Most entrepreneurs are first-time managers and we should admit that doing things for the first time can be intimidating.
Greg Skloot, the Founder of Weekly Update answered this prime question about the best way to manage employees in a Startup.
Remove Ambiguity
The #1 cause of bad management in startups is ambiguity. This means people not understanding what their role is, what their goals are or who they report to.
Plan your goals every year, quarter and month. Get everyone together, brainstorm what is most important for your company to gain momentum and write that shit down. Post it up on the wall. Make sure nobody is confused on what it means.
Create Accountability
Everyone needs to have clear projects and tasks that they own and are responsible for. Each week, you should be reviewing everyone’s plans, progress and problems. Get this written down.
If someone says they are going to launch a new landing page this week, and Monday rolls around and our website still looks like it was built in 1995, we know they didn’t deliver.
Hold everyone accountable for doing what they say they are going to do. Get them in writing.
Focus on Communication
Your team needs to be talking, a lot. If something is broken, it needs to be brought to the surface. If you need help, ask for it. As a manager, you need to build processes (like meetings and written updates) and a culture that encourages frequent communication. It will solve like 94% of your other problems.
Give more responsibility
People don’t join startups because they love to work 80 hours a week and get paid in free Red Bull.
People join startups because they want to have more responsibility than they deserve.
Give it to them.
Find every opportunity you can to give your team members more responsibility and leadership opportunities. Give them ways to learn as much as possible. This is the #1 way to keep them motivated.
Recognize positives and coach negatives
Good managers take every opportunity possible to give praise when someone does a good job. This provides positive re-enforcement… if we want someone to keep doing a good thing, tell them they did well so they know.
At the same time, constructive criticism is your best friend. Your employees will only improve if you tell them when they are doing things wrong. This is a perfect opportunity to be a coach and guide your employees towards improving.
So, focus on building your team and leave the payroll calculation and HR management processes to HReasily.
*This article is written by Riesintiya Aska for Startup HR Community, which is organized by HReasily.
About Riesintiya Aska
Tiya is an experienced Customer Service and Sales Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and customer service industry. Skilled in People Development, Customer Service, Sales, Lead Generation, and Marketing.
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