Managing a section of a business or even an entire company is no easy task. When you’re at the helm of the ship, you need to make wise decisions, aid your crew, and keep everyone on board as you navigate the chaotic seas of the competitive business world. Most new businesses stumble through the first few months of their existence, and make a number of mistakes on the way before they learn the ropes. Here’s a list of the most common Managing mistakes you can easily avoid.

1. Not Changing Your Mindset

As an employee and worker, you have fewer responsibilities. You’re simply assigned a task or role and use your skill to fulfill that task. As a Manager, your responsibilities are different. You’re now responsible for a team of individuals, have to assign tasks, make decisions, and ensure everything gets done efficiently. This is the burden of leadership and you need to adjust your mindset if you want to adapt to your new responsibilities.

2. Failure to Set Goals and Expectations

Goals give you direction and help you develop a solid plan for success. If you define your goals clearly and lay down your expectations before your employees, you’ll be more likely to succeed in your industry. Your company and team will work as a cohesive unit and every employee will know what they must do and what is expected of them. Without goals, you and your team will be directionless and you won’t know how to drive your company towards success.

3. No Delegation

Several surveys indicate that the inability and unwillingness to delegate is one of the primary causes of failure in managers. If you don’t delegate, you are forced to juggle multiple responsibilities and tasks, manage your team, handle leadership, and still maintain a level head. The increased stress will compromise your productivity and cause considerable harm to your health. You can ease the burden by delegating some task to skilled team members. This will also showcase your confidence in your team and help build better relationships.

4. No Communication

The workplace environment has changed considerably in the past few years. You can no longer bark orders at employees and expect them to deliver. You need to communicate with people in your team, provide clear instructions, listen to their suggestions and issues, and provide ample support. Good communication will have a positive impact on your productivity and help your company function more smoothly. You also need to acknowledge your employee’s contributions and show that you consider them a vital part of your company.

5. Not Learning From Experience

You should never stop learning and growing. That’s the only way you can remain relevant and keep up with the changing world. Managers can easily become stagnant and fall behind if they don’t take time to keep their skills sharp, learn from their team, and add to their repertoire.

Mistakes will still happen, even after you’ve settled into your position and learned how to be an efficient leader. However, as long as you’re vigilant and willing to accept advice or aid from your team, you will succeed.

References:

What are the Common Mistakes of New Managers?

Top 10 Mistakes Managers Make Managing People

Recognizing (and Avoiding) Common Management Mistakes