You start your career as a junior team member and as you grow so does your profile. First you are reporting to someone and later you have people reporting to you. Not that your reporting changes, but the nature of reporting changes. From sharing the jobs you did you report the jobs you got done, targets achieved or missed.

As you climb the ladder you become more of a manager and less of a person who was hired for your basic set of skills. The transition is very critical as what made you a great team member may not make you a good manager.

Here I will share three things that make a great manager:

1. Be informal: Formality is always there but the more informal you are with your team the chances of success are more. It could be simple things that you can discuss with your team other than work. As a thumbrule it has to be about something that interests them as well.
2. Delegate: You climb the ladder because someone gave you that chance. Not its your turn to return the favour. Give your team members a chance to learn and grow. There are managers who are afraid they will be out of job if they assign work to people. But what they forget is with less work on their table they can focus on other things.
3. Balance: Work-life balance is the most abused term. Does it really exist? How do you manage it? Well this article is result of that balance. I am able to write it as I am doing something I enjoy the most – writing. Dont take your work home. Easier said than done as technology makes it difficult to be off work. But make a choice and spend time with family and doing what you enjoy.

A good manager may not have the best of technical knowledge or domain expertise but he has good management skills. Now, the management schools do not make you the best manager because at the end of the day you are dealing with human beings with emotions. Getting work out of people is a task and you learn and improve your skills as people manager.

What is your management mantra? Share in the comments section.