Stepping into a managerial role often means confronting tasks never mentioned in the job description. From delegating effectively to offering constructive feedback and mastering your calendar, these skills are crucial for your success. However, these skills don’t come naturally—they require practice, experience, and leadership skills often learned on the job rather than through formal training. But knowing is half the battle. The real transformation happens when you’re fully prepared and know how to tackle these obstacles head-on.
In this article, we discuss FIVE common hurdles every manager faces, providing you with relatable scenarios, actionable advice, and a roadmap to navigate these challenges successfully. By understanding and overcoming these obstacles, you’re better equipped to lead your team to success.
1. Setting Objectives
You may have heard the phrase, a goal without a plan is a wish. It’s easy to say the goal out loud, but what matters is figuring out the tactical steps to achieving it.
Setting objectives is the glue that aligns the team around the company’s mission, acting as a roadmap for achieving that mission. They’re not meant to be set in isolation by a single individual but instead developed through ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, peers, and supervisors. Regularly reviewing and adapting these objectives ensure they remain relevant and practical, genuinely becoming a living blueprint for the organization’s path forward.
Not All Objectives Are Created Equal
Setting objections is a complex process that demands a delicate balance between ambition and practicality. Objectives need to be actionable and measurable, but they must also align with the company’s mission and embody its values and strategic direction. This alignment is crucial as it ensures that the team’s efforts contribute meaningfully to the organization’s goals.
The challenge lies in the interconnected nature of the objective setting. An objective for one department can significantly impact the resources or priorities of another. The collective achievement of these objectives shapes the team’s reputation within the organization. Achieve your goals, and you’ll build trust and influence. If you fall short, you may need help to garner support in the future.
2. Delivering & Receiving Feedback
Giving and receiving feedback presents a unique challenge for managers. The process is as nuanced as critical, with the interpretation of feedback often being just as impactful as its content. Effective feedback must be tailored to the recipient, considering their receptiveness and career aspirations. It should be specific, but the manner of delivery—choosing the right tone—is equally, if not more, crucial. This ensures that feedback is not only heard but also acted upon constructively.
For managers, creating an environment where others welcome feedback is essential for staying in tune with the team and their peers. Yet, maintaining authority while being open to feedback from subordinates requires a careful balance. This dynamic can feel counterintuitive; receiving feedback may undermine one’s leadership. However, it’s a fundamental aspect of growth and connection with the team.
It’s Our Feels That Get in The Way
The difficulty in delivering constructive, actionable feedback lies in several factors. First, it demands a level of discipline and emotional intelligence from the manager—qualities that may not always align with conventional leadership models. Acknowledging feedback from subordinates without perceiving it as a threat to authority challenges traditional notions of leadership. It requires seeing feedback not as criticism but as an opportunity for mutual growth and improvement.
Moreover, selecting the appropriate tone for feedback is pivotal. How a message is conveyed can significantly influence the recipient’s perception of its importance and how they should respond. This sensitivity ensures feedback leads to positive changes rather than defensiveness or resentment.
Creating a feedback-rich environment might be challenging, but it’s incredibly rewarding. It strengthens communication, enhances team dynamics, and promotes a culture of ongoing learning and development.
3. Delegating
Delegation is the secret sauce for operational efficiency and team development. It involves choosing whether to delegate a problem for strategic resolution or a task for execution. This strategic decision is crucial for achieving both growth and team development. By entrusting team members with significant responsibilities and the autonomy to make decisions, you start to build a culture of trust and empowerment. Proper delegation allows managers to focus on broader strategic goals while providing team members with valuable opportunities for growth and development.
It Takes Practice & Up-Front Time
The complexity of delegation lies in the nuances of its execution. Determining when to delegate a problem and when to delegate a task requires a deep understanding of your team’s capabilities and the specific context of the work. It demands trust in your team’s abilities and a commitment to clear, concise communication.
Delegating a problem involves aligning on key issues and setting clear parameters for updates and check-ins. On the other hand, delegating tasks requires outlining specific tactical steps and anticipating potential questions. This process is not only about assigning responsibilities; it’s about providing the proper context and direction to ensure success.
Arguably the biggest challenge is to invest sufficient time upfront in setting clear expectations and providing the necessary context. Yet, mastering this balance is essential for leveraging delegation as a powerful tool for enhancing team capability and achieving operational excellence.
4. Cascade Messaging
Do you know how sometimes you learn something, and you think, “Wow, that would have been helpful to know sooner?? This is when cascade messaging goes wrong.
Your job as a manager is to keep the necessary parts of your organization informed and current with other relevant company information. Since you’re the one in meetings, emails, or chats, and your team isn’t, it’s crucial that you effectively filter and relay information. There are three main types of information to cascade: corporate messages, meeting outcomes and decisions, and general company direction or “reading the tea leaves.” Whether you’re sharing this information in real-time or after the fact, the goal is to promptly communicate the necessary details to the right people.
Context is King
Understanding the context level and detail to include makes a message resonate rather than just being another piece of information. A vital skill for managers is distinguishing between what information will impact the team and what will merely interest them. This often means striking a balance between oversharing, which can spark rumors and panic, and under sharing, which leaves people out of the loop.
Considering “What needs to be shared?” and “Who really needs this information?” helps prevent confusion. For instance, discussing an audit with those unaffected can cause unnecessary worry. Sharing the correct information with the appropriate people simplifies everyone’s work, enhances clarity, and builds a more informed and cohesive team.
5. Managerial Administration
The last challenge we’ll cover is all the “office work” that comes with managing teams. As a manager these are table-stakes and until you’re managing others you may not notice how much of a resource drain they can cause.
These tasks include the meetings your team requires to operate and stay connected, 1:1, departmental townhall, manager meetings, and performance management tasks like recruiting, onboarding, performance reviews and professional development. Done right, and you’ll feel organized and prepared and the staff will know what to expect and how to meet expectations.
Getting Over The Hurdle
Administrative tasks hit you in the face right away. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and wonder, “When will I have time to do what I was hired for?”
The transition from being on the receiving end of administrative tasks to managing them requires a significant shift in skills and mindset. The “Just in Time” nature of many administrative tasks can lead to procrastination and burnout, complicating time management and prioritization efforts.
These Challenges can be Conquered
Recognizing managerial challenges is the first step to making improvements for you and your team. Being a manager means building new ‘muscle.’ Thinking you can move into management without preparing for common tasks is a mistake that can lead to unnecessary problems and stress.
Facing tasks like setting clear goals or giving good feedback is a chance to get better at leading. It’s more than just coping with challenges; it’s about proactively adapting, strategizing, and fostering a team as driven as it is proficient. Acknowledging and embracing these challenges set the stage for transforming from a good manager into an exceptional leader.
