Managing the office in a fair and efficient manner is incredibly important but how do you achieve this? First of all, you need to ensure that you have your priorities straight. If your staff has a positive opinion about you, the chances are that they’ll respect you more. However, how your staff feels about you is not as important as how much they respect you. These two things are not necessarily connected. Also, managing your expectations and being able to accurately access the situation in the office is just as important. Here are several tips on how you can get there.

  • Communicate

Being a manager of any kind is incredibly easy as long as you’re not afraid to communicate with your staff. Keep in mind that a lot of your employees won’t have a problem in executing your orders to the letter, however, for this to work, the orders need to be clear. Also, remind them constantly that they should come to you with any complaint. Some people are reluctant to speak up so try asking them questions instead of expecting for them to spontaneously just come out. Most importantly, every one of your employees should have the privilege of one-on-one time with you.

  • Be realistic

By setting unrealistic expectations, you’re bound to be disappointed. Most importantly, this disappointment will be on you and you alone. For instance, it would be great if your staff could be at work 10 minutes early. However, if the workday starts at 8:00 AM you have no right to expect them to be there at 7:50 AM. It would be nice if they could be there early and stay late but there’s no obligation for them to do so. Expecting your staff to be more dedicated is great but don’t expect them to put their job before their private lives or long-term goals.

  • Training and development are pivotal

Every enterprise has its own rules, forms and formats. If you’re taking someone with a lot of industry-specific experience, you can only hope that they will adopt the business practices of your enterprise sooner, not that they will already know them. Every enterprise is completely different. Even if they’re doing the same type of work, the paperwork procedure, the tools used and the chain of command may be different. This is why the role of HR training and development in your business is such a big issue.

  • Lead by an example

People around the office see you as someone who profits the most out of their work. If you are an owner, you get the most respect from the business community and the biggest slice of the cake (profit-wise). If you’re a manager, you’re the one who gets praised for every completed task and every profitable quarter. So, if you don’t seem to care, why should they? Try leading by example. By this, we mean that you should be to work early, give as involved as possible and always try to appear motivated for work.

  • Solve problems

Every now and then, people will come to you with problems. There are a lot of these problems that you will be able to solve in a matter of hours. For instance, if they want a new coffee maker, you shouldn’t wait until the next quarter to do so. Instead, just go out and get one for your staff. If they complain about something that bothers them at work, put it to a vote and then actively decide what to do about it. People hate feeling like their words are being ignored. By being more active you will show them that they make a difference.

  • Try to be as unbiased as possible

While it is important to show your human side to your staff, you need to remember that running the office on your instinct isn’t always going to be fair. Now, while it is not your goal to be fair 100% of the time, some people might feel left behind this way. So, if you have a set of rules, try to let everyone know what these rules were in advance. Then, make sure that these rules apply to everyone. It might be harsh but harsh and fair is more than ok.

In conclusion

In the end, you need to understand the importance of setting your criteria for successful management. What is the priority? Is it talent retention, productivity, positive workplace culture or something else entirely? Just remember that with either of the items listed in the previous sentence, following the above-mentioned six arts of managing an office can get you what you want. Just keep in mind that all of it takes time. Therefore, you need to exercise consistency. Day in and day out, you need to abide by those six rules if you want to get the desired results.