What is the biggest challenge you face as a manager today? How do you overcome this challenge?
Managers have always faced significant challenges. These demands became more apparent with the 2020/2021 COVID-19 pandemic changing the landscape of work dramatically. At the same time, new challenges presented themselves. Some of the most significant issues a manager might face today include:
- Managing a remote or distributed team of employees, ensuring optimal productivity.
- Creating camaraderie among remote employees, despite the social loss of traditional office environments.
- Making smart hiring and termination decisions and following through correctly in a remote environment.
- Driving teams of people and projects in a new environment demanding flexibility, adaptability, and agility.
- Remaining highly knowledgeable of social justice issues and how they impact businesses and teams.
Choose what you believe to be your most significant challenge as a manager today. Discuss the matter, and focus the bulk of your response on the actions you take to ensure a positive outcome.
"As a manager, I face many demands and a great deal of change. Some situations are difficult roadblocks, and others are exciting challenges. The biggest challenge I face as a manager today is remaining agile in inclusive practices. I find this challenge to be exciting and inspiring. It's critical that I, as a leader, am ready to answer to social justice issues and help my organization to react appropriately as social justice movements evolve. Evidence shows that inclusive practices are critical to a company attracting, keeping, and growing talented teams. I meet this need by ensuring that my team members are provided with equal opportunities while always feeling accepted in the workplace. I educate my teams on social justice topics and have transparent conversations regarding my expectations in treating their co-workers with kindness. I also work hard to ensure that my diverse team is excited to work with me and feel that their contributions are desired and valued. I evaluate my talent attraction and hiring process regularly and survey my existing team to identify improvement opportunities. While onboarding a new team member, I ensure that the processes are friendly and accessible for all. I also spend time researching and learning about disparities in the workplace to remain empathetic and hyper-aware of the needs of others."
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