5 A Day from ACAS is a new management article to help leaders with some fundamentals ..
Five-a-day management fundamentals to help raise UK productivity
The full "Five-a-day Management Fundamentals" are:
Managing work now and in the future- Gains, develops and communicates clear objectives
- Develops action plans
- Monitors work and workloads regularly
- Sees projects/work streams through to delivery
- Looks collaboratively for ways of improving work processes
- Ensures work cover, manages rosters/workloads and discusses these with staff, deals with absence fairly
- Maintains effective working relations with senior managers
Managing the team- Keeps team members informed on what is happening in the organisation.
- Holds regular team meetings with time for questions, discussion and views to be expressed
- Encourages every member of the team to participate
- Allocates and delegates work evenly among the team in line with their level of responsibility and experience
- Allows the team to take some responsibility for work, work allocation and problem solving
- Solves team problems quickly and effectively if need be by taking the issue up to senior management while keeping people informed
- Takes part in the work of the team and joins in
- Mixes with the team in work and at rest times
- Protects the team from excessive work demands, knows when and how to say 'no'
- Understands health and safety issues and the importance of well-being at work
- Helps new team members to assimilate, prepares for team members to move on inside or outside the organisation
Managing the individual- Takes part and takes care in selection and induction to welcome and support the individual
- Sets challenging yet achievable job and performance expectations/targets
- Gives autonomy to let the person get on with the work
- Often reviews performance and gives regular constructive feedback
- Rewards good performance quickly from 'thank you', 'well done' to small gifts or prizes
- Takes appropriate action where there is evidence of poor/unsatisfactory performance, giving opportunities for improvement
- Takes the formal appraisal process seriously showing preparation and time allocation giving priority to development and the future
- Provides coaching and guidance on a regular basis, and is patient
- Shows concern, and takes action, when there are signs of stress, listening in confidence when help is requested or needed
- Shows interest in colleagues and their lives
Managing conflict and difficult situations- Deals with possible conflicts early on, informally where possible
- Acts as a mediator if appropriate showing impartiality and listening to each side
- Talks through grievances and problems as soon as they are raised, before formal procedures are used.
- Knows when to ask for advice and help, using HR as a resource and when to pass the matter on to another manager
- Ensures the formal disciplinary and grievance procedure is used when necessary
- Seeks evidence from all sides before making a decision
- Works constructively with employee representatives
- Looks for causes behind the symptoms
- Focuses on the future
Managing yourself- Understands own stress and ways of dealing with it
- Develops, as far as possible, an open relationship with the boss
- Learns from experience especially 'near misses'
- Looks for support and advice from other line managers and provides support to them
- Keeps on top of work loads and communications
- Knows what is going on in the organisation, keeps in touch and takes part in discussions.
- Is aware of own strengths and weaknesses and develops self confidence by dealing with issues
- Has a strong interest in personal development and learning.
- Believes in the values of integrity and professionalism and expects it from others
- Seeks to be a role model and a leader
- Has a sense of humour and can show 'the human side'
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Another great resource is -
The Model Workplace handbook
These are fab statements, oddly familiar if record keeping .. that could be used for self development, appraisals, reflection, assessment, criteria, observations, attainment, goals ..