7 Common Problems Managers Face And How To Overcome Them

Every business needs a leader who can take over the reins when the owner isn’t around. This is the task of a manager. Although managers are equipped with the skills to get the job done, there are still several challenges. There are great moments where you gain satisfaction in watching your teams hit their targets and grow successfully. But there are also those moments where challenges seem to throw you and your team in different directions. If you’re considering a managerial position as the next step in your career path, it helps to understand common problems managers face. Listed here are some of the challenges and useful pointers on how to overcome them.

Absence of structure

The one issue many new managers face, especially when overseeing a new team, is the absence of structure. This is common because, in a typical environment, some teams need little to no supervision to be productive, while others need a lot of hands-on management. Not knowing this prevents leadership from creating the right structure that aids productivity and higher output. 

Learn about their team dynamics to have a better understanding of how they work and the structure that’ll be required. For added help, employ technology with platforms such as the inch team management software. With the software, you can develop an organizational structure that every team member will be aware of. 

Understaffing

Some managers struggle to create structure within their chosen department, and those constantly search for more hands to get work done efficiently. The state of being understaffed is yet another common problem faced by managers of institutions. In most cases, it’s less about the number of people and more about the number of people with skill. 

One skill you need to develop as a manager is identifying when you need to hire more skilled workers to make work easier. As much as possible, ask for assistance from human resource professionals and other managers to ensure that any candidate pursued is well worth your time. These professionals can also help with tasks such as creating a job description, interviews, and even the selection process. 

Communication (or the lack of it)

Managers are often seen as the head and not a part of the team. As a result, there’s always some invisible distance between them and the team they handle. The best way to bridge that gap and overcome this distance issue is to equip yourself with timely, effective communication skills.

Communication done right is a great determinant of success in any team. It involves the development of your speaking and advanced listening skills and identifying the different personality types your team members possess. The personality test is vital because it lets you know the best ways to communicate in a manner that appeals to them instead of attacking them. 

Performance issues and confrontation

The performance of your team often evaluates your job as a manager. Thus, a negative performance puts your position as a manager in a bad light. Performance issues in organizations are crucial because they don’t only affect your role but your entire business as a whole. Low performance means it’s easy for competitors to move your customers over to their side. To curb this issue, one needs to be strategic. 

You must ensure results are made, but not to the detriment of any relationship with your team. It is best to fall back on our communication point, clearly communicating your set goals and targets to be met by the team. Being clear helps you address shortfalls by comparing expectations instead of the actual performance. 

Letting team members go

Managers are tasked with so many responsibilities, one of which includes letting workers go. This is probably the hardest part of any manager’s job, and sadly there’s no easy way around it, no matter how many years of experience you have under your belt. 

The best way to overcome this issue is by undergoing training by your HR team. Ensure you are well equipped with the best ways to act in cases of severe nuisance conduct violations. Doing this provides you with all the right processes to take to avoid any negative results. Letting go of a team member is a tough call to make, but sometimes it helps to improve your team’s performance and your credibility as a manager to all stakeholders involved. Also, when it comes to hiring new employees, you want to think about sustainable leadership and who can make a positive difference in the long term. In the end, who you let go and who you hire will make a huge difference.

Poor teamwork

Departments are called a team, but in many cases, collaboration becomes a difficult task to achieve. One major reason is that team members often spend much time undertaking individual tasks and lose focus on collaboration. You can consider dividing the team into smaller groups or partners during projects. Working together on projects is a great way for your team to learn how to work together. Identify the challenges your team face, and base the content of your project exercises on these. A typical example is focusing on relationship building if your team members know little to nothing about each other. 

Personality traits can also cause poor teamwork. As a manager, you are responsible for identifying the problem and finding ways to make everyone feel comfortable. This can be done by setting aside time for team-building activities that get everyone to interact together in order to build teamwork spirit. This article on the traits of a sigma male on The Truly Charming website can help ensure that you understand how sigma men live and work. Understanding how they think and why they act the way they do can help foster better communication between them and their coworkers.

Time management

Time is important to your business. Wasting time could cost you more in operations as you may lose customers and reduce output. But as a manager, time can elude you while you focus on keeping team members on track. The result is that you struggle to balance your tasks, reducing your productivity drastically. Your best bet is to make use of productivity and time management tools. Schedule times throughout the day when specific tasks will be done, and relay this information to your team, so they know when you’re available. Keep your calendar updated regularly, always keeping all team members in the loop.

As a manager, you’re considered an overseer of all team members. Thus, you’re meant to recognize all the signs associated with productivity, communication, and more and address them in time to prevent a negative escalation. Doing this increases the team’s confidence in you and your belief in yourself to lead and manage a team. With this information provided, we hope you’re in a better position to overcome anything management throws at you with ease.