In the first article of this series, we saw how managers caused themselves to be unproductive by habitually putting off hard tasks or activities and difficult conversations, mindlessly surfing the Internet, trying to make their products and services perfect, failing to make decisions, and insisting on doing things the way they’ve always done them.

When you look at it like that, it’s easy to see why they’re unproductive. Anyone would be.

 

In this second article, we’re going to look at how the habits of managers make their staff unproductive.

These seven habits can be subsumed under the general heading of disrespect. Managers who are disrespectful of their staff make them unproductive as a result. These habits are in no particular order, though any one of them is enough to sink your productivity ship.

 

 

Arriving late for, leaving early from, or failing to attend, meetings

You may feel that your time is more valuable than that of your employees. Individually, that certainly is the case and, depending on the salaries of the others who attend, it may even be true collectively; but that’s not the point.

If all you’re going to do is to compare your hourly worth to those who do go, then it proves that you don’t get it.

When you show up late, leave early, or fail to attend on a regular basis, you are telling your employees - all of them, not just the ones in the meeting - that they aren’t important, full stop.

If this happens once or twice, then it’s not an issue. If this occurs routinely, then it demonstrates that it’s a habit. That rather begs the question, “Why?”

Why do you seem to be so busy that you can’t attend meetings that you’re expected to be in?

Why can’t you arrive on time?

Why can’t you stay there for as long as everyone else does?

And why do you habitually fail to show up?

Employees will draw their own conclusions. To them, the underlying reason will be that you don’t feel that they’re that important. There’s more.

They may also conclude that you have your fingers in too many pies, are disorganised, and, in a word, ineffective. And they’d be right.

When people believe that to be true, you’re sunk. That’s because they won’t have confidence in you to do anything, whether you’re competent or not. It’s worth remembering that more than one Prime Minister has lost his or her job from a loss in Parliamentary confidence.

 

 

Giving people too much work to do

You may like pressure. Not everyone does. In fact, contrary to popular opinion, working under pressure is unhealthy. It raises the cortisol levels in your blood which can lead to obesity and hypertension, both of which can cause much more serious issues, such as heart attack or stroke.

Like rabbits in headlights, however, too much work can cause people to freeze. That’s because they feel that no matter what they do, it isn’t enough. And so doing nothing is no more stressful than overworking. In fact, it may even be less.

Too much work also interferes with decision-making. Think of the dizzying array of mobile phone choices, utility opportunities, or credit cards. It’s often easier to leave things as they already are.

All of this amounts to inappropriate expectations.

Some people will tell you that they don’t expect others to do more than they would themselves. That’s a false humility.

If you have the IQ of a Mensa member, then by definition it means that 98% of the population isn’t as clever as you are. And that means that it’s unreasonable to expect others to be able to work at your level. The average IQ is 100, and the majority of people - 70%, in fact, fall into that category.

Another unreasonable expectation is to give your staff a two-hour project an hour before they had planned to go home, for the evening or the weekend. Doing so proves that you don’t respect them.

And no matter how forgiving they are, it’s not something that they’ll forget anytime soon.

 

 

Mistrust

A third habit is mistrust.

If you don’t trust them, then why should they trust you? It cuts both ways. How do you show that you don’t trust your employees?

One way is by continually micromanaging their work. If you really trusted them, then you’d leave them alone. The fact that you’re always there, looking over their shoulders, pointing out their errors, proves that you don’t trust them. And do you know what happens as a result?

They stop vesting themselves in their work. That’s because they know that as soon as they do, you’re likely to come along and tell them to change something.

It’s just not worth getting too involved because they know that you’re going to start meddling before too long.

 

 

Breaking promises / lying

Do you tell your staff whatever they need to hear to get them to put forth the effort to complete a job, knowing full well that you have no intention of keeping any promises you made?

Let’s call it what it is. The word for that is lying.

You’ll be given the benefit of the doubt for a while. It depends on how much “truth-capital” you’ve built up. Once people are sure that that lying is one of your habits, however, your days as a manager are numbered because when that happens, they won’t believe anything you say. Instead they’ll wait. They’ll wait to see what actually happens, and then they’ll act accordingly.

Delay is the opposite of productivity.

 

 

Double standards, failing to walk the talk, inequality, and politics

The fifth habit is a form of lying. Double standards, saying one thing while doing another, holding people to different standards, and playing politics are all part of it.

Fundamentally, it’s failing to afford everyone equal respect. This is another way of saying that you’re an amateur; that you’re unprofessional. Professionals are consistent, fair, and honest. They want others to succeed.

If the only “fair” that your staff can expect from you is “bus fare”, as one famous entrepreneur has stated, then no matter how much money you make, you’re an amateur.

You simply can’t have it both ways.

 

 

Bullying, intimidating, Machiavellian management style

The ends never justify the means. Turnabout is fair play. Remember that.

Bullies are insecure people. Those who intimidate others in order to get their way are also insecure. The only way that they can feel secure is by putting others down. A time will come, however, when the tables are turned. It may come in a different way, but when you’re vulnerable, that’s when they’ll strike. You’ve been warned.

Failure to recognise good work, take credit for the work of others, and blame them when things go wrong

This is a big one.

Believe it or not, there are managers who think that it’s unnecessary to tell people when they’ve done a good job. That’s because they believe that they’re simply doing what they’re getting paid for.

But even when they are, they still like to know that they have your approval. This is a known motivator. You stand to lose a great deal more by saying nothing, than by saying something nice.

Taking credit for the ideas and work of others will also make them unproductive. That’s because they will stop giving you those ideas once they know that all you’re going to do is exploit them. And then when you blame them for problems that you have caused, their primary focus will shift to protecting themselves.

Failing to respect your employees is one of the worst things that you can do.

These seven habits - arriving late for, leaving early from, or failing to attend, meetings; giving people too much work to do; mistrust; breaking promises / lying; following double standards, failing to walk the talk, inequality, and politics; and bullying, intimidating, or practising a Machiavellian management style - will all cause your staff to be unproductive.

How many of these habits describe you?

 

 

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