We've heard about it and we're fearful, but we're all infected. It goes beyond human reasonableness and takes over the mechanical sense of survival of bosses and owners where no procedures manual or company culture resists.
We could reflect on how it becomes more evident in high season, but it's not true. So how does the "disease" of micro-management manifest itself and how to actually be a good leader?
First, let's start by breaking ground in the sphere of leadership: why do we need leaders when most of the time companies are on autopilot and everything flows? More profitability here, less occupancy there, revenue indicators point to optimistic results and produce beautiful graphics together with Artificial Intelligence that illuminates the path to correctly managing the exact rate for the right customer. Wasn't it everything we ever dreamed of?
For what people? Ah... ok, let's go back to leadership and remember that we're talking about service here. Pure and hard hotel management that begins and ends with a concept: hospitality . From hospitality towards guests (paying customers) and towards those at home (internal customers, team). Is there empathy happening with managers or is everything fair because there is supply? It's not worth throwing the hat at Branding and Marketing-will-save-us for a company's reputation will darken in proportion to its actions toards staff, not limiting to guest reviews and quality stamps accumulating like stickers booklet. And it's like a television advertisement "what you work inside, shows outside!"
And because at TH2 we are for creative hotel management and happiness in the hotel industry, we share 5 tips for those managers who know how important it is to have teams rowing with us, for alone we are nothing.
Communication is Everything
Empathy
Vision
Collective, without favoritism
Delegate, let it flow
1) Communication is Everything
Assume that we are in the same boat and communicate the company's objectives and desires. Go beyond team meetings and create space and time for the team to reach out to us. Instructions have to be precise and since we are the leaders, we are aware that messages are interpreted according to each person's universe, so rather than "talking", make sure they are "listening", " interpret" and "understand". And aligned with values (yes, there must be clear values!).
There are team meetings, weekly meetings... but not sterile with massacres that lower morale. Let's adapt our work style to each person's rhythm because the growth that will be provided to an employee will make them loyal, motivated and dedicated. Waiting for a "ready and wise" employee to come knocking on our door and not wanting to pay their weight in gold is an illusion.
No, we don't have to entertain our employees (as described here ) but in fact there is nothing more beautiful in the business world than growing and growing together. We are always learning (and learning to teach too), with humility and ambition.
2) Empathy
The lack of understanding for employees' challenges, zero contextualization of their universe and perspective. This is called a lack of empathy. We understand what it represents and the consequences: you cannot demand excellent work if the work to be carried out has not been understood at all! It doesn't matter if we throw parties, offer employees points systems, tools and apps if we act coldly. We all want to grow our business, but there will be a shadow of fear of not reaching out, of asking questions, of trying to find out if there is no empathy.
Empathy in this case has arrogance as its antonym, that is, "I'm the one who knows", "I'm the one in charge here and I said it was like that" or "but I've already explained it four times" and there is also "but I paid for going to that training, don't you understand?" They are often a camouflage for some insecurity on the part of the manager who vacillates between being helpful and concerned about their business, like any inexperienced manager. The result is a toxic environment (the buzzword!) and a shadow of "he said" when empathy involves having a bit of Mother Tersa of Calcultá, as everyone has their own context of personal and professional challenges. Empathy involves accepting, within appropriate boundaries, the needs of each individual to create an environment of admiration, loyalty, commitment and consequently motivation that we all know leads to productivity. So "simple".
It's like behaviorism : if I have an excited dog barking at another dog, there's little point in the owner starting to scream to make himself heard over the dog's barking. And even less should you pull the leash hard as you will only be increasing the tension. The dog owner must intelligently know how to lead the dog, divert its focus. Instead of focusing on the problem, you should come up with alternatives that the dog finds appealing and distracting: "look at the ball, ahhhh look what I have here, such a bouncy ball ready to play, what a spectacle!"
3) Vision
Ignoring the development of employees, no matter how small they may be, is not celebrating small victories. It goes against the principles of Personal Marketing and therefore there is no leadership... We all need recognition, appreciation and merit. It's what moves us, sometimes even more than a big check. It is one of the ingredients of the "good working environment" that is so desired in a company!
We want ambitious leaders, yes, but we need to know how to inspire that ambition and share the vision so that the work is collective, made up of small gestures that end up as good happy habits instead of sacrifices for a greater-good-that-never-arrives!
4) Collective, without favoritism
We are a collective and it is important to get to know each other before we judge. Of course, it's easier to have the favoritism of so-and-so because you go to the office more often or work right next door, but trying to get to know and interact with the team is essential to understand how the departments work. Furthermore, there is harm in favoritism, in this comparison: it seems that one is never creative enough as someone who has the time to explain exactly their idea to us, but it is important to create time and space to present ideas, work methods and, of course, also difficulties because making mistakes means only one thing: that we are trying our best. And a lot has been read about Marketing Mixo do Erro and how it contributes to e-volu-tion...
5) Delegate, let it flow
Everything exposed here are micro-management errors that emasculate the ability to make mistakes, to grow, to be autonomous and to find solutions. It is important to feel accompanied and guided, but not controlled. Companies are living organisms for brilliant minds and those who have something to contribute and add should be part of it. They are not a stage for testing, experts will say, but modern business structures have already realized that there are no perfect teams and it is through error and failure that there is innovation and growth. This mind-set requires professional maturity from leaders and their teams, even though they are aware that they are learning (aren't we all always?). Doing our best with training, preparation and autonomy to do so is what good leaders trust.
The great fallacy of micro-management is to say that you delegate and want autonomous teams, but then not be prepared for mistakes, always controlling, manipulating procedures and antagonizing the operation. It will not be an SOP that imprints the company's culture, as the certainty that we are in the same boat as a collective is not to interfere in decision-making because it has been trained, monitored, tested. It's letting it flow, with confidence.
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