Being a manager is difficult. One thing that makes it so hard is the variety of personalities on your team. You probably have a blend of Gen Y, Gen X, and Baby Boomers that create a challenge for making your workplace productive. You might take a one-size-fits-all approach to manage your team, but you‘ll probably get better results by treating everyone a little bit differently.
A firm approach may motivate some workers, while mild encouragement inspires others. The more flexible you are in your managing style, the more effectively your workers will complete their assigned tasks.
Here are some suggestions for incorporating different personalities into your management style and getting the best results:
Identify each employee‘s personality type
Some of your employees are thinkers, and others are feelers. Your thinkers will usually make logical decisions while feelers will base their decisions on relationships and typically choose “good” over what is objectively best for the team. If you’re unsure who fits which type, watch how they react when someone disagrees with them, and you’ll know.
You can then modify your managing style and be a bit more sensitive to the feelers and focus on the logical when dealing with the thinkers.
Build relationships with your people
To connect with those workers who don’t like to be managed, build a relationship with them. If you can accomplish this, they might become some of your most loyal employees.
Raise your standards
If your bar is too low, your workers will set theirs low, too. And when people do run-of-the-mill work, they feel mediocre about their jobs. When that happens, no amount of praise will help.
Try pushing your people to use their skills and to become creative and independent.
Find out what’s most important to them
Gen Y workers want flexibility, freedom, and trust in their workplace. Gen Y is also known to want mentorships with their managers, so be ready to provide them with regular feedback in place of annual reviews. You might even consider creating a leadership development program in which your younger workers are trained to move beyond their job descriptions.
Don‘t take things personally
Many of today‘s younger workers despise a chain of command. So, if you’re going to manage these workers effectively, you‘ll need to continually remind yourself not to take their reluctance to respond to your directions too personally. Instead, identify their personality, gain their trust, and you will eventually notice that things are changing for the better.
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