Am I Ready for a Manager?

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the work to be done, a manager might be a great addition to your team. A manager makes sure that work gets done, and can help you conserve energy in the process! Are you ready for a manager? 

If you are not managing yourself, then you likely are not ready to be managed. 

However, there are alternatives and ways to prepare. Before you take the step to hire someone to oversee your business, it is important to assess your readiness; otherwise the hire may cost you more than you expect. Dollars will go out the door, and stress (the only true killer cost) will rise. 

Here’s some ways to start preparing your practice to take big steps and be ready for a manager.

What does a manager do? 

Generally, a manager oversees the use of resources to ensure that a business accomplishes what it sets out to do. These resources include what you imagine in a studio—supplies, materials, and money. More significantly, a good manager keeps an eye on the most expensive resource of any business—they manage time.

Are you ready for someone to tell you, advise you, or hold you accountable on how you use your time? If you answered no, a manager is NOT the right person to hire (yet).

Do you know what work needs done? 

There are many projects and tasks that a business needs to do to stay viable. Bringing a manager in to get EVERYTHING done is not a reasonable ask. The studio needs to have direction on the work that is at hand. 

• Is there production to be done? 
• Are there relationships that need to be taken to the next level? 
• Are there opportunities to research? 
• Do you need help getting the word out to the right people? 

Specific work is much more reasonable to accomplish than a generic ask for a manager to “run a business.”

Do you know how the work gets done? 

There are different paths that arrive at the same destination. This is true of the work that needs to be done in a business. There are multiple ways to stretch a canvas, chat to someone on a phone and organize files. But unless you have clarity on your way of doing these things, having someone else try to do it for you, or manage it for you, the relationship will frustrate all parties. 

If you are not clear on exactly what needs to be done, it will be very difficult for someone else to oversee it.

They will do things wrong (or, at least, wrong according to you.) You have routines and systems that you utilize to accomplish the day to day work in your business. Are they just in your head or have you written them down? It is arduous to create standard operating procedures (SOPs) but if they are only in your head you will have to repeat them every time someone else sets out to accomplish the task. 

If they are written down they can be utilized by others with clarity. More importantly, they can be improved upon by someone else. If not, when you hire someone else to assist in accomplishing the tasks at hand they will likely do it wrong.

Alternatives (if you’re not ready for a manager)

If you…

1. are ready to have your time managed,
2. know the work to be done,
3. have clarity on how it is done,

…then a manager may be a great hire to optimize the business.

However, if you still aren’t sure about your next hire let’s consider what might be the right fit.

Say you have clarity on the work to be done, and structures that someone else can build upon but you aren’t willing to give up oversight of your time (B and C but not A). Potentially what you need is a technician, someone who can do the clearly outlined work. You are not hiring them to optimize or manage your system, but only to be a part of it.

Say you’re ready to have your time managed but don’t have clarity on the work to be done or the structures you utilize to accomplish the work (A but not B or C). A good manager could possibly help you. However, a coach or a strategic consultant might be even more valuable at this stage. They can help you equip the business to grow and be ready for a manager.

(Note: A strategist will cost more than a manager, and a manager will cost more than an employee or technician.)

Ready to grow but not quite sure what the next step is? Reach out or consider joining a free virtual professional workshop.