“Paradigm shift, 360 degree restructuring, client empowerment, MBO, six sigma” These words have ambushed themselves into the management terminology. In the clamor to be a change embracing organization, many managements have forgotten that Management is simply the efficient use of men, money & machines.

It’s no wonder that today; supervisors have less & less interpersonal skills. My friend, Prewit did a wonderful job in listing the attributes for a good supervisor in the article Tips for a successful supervisor. That article clearly stated that interpersonal skills supplement other skills like problem solving & communication skills. I have always believed that an effective supervisor is one who can get the best out of his/her team. Let’s looks at five tips that will motivate people to work under you.

1)      Recognize efforts & accomplishments: Every survey ever done on motivators has repeatedly highlighted the fact that is not $money$ but recognition which is the biggest motivator for humans . There is an art to recognition too! Praising your team member’s effort in public is much more effective than doing it in your cabin. Let’s assume that you praise an employee’s punctuality in a meeting, now this employee is forced to maintain his new found image & what’s more, he will love you for doing that!

2) Make deposits: A friend once told me that managing people is not as complicated as it seems. In fact, human relationship is like a bank account. To withdraw from it, you must first deposit into the account & there is no overdraft facility. Whenever you can accommodate special requests of subordinates, do it! Spend some time socializing with them after hours. Take every opportunity to grow your account. Be the first one to send them cards on the birthday/ anniversary or inquire the well being of their near & dear ones. I have noticed that if you are willing to go the extra yard for them, they are willing to go the extra mile for you .

3) Feeling of importance: Many supervisors for some strange reason hide information from subordinates. May be these supervisors feel that their team members have no use with that important piece of information. Here is the breaking news – “without sharing your vision/goal, you will never have the full commitment of your team”. You certainly cannot be a good leader if you do not command the commitment of your team. Make every team member feel important by communicating your goals, strategies & vision with them. It’s amazing what people will do when you tell them that you are depending on them to accomplish the organization’s goals.

4) Art of criticism: I guess we all think that we have mastered at least this art. I thought the same too. I was a fault finding machine & never felt the need to hold back my criticism . Experience has taught me few things which I want to share here.

• Never criticize the person, instead focus your criticism on the action.
• Let the criticism be constructive.
• Always criticize in private.
• Use sandwich technique. Sandwich the criticism within two encouraging statements.

5) Blame Game: Despite the best efforts of your team it is possible that you missed a deadline & there is a problem with quality of the product. As a leader accept the blame & resist the temptation of putting the blame on team members. Do not make the session into a blamestorming session!  If one cannot accept responsibly for failures, one should not accept the responsible position itself. It is humility rather than ego that will earn you the respect & commitment of the entire team.

I have recently read a new terminology for modern managers –  “SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.”

To be a successful manager or a seagull manager is a choice that you have.

Click here to read part 1 of this article