How do you know as a manager that you have had a good year?

Here are the 5 things that will tell you.

1. You have less to do!
Most managers do not believe that their purpose in life is to make themselves redundant! In fact managers generally behave in a way that makes them essential to the business and create work. But if your responsibility is to develop the people who report to you, delegate tasks effectively, increase efficiency and eliminate waste then the logical outcome of great management is that you will have less and less to do. The key question is…… what you do with the time you have freed up?

2. You have dealt with a poor performer.
Sorry about this, but every team, group or organisation will have people who are not making a contribution. No matter how much we focus on positivity, develop high performers and build teams there is always someone to be dealt with. It is difficult and sometimes easier to ignore it. But in my view, confronting the issue always has a positive outcome even though there may be short term pain.

3. You find the business environment is simple, not complex.
Be concise, get to the point, and make it simple. Few people can deliver the simplicity that is the foundation of superb communication. Instead they mistakenly assume that the boss or their direct reports will be impressed by long presentations to show how much they know, or that they will win people over by talking more, not less. There is a lack of appreciation that in today’s world all information is available through the internet, knowledge is no longer power! It is your ability to synthesise, to connect the dots in new ways, to ask the simple smart questions that lead to untapped opportunities.

4. You realise that the right Attitude is the most important thing in an employee.
In recent study the Harvard Business School stated that 14 of the success of an employee is related to their technical ability, their skill or knowledge but that 86 of an employee’s success is due to their attitude, intention and sense of purpose.

5. And finally, you have performed well with your Key Performance Indicators.
This is obvious, I hear you say, except for the many people who have been too busy to develop KPI’s. Or maybe you have agreed them at the start of the year but you are not sure what they are now. Many companies lack the discipline to agree meaningful performance indicators and regularly review progress. This discipline is fundamental to avoiding the “busy fool” behaviour which is all too common in business today. If we take the points 1 to 4 above seriously then we will avoid the “busy fool” syndrome.

Don’t worry, in a few weeks you get the chance to start again. Happy New Year!