101 Biggest Mistakes Managers Make and How to Avoid Them

IntroductionChapter 1 – Mistakes in Dealing with Workers1-1: Setting one worker against another1-2: Showing favoritism not based on performance1-3: Continuing to deal as a co-worker with people you now manage1-4: Talking about a worker's personal issues with others1-5: Taking workers for granted1-6: Criticizing without complimenting1-7: Being too lax with your workgroup1-8: Being too strict with your workgroup1-9: Not keeping your workers fully trained1-10: Not encouraging your workers to improve1-11: Permitting workers who need to work together to compete1-12: Holding on to workers when they want to leaveChapter 2 – Mistakes in Dealing with Performance2-1: Not having clear objectives2-2: Not having clear standards2-3: Not arranging for feedback2-4: Praising without knowing the facts2-5: Not noticing good work2-6: Not dealing with substandard work2-7: Not allowing workers to make their own mistakes2-8: Rewarding safe mediocrity2-9: Using "only one can win" rewards2-10: Expecting the annual performance review to improve performance2-11: Not using appropriate competition with other workgroups as a motivatorChapter 3 – Mistakes in Making Assignments3-1: Giving assignments that aren't clear3-2: Always delegating to the same few workers3-3: Keeping the most challenging work for yourself3-4: Delegating without controls3-7: Giving poorly done work to someone else to complete3-8: Letting a worker delegate back to you3-9: Letting workers play "that's not my job"Chapter 4 – Mistakes in Dealing with Your Customers4-1: Ignoring customers4-2: Substituting your judgment for thatof your customers4-3: Not letting workers deal with their customers4-4: Treating all of your customers as though they were alike4-5: Not seeing your customers' changing needs4-6: Refusing to work with your customers4-7: Not educating your customers4-8: Ignoring your suppliers4-9: Not being a good customerChapter 5 – Mistakes in Providing Information5-1: Not keeping your workgroup informed5-2: Giving your workgroup incomplete information5-3: Not keeping your workers aware of the "big picture"5-4: Not keeping your boss informed5-5: Getting caught up in the office rumor mill5-6: Not inviting negative information from your boss5-7: Not inviting negative information from your workgroup5-8: Not passing information to other managersChapter 6 – Mistakes in Relationships with Other Workgroups6-1: Letting your workgroup hold a grudge against another workgroup6-2: Letting your workgroup take competition between workgroups too seriously6-3: Letting your workgroup look down on other workgroups6-4: Letting your workgroup blame problems on other workgroups6-5: Letting other managers steal workers from you6-6: Letting other workgroups take oer parts of your workgroup's mission6-7: Accepting boring or no-win duties for your workgroup from other workgroupsChapter 7 – Mistakes in Using Technology7-1: Rejecting new technology7-2: Getting technology for technology's sake7-3: Letting someone else be responsible for picking new technology for your workgroup7-4: Not letting workers use technology fully7-5: Trying to solve performance problems with technology7-6: Automating an existing process without improving it first7-7: Letting technology make work more boring for the workgroupChapter 8 – Mistakes in Managing Teams8-1: Trying to manage a team as a traditional supervisor8-2: Not developing commitment to the team's mission8-3: Dealing with team members solely as individuals8-4: Not developing and living by team norms8-5: Pushing the team to make decisions too quickly8-6: Not supporting the team8-7: Trying to prevent the team from surfacing and resolving conflictChapter 9 – Mistakes in Dealing with Your Boss9-1: Not recognizing your boss' important issues9-2: Not working to make your boss successful9-3: Knuckling under to your boss9-4: Not acting like a team player9-5: Not taking on high-payoff but risky assignments9-6: Taking on risky projects with little payoff9-7: Telling your boss "that's not my job"9-8: Not representing your workers to your boss9-9: Not representing your boss to your workers9-10: Going along with your boss' unethical behaviorChapter 10 – Mistakes in Your Reactions as Part of the Organization10-1: Not seeing the "big picture"10-2: Not working with other managers10-3: Badmouthing your boss, other managers, or the organization10-4: Not carrying your share of the load10-5: Not looking at problems in depth10-6: Being too narrow in your approach to problems10-7: Ignoring office politics10-8: Not understanding and following the organization's culture10-9: Letting the job get to youChapter 11 – Mistakes in Essential Management Skills11-1: Not keeping your word11-2: Not understanding that workers really are different from one another11-3: Concentrating on mistakes, not learning11-4: Judging workers, not their behavior11-5: Not getting the facts first11-6: Trying to manage by criticism and fear11-7: Being defensive to criticism11-8: Not building a trusting atmosphere11-9: Not making the workgroup mission clear11-10: Not training and developing workers11-11: Not helping new workers develop self-management skills11-12: Not networking with other managersIndex