A manager cannot be perfect, but as expected, he/ she has to be. A lot of decisions or task that a manager does or assigns has multiple reasons. And surely, it is difficult to identify all the whys. Yet, whatever the reason may be, a manager is somewhere considered wrong in a lot of cases, even when the intent is correct. A few habits of a manager for himself may be good, especially when working alone, but in the case of managing a team, the interpretation could be otherwise.
Let us look at few such examples, where, a manager is doing all good maybe a bit more which may be taken as a bit much. So, sometimes, what is good may be bad for a manager-
1. Solving rather than delegating
When we become an expert at something, it becomes difficult to gain confidence over others for the same task. Especially when the time comes for assigning the work to others or maybe even teaching as a senior or a manager, we all are a bit reluctant. Where we should have been delegating the work, solving problems ourselves may appear more like not giving enough opportunity and even bigger negative interpretations. Simply, balancing teamwork through leadership!
2. Helping too much
It is good to be there for everyone. But in the case of a manager-junior relationship, one has to give the freedom too to help themselves. As a person, you may be over helping, which must have worked for you when you would have been a junior yourself. But as a manager, too much help may be misinterpreted as "too much friendly" or "less trusting" or "sometimes even to the extent of a micromanager".
3. Taking Best Decisions
Within the bounds of expectations, a manager thinks to satisfy all, and it is not just diplomacy, it is also about making good decisions. And despite that, often a manager faces resentment from at least one party. Hence, a manager's greatest decision considering all parties in mind remains negative as per one or more of his team members.
4. Too much understanding
Taking into consideration the resentment from a few colleagues, a manager tries to compensate for their problems. And while a manager tries to understand and puts extra effort, sometimes, that is misinterpreted in many ways, say, targetting the particular employee or group.
Been there, ever??? Share Your Story
If you are on the receiver end, you need to give your manager the benefit of the doubt to let that time slide and focus on the part where both, you and the manager, are aiming towards working on the improvement.
A lot of these instances are with good intentions. Don't judge too early!
Read More - 1. Salary Hike- How much should you ask?