6 Mistakes Every Leader Should Avoid While Managing Their Teams

A key understanding to leadership is that the people hire people, who hire people, who hire people and somewhere within those three generations of hiring, there are leaders who have to handle these people. There will be a lot of things you will learn from one of the Top 10 MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, but today we have come up with a list of mistakes you need to avoid making while managing your team:

 

          1. My Way Or The Highway (MWOH) : Everyone has something useful to offer in terms of thoughts, ideas and suggestions. MWOH is fueled by the insecurity of a leader who wants to create an environment of control. Ideas do not always have to flow from you because you are only one person and you can’t think of everything. By listening to your team, not only will you create a feeling of involvement but will also improve the overall performance of the team by encouraging a sense of  ownership.

          2. All About The Numbers : In simpler terms, if it is  not making dollars, it doesn’t make sense. But numbers only become a problem when you lay too much focus on them and forgetting the team of people who are making those numbers happen. In your race to put numbers on the chart, you may lose sight of the “how.” So always keep people supreme and focus on creating a healthy team.

 

          3. Talk But Don’t Listen : This is one of the major mistake, leaders make. They only talk and they don’t take the opinions of others. Studies have shown that if people are not heard, they will cease to say the things that matter.

          4. Change Things Just For The Sake Of It : Change is the law of nature but it should not be forced just to prove that you support change. It is a universal fact that any change that happens is difficult not only on leaders but on every single employee in the organisation. A good leader surveys the impact, timing and necessity of change before even planning to bring the change.

 

          5. They Just Don’t Care : This is one of the most common mistake a leader makes. Handling a team is no easy task. There would be always a temptation to stop caring about the team and just do what you think is right without taking into account the needs and wants of the team. Such mistake can go a long way in destroying your team and your leadership as a whole.  I’ll close with the words of John Maxwell, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

 

          6. Unwilling To Receive Candid Feedback : “I am a leader and I am perfect.” This is an ultimate ingredient to disaster of your leadership career. As a leader, if you are not open to a feedback from your employee, you are going in an extremely wrong direction. We all learn throughout our life and our resistance towards feedback hampers our ability to grow and further succeed in life. As a leader, if you really want to keep improving, be open to a positive feedback and try to lead your team with open mind.

How To Stand Out In A Meeting?

Meetings are part and parcel of a workplace. As a student of one of the Top MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, you might already be aware of the importance of meetings. In order to establish yourself as an emerging leader or the leader of the future, you need to stand out in important meetings. Such meetings can help you create a lasting impression and thus can help you move up the career leader. Standing out in a meeting helps you create your brand and establish yourself as a thought leader.

Once you have completed your MBA in one of the Best MBA Colleges in Hyderabad, the below tips will be very useful:

1. Know Your Agenda

The worst mistake one can make while attending a meeting is going unprepared. Doing your homework before entering into the meeting, not only will establish that you are serious about your work but it will also pose you as a responsible leader who respects his and other people’s time.

2. Know The Purpose Of The Meeting

A business meeting can be called due to any reason. Some of the purposes can be:

1. To make a decision.
2. To brainstorm over something.
3. To make an announcement.
4. To test out a presentation.
5. To create a process.

Know the reason before entering into the meeting as it will help you prepare yourself accordingly. Knowing the purpose of the meeting beforehand would help you keep the discussion to the point making it more effective and meaningful.

 

3. Identify Your Significance In The Meeting

This is extremely important as it will help you make your presence felt in the meeting in a much better way. For example, if the meeting is about brainstorming ideas on how to boost sale, you can use your experience in your department and come up with innovative ideas before entering into the meeting. A meeting  where you think you won’t be able to contribute in a significant manner, it is better not to attend or attend as a concluder who will listen to everyone, make notes and conclude at the end. This is a great way in making your presence felt even though you had nothing significant to contribute in the meeting.

4. Prepare Yourself Well

This is the key to outshine in a meeting. The goal should always be to contribute to the meeting in a way that reinforces your own agenda. Do a thorough research of the topics that will be discussed.

 

5. Gather Your Ideas

Gather your ideas before entering into the meeting and as the meeting progresses, take notes. Constantly look for the areas of discussion where you can add value, burnish your reputation, or push your own agenda.  

6. Read The Room, Then Contribute

The last and most effective trick to contributing to a meeting is to make your remarks toward the end of that part of the discussion. Speak confidently while expressing your views and in complete sentences. Take a sense of how everyone is reacting to your points and then act accordingly.

How to Drive Employee Motivation by Encouraging Ownership

One of the most important lesson you will learn in your PG Diploma in Business Management is how motivation can help you achieve the desired level of efficiency and performance in your employees. As a business leader, you are already responsible for a lot of things. You have to perform certain tasks as an important asset of the company at the same time keep your talented team motivated and upbeat on a daily basis.

You will come across a lot of management theories while pursuing your diploma from one of the Top PGDM Colleges in Hyderabad that will teach you how to keep your employees motivated at the same time urging them to work up to their maximum potential. While there are a lot of techniques of instilling motivation in your employees, one of the most effective technique is  encouraging ownership. Studies have shown that when employees have more autonomy at work, they are more satisfied with what they are doing and therefore they put in their 100% effort in the work resulting into increased productivity and a better performance.

So What Exactly Is Autonomy?

Joan F. Cheverie, manager of professional development programs at the higher education and IT nonprofit EDUCAUSE, writes “Autonomy is people’s need to perceive that they have choices, that what they are doing is of their own volition, and that they are the source of their own actions.”

In simpler words, it is a basic human nature not to obey orders. Every human has a tendency to rebel and thereby prefer to work in their own sweet way. Therefore a good manager is the one who allows his team to work whatever way they like as long as the work is getting done up to the mark and on time. This means letting go of  the control and make your team in charge of certain things. “Autonomy, in other words, is the antithesis of micromanagement.”

Cheverie says “Instead of focusing on the minute details, you now need to direct your focus to the goals and strategic objectives for each staff member. Let them take care of the minor details of meeting those expectations. If you are able to create autonomy while holding people accountable for stated goals and objectives, you’ll find that the details get done without your having to worry about them.”

You can encourage autonomy by doing the following.

1. Start With The Why - Why the work your doing is crucial for the company? The answer to this instills the employee with a sense of responsibility that if the work is not done due to any reason, the company is going to suffer and so will their future in it.

2. Allow Them To Speak Up - A good manager is the one who encourages a two way communication. Only then would you be able to achieve the sense of ownership in the employees as they would feel that they have been part of the work since the very beginning and that the work is not being imposed on them.

3. Leave The How To The Employee - Let them decide how will they achieve the task with an assurance in the background that you are there to assist them or support them if anything at all goes wrong. This sense of assurance creates a level of confidence that encourages the employees to take risk and work without fear.

4 Ways To Make Yourself Indispensable To Your Organisation

The real competitive advantage in any business is one word only, which is “people”. — KamilToume, Writer & Thought Leader

Freshly out of your PGDM college, it is time for you to enter into the organisation world and make your mark. Where hard work and knowledge gained from PG Diploma courses are crucial, one thing that will help you and your company succeed is working towards constant self-growth and making yourself an important asset of your company. Here is a list of 4 ways to make yourself indispensable to your organisation:

1. The Power Of Relationships

Man is a social animal and life is all about making meaningful relationships. People make or break companies. People hire and fire people. Companies don’t perform these actions. It is important to work hard and be a competent and irreplaceable employee but you also need to be constantly likeable and try to fit in with the corporate culture. Maintaining a good relationship with the people who you work with, will increase your chances to get chosen for leadership roles or be part of groups within the workplace.

 

2. Over Deliver

In an organization, doing a tiny bit more than what is expected out of you will help you go a LONG way in the overall perception of your performance and would further increase your value. Even if he is not your direct manager, being proactive can help you make your way back to your superiors and create an impression that will last for a long time. Over-delivering or going that extra mile would help you establish yourself a thought leader and a responsible person that other people could look up to.

3. Expand Your Responsibilities

Expanding the second point further, it’s important to gradually expand your responsibilities as soon as the opportunity presents itself. There could be a new project coming up in the organisation or someone might be leaving the organisation and their role needs to be split up for the time being. Such opportunities are a great way to demonstrate your potential and establish yourself as a great leader. Volunteering to take on some of the additional work will position you as a team player, and will also make you a valuable and indispensable asset of the company.

4. Establish Your Expertise

This is an extremely important point that will not only make you an irreplaceable asset of the company but will also help you build your brand across the company. Becoming an expert at something would help you become an important part of the organization and will further make you an invaluable resource. In order to establish your expertise, participate in industry events, write articles for third-party publications, volunteer to carry out training programs and extend help to anyone who asks for it. A selfless help never goes unrewarded, especially in the workplace. It will help you become an expert leader and would create your brand in the company.

Why Networking Is Vital For Your Career Growth?

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou

That is the power of networking and it is an art that is going to help you build your career once you are out of your PGDM College in Hyderabad. For those pursuing their PGDM in Hyderabad, networking is beneficial to your careers. It is often mistaken to be useful while you are job hunting, but connecting with other professionals can help you succeed in every aspect of your career.

There are a lot of benefits that comes with networking and proves that Networking is not an option but an essential element in your career growth. Here is a list of few of those benefits:

1. Makes You Visible

As we move up the career ladder, the opportunities get skewed and a fight for visibility and standing apart begins. Making yourself more visible in the workplace is both skill and hard work. One of the major benefit that comes with networking is that you become more visible thus helping you make better connections with clients, associates etc.

2. Opens Doors To New Opportunities

Second most important benefit of networking is that it opens new doors of opportunities for you wherein you get approached by recruiters as well as the people who would like to work with you on a freelance basis. Networking makes sure that an opportunity to advance your career will present itself and that too real soon. These opportunities would not only be coming from outside but would also present itself from inside the company wherein the boss of your boss notices you and see the potential you have to achieve bigger things in life and therefore would help you move up the career ladder.

3. Expands Your Support Network

Having strong networking skills help you build a strong support network that can assist you at every stage of your career. In other words, with a large interwoven network that is spreading across various departments, it would not be difficult for you to get any work done. This would not only help you achieve greater results in your present work but would also make you an ultimate go to person for any accountable work.

4. Gets You Promoted

So who do you think is going to promote you in your job. Obviously someone who knows someone who in turn knows someone else. The art of networking would help you be present in the eyes of those who are looking for potential leaders within the company. People who are ready to move up the career ladder and do bigger things for themselves as well as the organisation as a whole. Getting your point across all by yourself is difficult and is even futile at times but having a reliable source sending your message to the higher authorities can gain you a lot of credibility and thus open up brand new career prospects for you.