Every night when I was growing up, my family sat down to a home-cooked meal by my mom (aside from Tuesdays: those days dad was in charge of making spaghetti). Anyway, every night my mom managed to make a delicious meal after a long day at work. She juggled a career, three kids, laundry, grocery shopping, and more. She did it all, and she did it well, and continues to do so today. Now that I recently became a working mom, I truly understand how much effort it takes and while I didn’t think it was possible, I value and appreciate my mom even more now.
Being a working mom is all about organization and prioritizing. Prior to four months ago, my job pretty much always came first. While I love my husband, if I had a deadline, I would stay at work late until the project was completed. Now that I have an adorable baby waiting for me to pick him up at day care at the end of every day, I can’t burn the midnight oil like I used to, and as a result, I need to be smarter about how I structure my days. I am not saying my career is not still a priority; I have just, for lack of a better word, been “forced” to have a different mentality when it comes to my job, and in turn have become a more efficient manager.
Whether you are a working mom or not, it never hurts to revisit some of the simple ways to become a more proficient inside sales manager. Here is what I have learned about becoming a better manager since motherhood that every manager should reconsider:
Be more direct. When managing employees – whether disciplining them, training them or mentoring them – be direct. Don’t leave any room for wishy-washy answers, and make sure everyone is clear on the outcome of decisions that are made and are able to move forward. Without clear direction, additional meetings will occur, more conversations will result and more time will be gobbled up with unnecessary discussion. We as inside sales managers need to identify problems, direct everyone down the right path (with input of course) and move on.
Manage time better. Sometimes we need to be reminded that calendars exist for a reason. We are pulled in many different directions throughout the day. In order to meet all commitments, use your calendar and stick to the time allocated for each meeting and avoid running over the time limit.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. This was my biggest downfall as a manager prior to experiencing motherhood. I could never understand how other employees could move on after a huge hiccup occured in the workplace. I would always let it affect me so much. Now that time is more precious, I’ve learned to accept the circumstances. Unfortunately something went wrong, but the best thing to do is put it behind you, stop discussing it, and figure out a way to fix it, address it, and move on.
Since becoming a mother I’ve had to learn to make the most out of every minute of the work day and by doing that, I’ve become a more efficient manager. Overnight it seems I’ve become more concise with every action and more organized in general. Sometimes we all need a friendly reminder that all it takes is being more direct, having better time management skills and not sweating the small stuff.
