What can supervisors do to determine if their management style is effective?

Being a manager inherently involves interacting with a wide range of personalities and preferences—and what works for one person isn’t going to work for everyone. But by asking each of your employees pointed questions about how they’d like to be managed, you can figure out what will work best for your team and mold your management style accordingly.

What’s the first question a supervisor should ask?

I’d start with, “How do you want to be rewarded?” As a manager, you don’t always have an accurate picture of what your employees truly want. But if you give them a chance to spell it out for you, you’ll have a clear vision of how you can motivate them. And when you incorporate those things, your employees will be a lot more willing to put in that extra effort.

What’s the hardest question to put out there?

Hands down it’s “What don’t you like about my management style?” This question can be intimidating, as it can easily serve as a jumping-off point for an employee to completely rip apart methods you’ve always thought were on point. But it can also be a very effective tool to see what makes your employees tick—and what you can do to make their lives a little easier.

Anything else?

Two more questions are high on my list: How do you work best, and what can I do to make your job easier? Once you know the answers to these questions, you’ll know exactly what to do to make each of your employees happy, productive, and motivated.

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