Point to any member of your staff and chances are you'd have no trouble pinpointing how that person can improve job performance. But can you assess the person you see in the mirror just as precisely? Do you have strategies to "up" your own effectiveness as a team leader?

Resolve now to sharpen your skills as a manager with some targeted suggestions for your New Year's to-do list. "The right resolutions can help build a good lab culture that attracts an excellent work force focused on quality work and productivity," said Linda Galindo, an accountability author, speaker and executive coach for healthcare professionals. "Keep in mind that striving to be a better manager is light years behind being a better manager. But striving is where you begin to improve your lab management skills."

The following steps were adapted by Galindo for ADVANCE readers from her upcoming book, Where Winners Live, to be published by Wiley in March.

1. Talk to, not about. Never undermine employees or group leaders by talking about them or questioning their performance with other members of your staff.  Actively help others to break the habit, as well, by refusing to listen to gossip. Instead, insist on including the person being discussed in the discussion. "Your department will function more as a unit than as a group of solo practitioners," said Galindo.
2. Cancel the meeting after the meeting. More than once, a small, sub-group impromptu meeting after a team meeting has unraveled the consensus a manager thought the group had struck. When a sub group of employees chooses not to honor a consensus of the group, it slows progress. The behavior should be confronted. "Members of a high-performance department must conduct business out in the open. Refuse to participate in a negative 'meeting after the meeting' with a sub group," advised Galindo. "Instead, tell the instigators that you'd like to get the rest of the team back in the room so that all can weigh in and affirm consensus."
3. Make clear agreements. The cornerstone of accountability, the clear agreement leads to excellent follow-through. "Never assume that others have the same understanding of an agreement, a procedure, a precaution, a task, etc., as the manager or leader does. Write down everything, from who will do which tasks, to agreed-upon deadlines," said Galindo. "Do not say yes to anything until you fully understand what you are agreeing to  -  and until you are satisfied everyone else is on the same page. "
4. Know your place. Get clear about the role of your team and what they are expected and authorized to do, and about your own specific role and level of authority. Can you speak for the department? "Absolute clarity about roles, authority and limitations is a key to success," stressed Galindo.
5. Learn from your mistakes. And view the honest mistakes of others you manage as a chance for them to learn, rather than as permission for you to discipline them.  "Accountability is a powerful learning tool," said Galindo. "Look at missteps, and figure out how to avoid them next time.  Then move on."
6. Don't rescue, fix and save. Routinely covering for employees when they are running late, have personal business to attend to or are about to miss a deadline creates an unproductive work environment. "When you do not hold under-performers accountable, you weaken the team" explained Galindo. "Lax performers will not get stronger if you continue to prop them up. Require them to improve and grow."
7. Hold yourself accountable. Your personal accountability depends on your willingness to own the outcomes of your behavior. How do you behave when no one is looking?  "Highly accountable managers own their own behavior and the results of that behavior - good or bad, in public and in private," said Galindo. "Hold yourself accountable so you teach accountability to your staff by example."
8. Become "conflict confident." Managers who avoid conflict and "let it go" when someone refuses to embrace a practice, or a positive and accountable mindset to the detriment of the department need to educate themselves about effective and appropriate confrontation. "This involves learning how to have a conversation that results in productivity and improvement rather than passive aggressive behavior and hard feelings," explained Galindo. "And there's no need to go it alone. Plenty of primers about conflict resolution and tough conversations are on bookshelves, and HR departments often have relevant resources and facilitators."
9. Work transparently. Keeping busy and staying at work until the wee hours doesn't always mean a manager is productive. "Activity" doesn't always translate into results. "Results tell the story," said Galindo. "Show your department results in relevant terms and numbers, not merely hours worked."
10. Define success. At the end of the day, what does success look like in your lab? Workers who have clearly defined parameters of success (not just stated goals) are more likely to achieve it than those who hope they will recognize it when it happens.  Likewise, a team whose members take the time to craft a definition of laboratory success will be able to - together and as individuals - take actions to move toward that gold standard. "Success is rarely an accident," concluded Galindo. "Have this discussion with your department and see how far it carries you."

 Valerie Neff Newitt is on staff at ADVANCE. Contact: vnewitt@advanceweb.com