Providing help to the members of your team can be tricky. Since you’re the boss, staff members are aware that you supervise and evaluate them, and if you come in and say “I’m here to help” it may or may not be received well. Those managers who come in too heavy-handed often receive a bad reputation. In addition, staff members can have strong emotional or psychological reactions to unnecessary or unwanted help. In this episode, we’ll discuss how to provide help in a manner that’s well received.

When surveyed, most managers say they give each of their team members equal attention, respect and consideration. Yet the research over many years finds that bosses have “in-groups” with whom they have warmer, more personal relationships and “out-groups” where they act more transactionally. In this episode we discuss why that can be bad for the manager and how to make an effort to change that dynamic.

There are a number of honest mistakes new managers often make. In this episode, we discuss three of the most common and, often some of the hardest to totally avoid making.

While a promotion can be gratifying, exciting and rewarding, it often carries with it new or increased pressures and strains on both you and your family. In this episode we talk about how to deal with some of those new burdens.

The best managers recognize that one-on-one meetings with staff members are key to building a cohesive, well-run team. By one-on-one meetings we’re talking about status update meetings where you and your staff member discuss their progress on assignments as well as any other issues they or you may have. Why? Because staff members are critical to your success, both as individuals and members of the team. They’re constantly evaluating you in terms of how much you care about them as individuals and as members of the team. Not feeling that you’re interested in them can cause them to lose interest in the success of the department. In this episode we discuss how to demonstrate your interest in them through these regular one-on-one meetings.

A manager cannot be explicit or clear enough regarding guidelines. One of the ways that you can provide clarity is by spelling out the way that your staff need to work together and interact with colleagues, clients and stakeholders. A simple way to think about this is to ask, “what specific behaviors will enable us to succeed?” In this episode, we’ll discuss what a set of ground rules might look like, how to put one together if you haven’t and how to ensure that every member of your team is aware of them.

Far too often, Managers think that “customer service” refers only to services provided to the general public or others outside of the company. As we have discussed in previous episodes, every department, in every company, serves customers. Whoever uses what your department provides is your customer and how well, or poorly, you service their needs will determine how your department – and you – are perceived and valued within your company. In this episode, we’ll discuss how to provide the best possible customer service regardless of who your customers are.

It is estimated that 30% to 50 % of any department staff are "introverts". They can be extremely talented members of your team, but can easily fade into the background and their potential contributions lost if not identified and handled correctly. In this episode, we talk about how to fully utilize the introverted members of your staff.