How to Avoid Irritating your Employees

Irritating your employees is one of the biggest mistakes that any manager can make. However, if you have become a source of irritation to your staff may not always be easy to spot. You may only find out about your irritating habits or leadership style when issues come to a head. Or, you may have noticed that morale is dropping and productivity is lacking.

If you suspect that you are irritating your employees, there are a few simple steps you can do to rectify the situation. If you are in the fortunate situation that you have a great working relationship with your staff, then these top tips will prevent you from irritating your employees in the future.

So, before others start talking about your leadership style, here are ways that you can avoid becoming that irksome manager that no one likes.

Don’t Make Everyone a Manager

In an effort to boost morale, some managers and business owners make the mistake of assigning managerial titles to almost every position in the company. Very often, when there are too many managers, there is nothing to manage and productivity can grind to a halt. Too many managers in a company can also be a source of conflict between staff members.

Of course, it’s necessary that every member of staff has a sense of responsibility and they feel that they are an important part of the team. But, there is an old adage: “too many cooks spoil the broth.” Having too many managers in a company ends up “spoiling” services the company provides.

So, organise teams and groups of staff members into manageable groups with team leader or manager and give each team member a measure of responsibility for their own tasks.

Micromanaging

One of the most annoying qualities of any manager is if they feel the need to micromanage everything. If each member feels a responsibility for their own tasks without someone looking over their shoulder, they are more likely to do a better job.

So, how do you know that you are starting the annoying habit of micromanaging your staff? Here are 4 tell-tale signs of micromanagement:

• You have to be involved in everything your staff members are doing, including authorizing all tweets, blogs, and emails that are sent out.
• If you always feel that your way is the best way, then you may be starting to become a source of frustration to your employees. It may even stop them trying to do their best.
• Thinking that staff is always wasting time and resources may be a clue that your management style is becoming irritating. Especially if you always need to see itemised lists for expenditure.
• You organise endless meetings. It is necessary that managers and employees get together to discuss important matters. However, calling meetings for trivial matters, insisting that everyone is present even if the subject doesn’t involve them, or having unnecessary long meetings can all be a source of frustration.

Not Moving with the Times

There can be nothing more frustrating than having a manager who is stuck in his/her ways and refuses to move with the times. Employees will lose heart if they always have to do things the boss’s way or can’t use their innovation to get tasks done properly. As competition increases in the global market, it’s important that managers allow staff to use their initiative to find ways to stay ahead and keep the business moving forward.

Overworking Employees

Hard work and determination are qualities that are essential in the workplace. However, don’t irritate your dedicated staff by overworking them. One area where managers often fail is giving more tasks to those who perform better. While this may seem a good solution, it is a policy that is very short-sighted. In the end, you will end up losing your best employees and may even see a reduction in productivity.