
Ask HN: What in your experience has management gotten right? - wmeredith
There is currently a great Ask HN post going the repetitive mistakes of business management. Considering the excellent conversation around that, I&#x27;m curious what the other side of the coin looks like. Who&#x27;s had experience with good managers, and what made them so?
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mildweed
Apologizing. When they screwed up, one way or another, they owned up to it and
said so to as many people who would listen. This kind of culture is
infectious, in the good way.

Be respectful of calendars. When I block off some time to focus on a hard
problem, they don't interrupt me. If something does come up, they cautiously
IM, "when would be a good time for an important interruption?" and nothing
else. No phone calls, no swinging by my desk, no details of the issue, etc.

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mrleiter
I'm currently doing an internship at a law office (in Liechtenstein) and the
one thing management is doing right is treating employees and partners like
humans, not capital.

Everybody is treated with respect and not looked down upon, not even the
cleaning personnel. It creates an atmosphere of trust and wholesomeness, that
intrinsically motivates the people that work here. People are encouraged to
speak up when they see possible improvement without the fear of mistreatment
or sanctions (which is another good thing, too).

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wmeredith
Yes! We currently do this at my work. The WHOLE company is privy to sales
projections, financial health, etc... It's fantastic.

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wmeredith
My best personal experience with a manager is one that saw their sole job as
insulating the team from the necessary friction required to operate within the
business. Clearing roadblocks to productivity and advocating for the team's
best interests.

Managers that are both advocate and agent for their direct reports do wonders
for a team's ability to produce.

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whipoodle
Pretty much every office is open-floor now. So, great job on that, guys!

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eberkund
Are you being sarcastic?

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whipoodle
What do you mean? If everyone is doing it, it must be good. Right?

