Manager Administration Interview Preparation Guide

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Good managers are essential to any successful organisation. An exceptionally good manager achieves a hard working, productive and effective workforce that punches above its weight in its performance.
Good managers attract exceptional staff; they make the organisation a preferred employer; they help to increase market share; add to profits and surpluses, and reduce costs. Their staff are engaged, committed and go the extra.

✫ Coach their staff and counsel those who need it
✫ Have staff who are commitment to them
✫ Seek response and feedback to all communications with staff
✫ Know how to resolve conflicts as they arise and handle negative behavior effectively
✫ Delegate wherever possible
✫ Actively like to develop, empower and motivate staff and manage under performers
✫ Take the lead
✫ Raise staff morale and are concerned for staff well-being
✫ Are conscious of the psychological contract
✫ Enjoy managing the boss
✫ Set clear and unambiguous objectives and discuss them with staff before setting them
✫ Performance manage staff and provide feedback on performance
✫ Engage in selection interviewing
✫ Manage teams
✫ Value everyone's contribution

✫ Manage change effectively
✫ Seek continuous improvement
✫ Control and co-ordinate staff effectively
✫ Engage in and enjoy crisis management
✫ Influence the culture of teams
✫ Focus on customers/clients and know how to improve business performance
✫ Conduct meetings efficiently
✫ Are good at planning and organizing themselves
✫ Are good at both strategic and project management
✫ Are good at risk management and can manage stress in staff

✫ Achieve good results
✫ Are assertive and communicate well
✫ Are clear thinkers and effective speakers who are good at influencing others
✫ Are decisive, good at negotiation and problem solving
✫ Write good reports
✫ Excel at time management
✫ Spend time in self development

The tendency is to give more positive recognition to the people who remind us of ourselves somehow and who actually like us, rather than to the people who make the biggest contributions to the organization. In the long run, it's people in the latter group who will make the most progress in achieving the organization's goals, so monitor your own behavior carefully and make sure you're not accidentally short-changing them, even if they give you the impression that your positive regard doesn't affect them. Some people shy away from positive feedback but appreciate it nonetheless.

1) Don't be one of those managers who inadvertently makes an employee feel like they're bothering you when they bring up a question or concern. Instead of seeing it as another crisis to manage, look at it as an opportunity to show your employee how much you want this organization to be a fulfilling place to work.
2) Never minimize or dismiss the concerns of your employees, and always make sure that you've answered their questions completely.

Meet in small teams or one-on-one, and go over your comments in detail.
Set up a schedule for feedback. Offer it regularly so that your employees know when to expect it and can make space for it in their workflows.

Good relationships are based on trust, commitment and engagement, and a good managers essential role is to build these relationships for the benefit of the organisation, so that the tasks that are set are completed with enthusiasm, effectively, on time and with the energy to do more.

Intelligent questions show that you can follow the flow of the conversation and clarify when necessary. Don't be afraid to ask questions because you're worried about appearing "stupid." Effective managers care about understanding what's important; they don't care about how they get there. Know, too, that others will probably have questions and may not ask. If you ask their question for them, you can act as a facilitator and build your team's engagement level. That's the true mark of a manager.

If you're good to your workers and they're happy with their jobs, they'll pass that kindness on to customers and invaluably bolster the image of your company. Or, they'll do the same for their employees and maintain a positive corporate culture.

A key to successful management is the relationship between the manager and his or her staff. It's the manner in which managers manage people that separates the ordinary from the good and the exceptional.

When emotions are turbulent. Let people voice their emotions in a safe, controlled environment. Stifled emotions can turn into resentment, eroding your working relationship. Similarly, emotions that are not adequately dealt with can interfere with rational discussion, which should be the mainstay of your work environment.

Instead of asking your co-worker "I'm sorry, can you repeat what you just said? I'm not sure I understood." say something like "So you're saying that we could drive up productivity by offering more meaningful incentives. What might that look like in the flesh?"

When you mix positive and negative feedback, both areas suffer. The positive becomes overshadowed by the negative, and the negative doesn't carry the full force of its potential impact. Of course, there may be situations where you'd want to communicate this, but on the whole it makes communication less effective.

A good manager is not only strives to make herself clearer, but also strives to understand what those around her are saying. You can do this by repeating what the other person has said as a part of your conversation. Use this technique when you're not exactly sure what the other person is saying.

When employees are actively sharing ideas. Don't butt in and talk just to make sure your voice is part of the mix. This can put the idea-sharing into a stranglehold.

Say you're giving your employee feedback in a performance review. You start off by mentioning how great the employee is to work with, and note one or two additional things they've excelled at. Then you launch into an extended itemization of their deficits "sales were down this quarter," "revenue slipped," etc.

Listen to what your employees and coworkers have to say. You don't always need to be the driver of meetings, keeping others out by dominating the podium. Always make a sincere effort to listen.

Know your boundaries. Don't overstep and ask your employees about anything too personal, such as religion, politics, or personal relationships. You can keep up a friendly rapport without being invasive.

As your workers begin to take on more responsibility and demonstrate that they're capable, give them tasks that will expand their skills and help them take more ownership of their work. Not only are you finding out how much your employees can handle, you're making them more valuable to the company.

Being in-tune with your employees' lives outside the office can potentially alert you to times when that person needs extra consideration from you, for instance if he or she requires sudden time off for a family funeral. If you can be accommodating about upheavals in the personal lives of your workers, they'll feel good about rewarding you with loyalty.

Always remind people that if they have any questions or concerns, you're ready and willing to listen. Maintaining an open channel of communication will make you aware of problems quickly, so that you can fix them as soon as possible.

Don't make every interaction with your workers strictly business. Ask after their well-being, chat with them about yourself, and establish a personal connection.

Let them take credit for their own achievements. This motivates them to continue to chase after success. The successful manager is like a conductor. He orchestrates the music so that each element sounds as good as possible and resonates with the group as a whole. A great conductor will lead by example, blending into the background.

Suppose when things don't turn out the way which you expected, recognize what you could have done differently and verbalize this realization to your employees. This shows them that you make mistakes too, and it also shows them how they should handle their own mistakes.
Whenever you're doing something correctly after having done it incorrectly in the past, let whoever is watching know. For example: "The reason I know to press this button is because this happened to me when I first started out, and I made the mistake of pressing the blue button, thinking 'This will shut down the system, which should resolve the issue' and I found out" the hard way "that it makes the issue even worse!"