Manager's Handbook PDF

Manager's Handbook Welcome to your new role as a manager! This handbook is designed to help you navigate your responsibilities and build effective relationships with your team. Remember, being a manager is about fostering a positive work environment, supporting your team members, and driving team s...

Manager's Handbook Welcome to your new role as a manager! This handbook is designed to help you navigate your responsibilities and build effective relationships with your team. Remember, being a manager is about fostering a positive work environment, supporting your team members, and driving team success. In this handbook, you will learn about 1. Understanding Your Role 2. Building Relationships 3. Effective Communication 4. Performance Management 5. Conflict Resolution 6. Supporting Employee Development 7. Encouraging Team Collaboration 8. Feedback and Recognition 9. Navigating Change 10. Resources and Support ADDICTIVE LEARNING TECHNOLOGY LIMITED is a listed company focussing on talent arbitrage (i.e. remote work) opportunities for Indian professionals across diverse professional and educational background. We believe that the next wave of economic growth will be generated from export of services and upskilling professionals for a post AI world. What Infosys did for IT & ITeS, we are doing for any exportable service. We are enabling Indians to work directly for US employers and clients across finance, content writing, social media, law, compliance, virtual assistant and other verticals. We cater to learner categories across 10+ verticals currently. Our mission is to enable service professionals across India to benefit from the export of services revolution as India progresses to generate USD 1 trillion revenues by 2030. Our content is top-notch & future defining - 70% of our learners are above the age of 30, and our promise to them is that if they follow our guidance and direction and invest 2 hrs/day, they should be able to get new jobs that pay 30%-100% more or start earning 1-2 lakhs per month of additional income through remote work in 6-12 months. Our culture sets us apart from other edtechs, our competitors and even Big 4 corporates. We love to celebrate small and big successes, get our hands dirty in fixing issues and giving feedback to associates in the best way. What is the key to our culture- Please read this document to understand what our culture stands for and what motivators drive us as a team. Our culture is defined by the principles we follow which we learnt with experience since the inception of the company. Learn more about our guiding principles. How did the LawSikho Journey begin ? - Hear it from Ramanuj Mukherjee himself. What are our core values that we want reflected in our business and culture:- 1. Adventure and ambition: exploring new worlds and a sense of new opportunities, always aiming high. We never settle. 2. Innovation and resilience (in face of obstacles): overcoming limitations, setting new standards, creating new way of doing things, challenging status quo, outside-the-box thinking 3. Deeply caring: Extraordinary courage and commitment to help people, caring for people, earth, environment, going out of our way to help people, taking pride in how we change people’s lives Now let's dive into becoming great managers.. 1. Understanding Your Role You define the role more than the role defines you. Having ‘senior’ or ‘manager’ in designation means a great deal. You can only make your presence useful and inspiring for your team when you walk the talk, lead by example, practise what you preach at every touch point with them. Leadership vs. Management: Recognize the difference. Leadership is about inspiring and guiding; management is about organising and executing. You will always need a balance of both, not just one over the other. While motivating a new joinee you will need to help them make short term and long term goals as a leader would and while training them in the processes, you will need to teach them like a manager. Set Clear Expectations: Clearly communicate your vision and the team’s objectives. With new joinees, set expectations from Day 1. Do this constructively and consistently. With the existing team, set expectations during each performance discussion and set targets for the next 3 to 6 months. Each team member must have effort and outcome metrics clearly defined. Eg. in sales, effort metrics would be the number of call attempts or connected calls per day, outcome metrics would be the number of enrollments/ revenue. For effort metrics, always use Timedoctor hours as a clear productivity metric in addition to other metrics as per the role. Delegate effectively- delegate not to reduce your work but to give the task to someone who can do it better, who can focus on the task completely and who is creative and smart to handle such tasks. Certainly supervise or audit once the task is delegated, else you will not be able to keep track of their quality of work. 2. Building Relationships To drive results with your team, this is a crucial aspect. Knowing what motivates your team members will help you in leveraging their strengths and weaknesses to achieve results. Get to Know Your Team: Meet your new joinees in google meet with camera on. This will help you to build a strong connection from the beginning itself. Spend time with each employee to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and career aspirations. You will be able to drive their intrinsic motivation easily. Foster Trust: Be transparent and honest. Trust is the foundation of a productive team. Too much micromanagement can affect this. Train them well, give them tools and resources to work efficiently and then wait and watch the magic unfold. Is your desire for control sabotaging your growth- Refer to this document to understand how controlling everything in your team can affect your own growth prospects. 3. Effective Communication Open Door Policy: Encourage team members to share their thoughts and concerns openly with you. If you’re not able to resolve their issue, encourage them to approach the next in command. Don't feel offended with this because we have to ensure our associates are heard and stay motivated. If the resolution is outside your expertise they will have to approach someone else. It's ok. Follow the escalation matrix- if the TL/reporting manager is not able to resolve the issue of a team member, he/she can rightfully approach the next in command i.e. the vertical head. If the vertical head is also not able to solve the issue, he/she can approach the HR Head and then eventually the co-founders may be contacted. Following this chain of command is important to ensure the right stakeholders have been approached for support and resolution of the problem since they have better visibility of the process and the internal team management systems. Active Listening: Practise listening more than speaking. Validate employees’ feelings and perspectives.Dont make assumptions about what they say. Keep your judgments aside while speaking to them. Some tips are given below. Maintain decorum and positive communication in official whatsapp groups. Learn more about our Whatsapp Communication Guidelines here. 4. Performance Management Set SMART Goals: Ensure goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.Track these goals on a dashboard. If you don't have a dashboard or a tracker, contact your vertical head or your HRBP to help you create one. Refer to the dashboard on a daily/weekly basis to identify any performance dip and address it there and then. What gets measured, gets done. That's the key. Every role in the company has to be metricised. And annual performance appraisals will take place only if a team member has monthly tracking of these metrics. Regular Check-ins: Schedule one-on-one meetings to discuss progress and address any challenges. Practise the 30-60-90 feedback cycle. Have check-ins on completion of the first 30 days, then first 60 days and then every 90 days. Refer to the doc How to be a top performer at work and help your team be their best. Identify and Document Performance Issues in real time- Email to the associate when you observe performance / behavioural gaps. You can write as many emails as possible highlighting the issues you are facing. However the language should be respectful and pointing towards the performance instances, not attacking the individual personally. Performance Improvement Plan- A PIP is to be used as a tool to help someone improve their performance and not as a tool to terminate them. PIP needs to be verbally discussed first before being documented on email. After identifying such cases, have a 1:1 meeting with them and let them know that a structured PIP is being administered to help him/her raise their bar. Let them know that the company sets high standards for performance and that you will help them get there. PIP mail needs to be sent only by the reporting Manager (cc HRBP) or the HRBP. In case you have identified people who are not performers or are a wrong hire, you will need to let them go. How to do that? Refer to this document- How to let people go without drama. However, if you’re not sure what to do, contact your HRBP. However, do not say/write things like ‘I will terminate you, I have the power to do so’. This will only create more spiralling confrontations which should be avoided at any cost. This is against our culture that we all need to collectively protect. 5. Conflict Resolution Address Issues Early: Don’t let conflicts fester. Approach problems directly and respectfully. If you notice a tiff between two team members, address it instantly so that it doesn't lead to bigger ego issues/power struggles or passive aggression later and that could create a toxic environment within the team. Control such behaviours on internal whatsapp groups. Two or more people cannot attack each other with unparliamentary language on our groups or emails. Be on a watch out for such behaviours and protect the culture and peace within your team. When you intervene and stop such behaviour, everyone learns that this is against the culture and managers are not going to tolerate this. Mediate Fairly: As a manager, you can’t really choose sides. When resolving conflicts, remain neutral even if you know one associate is right and the other is wrong. Focus on finding common ground and set expectations on what they need to be careful about moving forward. You need not document such conflicts if they are minor. However if serious, always put it in an email about the discussion and what resolution was decided. 6. Supporting Employee Development Identify Growth Opportunities: If you grow people under you, only then you will be able to grow further. Encourage team members to take up additional responsibilities or projects, pursue training or skills development. This will help you identify traits of a leader in your team and then work closely with them and give them additional training. You will eventually have a team of HIPO (HIgh POtential candidates) who will be A players in your team which will drive results with high intrinsic motivation. Create a Development Plan: Work with your HRBP and each employee to outline their career path and growth within the organisation. Having this visibility is highly motivating for team members. Plan monthly check-ins with your employees to discuss progress. Assign improvement projects to them based on real time issues being faced by your vertical. Putting people in challenging situations reveals their true potential which will help you plan your team’s growth plan and eventually your growth plan as well. 7. Encouraging Team Collaboration Foster a Collaborative Environment: Use team-building activities to strengthen relationships and improve communication. Involve HR to organise these if needed. When handling new projects, involve team members and let them contribute. This builds a sense of belongingness within the team. Where am I in the big picture- explain to the team member how and where their contribution matters in the org as a whole. Eg. for a data analyst, it's important to understand that his reports are crucial for making insightful decisions and identifying gaps and adjusting the work strategy accordingly. If he doesn’t understand this, he will work in a routine mundane manner not bringing in his 100%. Leverage Diverse Strengths: Recognize individual talents and assign tasks accordingly to optimize team performance. Take time to understand your employees. The more you understand them, the better you will be able to delegate and give them opportunities to learn and grow. Their growth is indirectly your growth. Stay away from threats, manipulation and coercion- Refer to this document Page 3. Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will. Your team members will love to work for you if they feel accepted, heard and respected. 8. Feedback and Recognition Give Constructive Feedback: Focus on behaviour and outcomes, not personal attributes. Avoid using ‘always’ and ‘never’ statements. Instead of saying ‘you never follow my instructions’, instead highlight specific incidents or behaviours, ‘The report was sent without my approval, you need to take care of that’, ‘in the mock call, the real pain point was not identified throughout the call however with additional training, you should be able to pick up’. Use the "sandwich" method (first positive feedback, then constructive feedback, end with positive feedback). Give feedback timely- People learn from mistakes but they shouldn't be pointed out when they ask for increments or promotions. Rather feedback should be instant. As and when you notice flaws, point them out in a positive manner there and then rather than waiting for appraisal time.The agenda of the feedback is to give the other person a fair opportunity to correct their mistakes. Avoid knee jerk reactions to small mistakes. New joiners have a 3 month review period and 6 monthly contract renewal timelines. If in case you feel their contract shall be extended due to performance issues, contact your HRBP asap. Celebrate Achievements: Acknowledge both individual and team accomplishments to boost morale. Keep doing this from time to time. Sometimes on the internal team groups and sometimes externally on the main company group. Recognise specific people for going above and beyond their call of duty. “Prateek, while being on off, got voluntarily involved in a student escalation and made sure the student was responded to with the resolution’. Praise in Public, criticise in Private- always keep this in mind if you want your team members to like your style of management. No one wants to be put in the spot and questioned in front of everyone else. This includes your second in line as well. Communicate incentive plan in the beginning of the month by email. Contact your HRBP for your department’s incentive plan, if any. Clarify any doubts beforehand.. ‘People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards.” - Dale Carnegie 9. Navigating Change Communicate Changes Clearly: Be upfront about changes and their impact on the team. Prepare the team for what's coming up and how to mitigate any gaps. Plan transition promptly. Gracefully take any questions and help them understand why this change is taking place. Always document the changes as an SOP and circulate to the team and key stakeholders on email to ensure alignment. Support Adaptation: Give people time to adjust to the change. Provide resources and support to help your team adapt to new processes or structures. Have loom videos or google meet recordings to help them refer to later so that no one is left behind. Keep a List of SOPs ready and update the links of newer SOPs in one place. This will become your onboarding docket over a period of time. Check In with the team often to ensure all are on the same page and address any teething issues proactively. 10. Manage Time well Plan your next day a day prior- As a manager, you have duties towards your managers and reportees, hence writing down what needs to be done will help you be on top of things. Do this a day prior. Your next day will always be productive and anxiety free. You will be able to get more done in the same 9 hours. Keep a Diary. Plan your daily weekly deliverables in a document- It’s not easy to make one, but it’s incredibly helpful to have one. All managers must ensure that you make for yourself and also your team members. It’s harder as work gets more complex and chances of losing clarity are higher, but always do this and keep iterating. Sample Weekly Plan. It works like gravity. Don’t entertain the following thoughts and don’t allow others around you to do it either if you aren't able to make this plan: – I do work on a priority basis so I can’t make this – My work is too complex – My deliverables are weekly or monthly – I don’t have daily deliverables If any of these thoughts arise it’s avoiding you from doing work that matters. You will end up paying for lack of this later on not just in terms of career growth, but also in terms of last minute breakdowns and disappointment, mental health problems, overwhelm, etc. but the point is that if you can’t do it someone else can still help you to do it and this needs to be done irrespective of what level you are at in the company Use simple techniques for managing time- Eisenhower Matrix or the Pickle Jar Theory Eisenhower Matrix Pickle Jar Theory Sort tasks into 4 buckets: Think of your day as a jar: 1. Urgent + Important = Do Big rocks = Important tasks 2. Important, Not Urgent = Schedule Pebbles = Medium priority 3. Urgent, Not Important = Delegate Sand = Small tasks 4. Not Important, Not Urgent = Delete Fill your jar in that order. 11. Resources and Support  Create SOPs- for the most important processes in your team. Too much dependency on you is not good, things shouldn't break due to one person’s absence. Update SOP documents every 3 months or as and when changes take place. Ensure to circulate regularly. HR Policies: Familiarise yourself with company policies related to performance, conduct, and employee rights and privileges. You can find these on Keka. The same have been mailed to you within the first week itself. As a manager, your awareness of the policies will greatly help you drive the discipline and culture effectively from the start. Training Opportunities: Take advantage of managerial training and workshops offered by the organisation. If your department has an internal training team, contact them for organising refresher trainings or contact your HRBP.. Peer Support: Connect with other managers to share and exchange experiences and strategies. There is no dearth of experience around you, don't hesitate to ask for help. 12. Things to know about HR Aspects We hire team members on project basis for the first 1 year (6 monthly renewable contract basis manager feedback) post which they are moved to full time consultancy on a continuous contract. Make sure to give feedback to your new joinees every 3 months on email. The same is scheduled by your HRBPS too. Connect with your HRBP for more details. Leave approvals are to be given only on Keka and not on emails or whatsapp. We have built this discipline with a lot of efforts and to bring in efficiency in attendance process as we grow the team to 10x.. If you don't have access to the attendance of your team, connect with your HRBP and we will check if you can have viewing rights for the same. The monthly attendance of the team is sent to all reporting managers department wise before the close of Payroll. The salary of your team members will not be released if a go ahead is not received from your end. Ensure to check this attendance report to identify if  someone was on leave but may have marked attendance on keka. Your review will help us to identify such gaps timely.. Team members can register their HR related queries in the link - Associate Query form link.Encourage your team to send Every Monday, Timedoctor report for the last week is sent to your department head and Directors and Asst Directors with names highlighted as per productive hours. Minimum 40 hours must be recorded for everyone.Timedoctor is not an option to use, its mandatory for all and no exceptions are made in its usage. The company policies are mailed to you on Day 1 by the onboarding team. Make sure to read these policies. Anonymous Feedback Form his platform is meant for sharing feedback about our organization in an anonymous manner. Your name and contact details are not being captured anywhere. Who will see the information you submit to us? This would reach the office of the CEO. We will try to verify the information given to us before acting on the same, but your timely tip off or feedback could be very beneficial to LawSikho & SkillArbitrage, so do not hesitate to share information here. This platform is not meant for sexual/ non-sexual harassment complaints against an offender as the complainant must be identifiable for Internal Complaints Committee to take any action and provide resolution. https://forms.gle/w4d41CUxBf455avi8 Conclusion As a new manager, your ability to effectively lead and support your team is crucial to their success and the organisation as a whole. Use this handbook as a guide, and remember that growth takes time. Be patient with yourself and your team as you navigate this journey together. We have your back. Welcome aboard, and best of luck in your new role!