep communications open from top to bottom.
- Keep the political crap off of your employees.
- Keep the job varied.
- Keep the employee learning.
- Reward the employee.
Unlike my previous blog earlier: Guidance on Avoiding Redundancy, the author accepts the need to take good care of your team regardless of the economic situation.
In fact I’d say one must take extra care during these tough times. If you don’t and once the economy starts improving those will be the first ones to change jobs who were not treated well by their employers. :~(
Leadership expert John Baldoni in his latest post – Why Leaders Should Lighten Up recommends managers to try following three (3) things to lighten up the working environment during challenging times:
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- Relax Your Mood
- Create Laughs
- Keep Your Door Open
I think examples of challenging times could be: current economic crisis, a project deadline or a challenge to win a customer account. Whatever the situation, challenging or may be even those peaks when everything is going fine; I think the manager or leaders should always keep the situation light and comfy for his team. As per the above three pointers I have mostly noticed that following the first option (Relax your mood) is a bit tougher than the other two. In a crunch situation one might still have his door open but he also needs to respond with a relax mind to his staff or colleague. This will make him sound confident and in control of the situation and not panicky. Quite often we’ve noticed managers or leaders go into their shell or real-self during pressure situations.
But as someone once told me – “Leadership can be learnt. One needs to unlearn his old behaviour and learn to behave differently like a true leader in life.” And I think one should also learn to retain his composure and relax the environment during such challenging times.
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