Howto... Be the right kind of manager

● No one plans to become a bad boss, but the pressure that comes with being a manager and the awkwardness of having to manage friends can combine to create a toxic cocktail of ineptitude.

Jenny Boxall, convenor of the New Manager programme at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, says newly promoted managers face a range of challenges — from being an introvert who prefers to work alone, to having to work with a team who are always at odds. She has this advice:

People are usually promoted because ● of their good work as engineers, accountants or doctors, for example, but managers need a whole new set of skills, including mentoring and problem-solving;

Managers usually have less time to do ● the work they used to do and spend more time communicating, through meetings, phone calls and e-mails. “That is why managers need to be masters at communication,” she says;

Learning how to be a good ● communicator can be the crucial difference between being a good manager or a very bad one; and

Communicating is not just about ● being able to speak to others; being able to listen is sometimes even more important. — Margaret Harris