8 Common manager mistakes & how to avoid them

Most managers live in an imaginative environment where they are confident that they are on top of their game.

The hard truth, however, is that they stumble on common and silly mistakes.

A recent survey indicated that more than 50% of managers underperform consistently for the initial 18 months when they are new to the designation.

Bringing my vast experience in the field to the table, I have penned down this article that talks about the most common manager mistakes. I have also shared ways to avoid them.

So, if you are a new manager or aspiring to become a manager, you are at the right place. It will help you pep up your preparation and arm yourself against making these simple mistakes.

Check out our guide to the top 9 silly project management mistakes to avoid

When do managers make mistakes?

Managers tend to make mistakes when they behave like hubris i.e., when they become overconfident in their skills and abilities.

Let me just put this out honestly. I have noticed this several times in my workplace. Potential employees perform exceedingly well under pressure, but when they get to the position of leading a team – they falter.

The other reasons include the absence of timely feedback, lack of empathy, micromanagement, ineffective strategic management, and minimal intent in building healthy relationships.

Managerial roles come with heavy expectations. Accidental managers and ad-hoc managers are the types of managers who make mistakes quite frequently.

At this point, it would be biased, if I do not mention that mistakes are not only limited to such managers. Even experienced managers tend to make mistakes due to occupational burnout or stress.

Let us now get to the real deal and talk about the common mistakes managers make. You will also get to know the methods that will help you in overcoming these mistakes.

8 common mistakes managers make

1. Failing to transition from worker to manager

To some people managerial designation comes like a lottery. The clause ‘accidental managers’ was coined to categorize such managers. The problem arises when they are not able to transition their behavior from a worker to a manager.

These new managers continue doing most of the work themselves and do not believe in delegation. In other cases, they delegate almost everything and stand with an iron rod for submission before the deadline.

Although workers tend to train and mentally prepare themselves before taking up managerial positions, new managers more or less face this problem of transitioning.

How to avoid it

• Concentrate on enhancing your time management skills and self-awareness in the workplace. Continuous training and practice help to improve your managerial skills especially when you are new.
• Do not force yourself with pressure to learn all the skills right at the start. You get accustomed to the process of delegating work over time and with practice.
• You can attend training sessions on workload distribution that will help you delegate tasks to team members evenly.

2. Failing to establish clear goals and expectations

Setting clear goals and expectations conveys a clear picture to your team members. This eliminates confusion and lays out a clear roadmap towards the smooth functioning of the team.

Managers need to be the center point around which various activities revolve. In general terms, this refers to standing tall as a lighthouse assisting your team members in the steady progression of the task.

When you fail to convey your expectations to your team members, they end up putting in efforts in the wrong direction. This further results in delays and unsatisfactory performance from your team.

How to avoid it

• Have open conversations with your team members and include your team in the decision-making process.
• Incorporate SMART goals – SMART goals stand for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. This helps you set realistic goals.
• Use a centralized communication channel for the process. Clear and transparent communications keep the entire team on the same page. They understand their goals and expectations and work accordingly.

3. Micromanaging every detail

As a manager, you should limit yourself to strategic planning and delegating tasks. Monitoring a task’s progress is essential but should not become a major role in your day-to-day responsibilities.

Further, micromanaging is irritating and demotivating. Your team members will lose interest in coming up with innovative ideas and will be struck working in a small vicious circle.

Let me share an alarming statistic with you that shows the ill effects of micromanagement. 59% of employees have more or less been managed by a micromanager in their career and out of this 68% complained that this lowered their morale while 55% claimed it hampered their productivity.

Instead of contemplating task progression, you need to look ahead for potential obstacles that may derail the project flow. Avoid jumping to conclusions as you may make wrong assumptions in the process.

How to avoid it

• Offer your help only when you are sure that your team members want it. Do not poke your nose over petty issues that they can solve themselves.
• Specify your involvement and define your management style. Clearly indicate to your team members that you are here only to assist and help. This will give your team members a clear definition of your role and your team members.
• Use a project management tool to have a centralized and wide view of the project progression and effective performance appraisal.

Minimize micromanagement with these top 11 project scheduling software and let your team members work independently

4. Not delegating tasks effectively

If being an effective manager is an art, then delegating tasks effectively is the first brushstroke!

There are two important aspects when it comes to delegating tasks effectively. First, the crucial tasks that you should complete yourself. Second, the potential of your team members to complete the task that you are assigning them.

The basic mistake new managers make is when they are not able to distinguish between the tasks they should delegate and the tasks they should not delegate.

Further, delegation also involves you to monitor the overall workload of your team members. This is possible when you research and understand the insights about the individual potential of your team members so that you can assign tasks to them accordingly.

How to avoid it

• Specify outcomes for various tasks in terms of clear quantifiable and measurable terms. Take into consideration the resources you have and their individual capabilities.
• Provide efficient descriptions of tasks and processes. In cases where your descriptions are vague, your team members find it difficult to complete those tasks.
• Do not delegate complex and important tasks to your team members, especially to junior members. Expecting them to learn and develop is the right attitude, but large and complex tasks would end up demotivating them.

5. Failing to provide effective feedback

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve.” – Bill Gates

The continuous feedback mechanism comes in as one of the most important tasks of a manager. Your team members need to have a clear picture of their overall contribution to the company.

Feedback is not limited to improvements and pinpointing mistakes. You should also incorporate appreciation and positive comments in your feedback mechanism.

Effective feedback consists of both positive and negative feedback that directly contributes to the overall growth and development of an individual.

Further, regular and timely feedback ensures that the project is on track and overcomes potential roadblocks with ease.

How to avoid it

• Avoid giving feedback to your employees in open and public places. You may hurt their sentiments in the process.
• Respect your team members, mind your language, and provide them with constructive feedback for efficient motivation to improve their performance. 
• A feedback sandwich lowers the impact of your feedback. This creates a confused approach and does not provide a clear image to your team members.

Manage your feedback mechanism with these 11 Performance Management Tools for understanding your team member’s potential

6. Ignoring conflict and disagreements

As managers, you need to be quick to solve organizational conflicts and disagreements. Over time, small conflicts bloom and grow into major misunderstandings. 

You need to solve differences at the grassroots level. As conflicts grow, it can have a detrimental impact on the interpersonal relationship between your team members. 

Ignoring conflicts and disagreements leads to a cold war-like situation. You will not be able to solve it, till it bursts up as a major issue. This hinders the productivity and steady progress of the project.

Eventually, this leads to social alienation and the creation of a toxic environment. This will increase the attrition rate and make it difficult for new recruitment.

How to avoid it

• Solve conflicts as and when they arise. Letting a conflict grow will eventually create more trouble for you and your team as a whole.
• One of the easiest methods to avoid conflicts is persuasion. This provides employees some buffer time to understand each other’s perspectives.
• Use the WIIFM concept. The What’s In It For Me concept provides a clear picture to your team members about their role and weight in various conflicts.

Celebrate small wins with Announcements on ProofHub

7. Failing to recognize and reward achievements

In one of the previous points, we talked about the need for effective feedback, but one thing that most managers miss out on is that they take a back seat when it comes to employee recognition.

Employees crave recognition and achievements. Failure to do so results in significant hindrances to employee morale. They lose faith in the organizational culture and fail to put in that extra effort to carry forward the business legacy.

Lack of recognition and appreciation impacts employee retention resulting in financial mismanagement. When you reward the achievements of your employees their commitment and loyalty towards the company is boosted.

Further, when your team members are not properly recognized, this builds up resentment and frustration. The social interaction among team members is hindered, resulting in lower productivity.

How to avoid it

• Build a culture of real-time recognition. Celebrate small wins in the moment. Do not postpone celebrations to a future date. The essence of the victory would be dry by that date.
• Appreciate team members for the time and the extra effort they put into completing tasks on time. This shows that you value their contributions to the overall success of the company.
• Recognize and appreciate your team members publicly. When team members are appreciated by peers they feel acknowledged for the hard work they put in for the business.

8. Not adapting to change effectively

Quoting from the most famous line of Heraclitus, “Change is the only constant.” If you are unwilling to change, you are more or less going to perish soon.

Adapting to change is not limited to a certain section of the working professional. As managers, we go through situations that decide and shape the future of the company as well as the performance of the team.

Being ready to change does not mean that you accept changes that come up. But you decide the factors that influence and change you. This decision plays a key role in your growth.

How to avoid it

• Being receptive and open to feedback from different members irrespective of their designation. This provides you with an effective platform to accept suggestions from others and incorporate them into your work culture.
• Focus on effective structured data that will assist you in accepting statistics and give you a valid and strong reason to accept an upcoming change.
• Be excited for change. Do not frown on changing your workflow or adapting a change to your schedule. A positive mindset not only makes it easy for you but your entire team members to accept change.

In addition to these common mistakes, you can read useful online resources for project managers to learn methodologies that will assist you in overcoming common challenges at your workplace.

Tips for being an effective manager

In this section, we will learn skills that an effective manager must have.

• Be a role model

A manager should carry the entire team together. They can be likened to a snow blower! Accountability and mentorship are key indicators of your management style.

By clearing the path of obstacles and providing a clear vision to the team, effective managers ensure seamless progression and timely completion of projects.

• Be a good listener

Becoming a manager does not make you Hitler!

Always be open to suggestions and feedback. Respect the opinions of your team members. People skills improve the way you communicate and interact with your team members.

Ensure that you are truly listening to your employees when they are talking to you. Active listening plays a major role when it comes to personal improvement.

• Be empathetic

Try to see things from your employees’ perspective.

This does not mean that you become so empathetic to pardon the mistakes of your team members repeatedly!

Before you make a decision, put yourself in the shoes of your employees and think about what you would go through. This way you will be able to decide calmly and also come out with the most effective solution.

• Be fair and consistent

“Favoritism is proof that the very best isn’t appreciated.” — Joe Cervantes

Integrity and transparency play a key role in building rapport with your team members. Unfair treatment or partiality portrays you as a derogated manager. Your team members are demotivated and do not put in that extra effort.

When you are consistent, your team members take that as an example and show up every day. This is an effective strategy when building a strong team for quick and efficient upscaling.

• Be humble

“Humility is the solid foundation of all virtues.” – Confucius

Accept your mistakes, and learn things that you do not know. Do not keep ‘running in circles’. This will eventually not help you in completing tasks or achieving your goals.

Being open, humble, and down to earth also provides your team members with sufficient space to approach you and thereby work efficiently as a team.

• Use a digital tool – ProofHub

Now this is like a cheat code! No pun intended.

With advanced technology, project management tools like ProofHub provide you with a centralized platform for planning, scheduling, delegating, and monitoring the overall progress of various tasks and projects.

Multiple task list views – board view, table view, calendar, and Gantt chart provide you with wide visibility and progression of the project. This helps you avoid micromanagement and lead your team with ease.

Read this article that answers all your questions. How to become a project manager an efficient project manager?

Bid goodbye to mistakes

If you spot any mistakes that you have made in your schedule before, it is time for you to rectify them. After all, humans are bound to make mistakes. Whether you are getting promoted as the Chief Executive Officer or just starting off as a manager, pay close attention to the basics and fly high in your role.

The key point here is to ensure that you learn from your mistakes and do not end up repeating them again. I am sure this article must have enlightened you on various aspects of overcoming your leadership lapses and becoming an efficient manager.

Don’t stop learning and improving, become a good manager at the workplace now!!

FAQs about manager mistakes