In a company of any size, a manager’s job is one of the most important — and one of the hardest.  The qualities of a successful manager have evolved over the past few years with the emergence of new industries and the virtual workforce, but key qualities of a good manager remain the same across the board.

Clear Expectations

Whether you’re managing a team of five or a team of 20, the success of you and your team depends on clear expectations. Your team needs to know what you need from them and when. This is especially important if you have team members who are not working in the same office.  With clear expectations, you can work across time zones with every member of your team knowing the deadlines.

Transparency

Avoid making your employees feel like they’re out of the loop. If you want to keep them motivated, be transparent and available. Let them know what you’re working on and how the work they’re doing for you contributes to the bigger picture. Make them feel invested in what you’re trying to accomplish.

Give Relevant Feedback

Your employees want to improve. So, when you’re giving feedback on a completed project, make it not only constructive, but relevant. You want them to move forward instead of running in place, so make sure your feedback is not uniform. Your feedback should be based on the goals for each project. Were the goals reached? What could’ve been done better? Additionally, the goals that they set for themselves should be trackable.

Encourage Self-Management

Your job as a manager is to delegate and oversee the bigger picture. Your employees should also be showing initiative and self-managing their time, goals and progress. You can help them do this by encouraging them to make smaller, personal goals that will help them complete the project. These goals can be as small as scheduling a progress meeting with you, but they will help your employees move in the right direction.

Don’t Neglect the Watercooler

Not only should your employees be communicating with you, but they should be talking to each other.  As a manager, your job is to make sure that your employees are team players and they know what they’re contributing to the team. Encourage your employees to use their goals as a guide for discussion with each other. As they communicate with each other, they will see what their colleagues are doing and how their work impacts the greater objectives of their peers, their team and of course, the company.

What else does a successful manager do?