米爾科·赫林

What does a successful manager look like？ Here I dont mean specific practices but rather the more high-level behaviours. The below is what is in my head when I think of successful managers， with many years of managing managers it was well overdue to move this from the frequent coaching discussions into a blog post.

Servant leadership to set a positive example

A servant leader puts the team before her own interest. There are a number of behaviours that servant leaders show：

—External blame stops with her—if there is a problem with something that the team has done， a good manager never blames an individual on the team. To the outside world she absorbs the critique and takes it on herself.

—Praise gets spread liberally—When the team has achieved success， a good manager goes to extra length to make sure everyone in the team gets credit. A servant leader knows that credit multiplies and by giving credit to team members， she will also be getting credit for managing that team.

—Sets good examples by doing what she expects from the rest of team herself. For example， she also comes in when she asks the team to work weekends and makes sure the team has what it needs to be successful.

Ownership of the outcome

As a manager you own the outcome of your team and that includes any dependencies that the team has to manage. As a manager it is your job to get things done with the help of your team. You should consider any deliverable that your team produces as your own deliverable， so make sure you are comfortable with it. Trust the team to get it right， but check on it as you need to. You cannot claim ignorance if someone in your team produces sub-par deliverables.

Has financial and schedule control for the project

No matter whether it is explicitly stated， the expectation is that a manager knows what budget and schedule she has to work with and that at any point she knows how much of it has been consumed. Communicate the status of budget on a regular basis to make sure that people are aware when things change and can let you know when external factors change. It doesnt matter whether you run a small team or a large project this basic is important and the earlier you learn it the better. You might never get asked for it but when you are you are ready and have all the answers.

Communicates double as much as she thinks she should

As a manager you are likely not working on your own tasks anymore; a lot of the work is in stakeholder management. It does not matter what you think， and it is likely that you dont communicate enough. If you have to refer back to a memo from a while back when being questioned about a decision is bad news for you. You want to make sure your stakeholders are well informed and never surprised. That means over-communicate at all times and check whether you have been understood. If anything changes on the project， communicate this and the reason for it as early as possible even when its bad news. Bad news only get worse as time goes by.

Respects the basics and makes sure her team adheres to them

The manager feels responsible that her whole team adheres to the basics of professional behaviour and provides feedback when this is not the case：

—Meetings run efficiently， have agendas and notes are sent around in timely fashion.

—Actions are defined by “Who does What by When”.

—All major work products are documented at sufficient level.

—Commitments are being upheld and when things change it gets communicated early.

—Everyone in the team treats other people with respect and behaves professionally.

—Team members adhere to corporate policies.

Knows her team and herself

Besides delivery of the business outcome， a manager helps everyone to improve. This means she understands the ambitions of each person in the team and coaches them to achieve these ambitions. A good manager plays to the strength of the team members and does not focus on the weaknesses. She also knows her own limitations and is able to ask for help from her team. Last but not least she always knows who is doing what and is aware of the status in case someone asks.

Escalates early and transparently

A manager is careful when reporting status and risks， which means if in doubt she adds a risk or changes the status to something different than green. While many supervisors dont like additional risks or non-green status， the ethically correct and best thing to do for the company is to provide the status to the best of the knowledge of the manager. A good manager also never hides anything. While it is not strictly lying， omitting something relevant is pretty close to it， so similar to the earlier point you should rather over-communicate so that there are no surprises， ever！

I know that there is probably a lot more to be said， but the above are for me critical things I want to see from a manager. After all each project is different but the above characteristics create successful teams and winning cultures. Something we all aim for.

成功的經(jīng)理是什么樣的？這里我并非意指具體的習慣做法，而是指更高層次的行為素養(yǎng)。以下是我對成功經(jīng)理的一些思考，做了多年對經(jīng)理的管理工作，其實過去早該將這些頻繁進行的培訓討論整理成一篇文章發(fā)博客了。

樹立服務(wù)型領(lǐng)導的正面榜樣

服務(wù)型領(lǐng)導將團隊置于自身利益之上。服務(wù)型領(lǐng)導的行為表現(xiàn)包括：

——外界的責備止于經(jīng)理。如果團隊在某件事上出現(xiàn)問題，優(yōu)秀的經(jīng)理永遠不會歸咎于團隊中的某個人。面對外界，經(jīng)理會自己承受批評、承擔責任。

——廣泛贊揚。當團隊取得成功時，優(yōu)秀的經(jīng)理會竭盡全力確保團隊中每個人都得到贊譽。服務(wù)型領(lǐng)導知道一榮俱榮的道理，通過給予團隊成員贊譽，經(jīng)理本人也會因管理該團隊而獲得榮譽。

——想讓團隊成員做什么，須以身作則。比如，要求團隊成員周末加班時，經(jīng)理本人也會到場，并為團隊完成任務(wù)創(chuàng)造必要的條件。

承擔結(jié)果

作為經(jīng)理，你要承擔團隊的工作結(jié)果，個中包括須由團隊管理的任何附屬事項。作為經(jīng)理，你的工作是在團隊的幫助下完成任務(wù)。你應該將團隊的任何應交付成果都視為自己的應交付成果，所以要確保自己對成果滿意。相信團隊會把任務(wù)完成好，但必要時也要檢查。如果團隊中有人工作不合格，你不能宣稱不知情。

控制項目的資金和進度

不管是否明確要求，經(jīng)理都應知道自己必須處理的預算和時間表，并且隨時掌握進度。定期與團隊成員溝通預算執(zhí)行狀況，以確保大家知道事態(tài)何時發(fā)生變化，自己也可以了解外部因素何時發(fā)生變化。無論管理小團隊還是大項目，這一基本原則很重要，而且越早了解越好?；蛟S你永遠不會為此惹上麻煩，但一旦有了麻煩，你已準備好解決問題的答案。

盡己所能增加交流

作為經(jīng)理，你可能不再是只做自己的任務(wù)，很多工作都涉及管理各方利益。你的想法無關(guān)緊要，很可能是你的溝通不夠。如果在被問到某個決定時你不得不回查之前的備忘錄，這對你來說可不是好事。你要確保你的利益相關(guān)者充分了解情況和不感到意外。這意味著始終保持充分溝通，并檢查是否已被理解。如果項目發(fā)生任何變化，即使是壞消息，也應盡早傳達并說明原因。隨著時間的流逝，壞消息只會變得更糟。

本人和團隊都要恪守基本準則

經(jīng)理要對整個團隊的基本職業(yè)操守負責，并在出現(xiàn)問題時提供反饋：

——高效開會，及時發(fā)送議程和記錄。

——圍繞“誰在何時做什么”確定行動方案。

——對所有主要工作產(chǎn)品做好充足的文檔記錄。

——恪盡職守，事態(tài)有變時盡早溝通。

——團隊中每個成員都尊重他人并表現(xiàn)專業(yè)。

——團隊成員遵守公司政策。

了解團隊和自己

除交付業(yè)務(wù)成果外，經(jīng)理還要幫助每個人提升自己。這意味著了解團隊中每個成員的抱負，并指導他們實現(xiàn)這些抱負。優(yōu)秀的經(jīng)理會發(fā)揮團隊成員的長處，而不是盯著他們的短處。經(jīng)理還要知道自己的局限，能向團隊尋求幫助。最后同等重要的一點是，經(jīng)理始終知道誰在做什么，有人詢問時可以做到對一切了如指掌。

有問題盡早無隱瞞上報

經(jīng)理在報告工作狀態(tài)和風險時要謹慎，這意味著如有疑問，會添加風險或?qū)顟B(tài)指示更改為綠色（正常狀態(tài)）以外的其他顏色。盡管許多主管不喜歡額外的風險或非綠色狀態(tài)，但對公司而言，經(jīng)理盡己所知給出判斷是符合職業(yè)道德也是最佳的處理方式。優(yōu)秀的管理者也從不會隱藏什么。省略某些相關(guān)信息雖然不是嚴格意義上的說謊，但也相當接近了;因此，就像前面提到的，應該保持充分溝通，這樣才能始終避免出現(xiàn)意外！

我知道可能還有很多問題可以講，但對我來說，以上是我希望一個經(jīng)理具備的至關(guān)重要的東西。畢竟每個項目各不相同，但具備以上特質(zhì)就可以打造成功團隊和制勝文化——這是我們共同追求的目標。

1埃森哲負責全球開發(fā)運維實踐和亞太區(qū)敏捷實踐的董事總經(jīng)理，開發(fā)運維實踐專家。