4 Ways Managers Can Become Leaders

Being a manager can be difficult. Connecting with the team, finding the pain points, and aligning each team member with the company's values and vision are the tip of the iceberg for a manager's responsibilities. Ninety's goal is to take that difficulty down a notch by providing managers with a set of tools designed to make those goals easier.

As simple as it may seem, it's worth defining precisely who the managers are. The classic definition (which still applies in the Ninety world) is that a manager is anyone who has a direct report on the Org Chart. If there's a drop-down under your name, congrats, you're a manager!

There are four things managers need to master to be effective leaders:

1. Communicate the Company's Vision

Every team member should understand and buy into the vision of the company. Managers should be able to go a step further and explain that vision to their direct reports.

The Vision planner is the primary tool the senior leadership team utilizes to communicate their vision throughout the company. Managers serve as a resource for insights into how their direct reports can achieve those goals and reflect the company's Core Values.

2. Give Valuable One-on-One Feedback

Good managers should maintain and dispense their knowledge of the vision through their regular One-on-One Meetings with team members. 

Regular feedback allows managers to relay what they see from their direct reports. Leaders and team members should discuss:

• How the team member embodies the organization's Core Values.
  
• How well the manager fulfills their leadership responsibilities.
• If the team member has the Competency, Commitment, and Capacity for their Seat.
  
  

3. Confidently Run the Weekly Meeting

Managers must also be able to run the Weekly Team Meeting confidently. That's not to say managers should "drive" every Meeting —  someone else on the team should actually click the buttons and take the notes in Ninety.

Part of running the meeting is to engage the entire team in the conversation. In the early parts of the Weekly Team Meeting's agenda, it's easy to get caught up in a discussion based on a Scorecard item or overdue To-Do. Managers should turn these discussions into Issues.

"Dropping it to the bottom" of the Meeting means the team can rank and RDR (Raise, Discuss, and Resolve) the discussion topics, making the best use of the team's time.

Learn more about running effective and efficient meetings here.

4. Leverage Ninety to Improve Team Performance

Managers who understand the importance of driving the vision down the Org Chart and providing thoughtful and actionable feedback while operating efficient Weekly Meetings are well on the way to running a high-trust, high-functioning team. Keeping the team well-oiled ensures that they are Getting Smart Stuff Done^TM.

Sign up for a free trial with access to all of Ninety's functions, features, and support. We guarantee that you'll love it.