27. Let them think they know more than you (even if they don't)

"Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time." Bumper sticker

This one is so simple and yet I bet very few managers use it. And why not? It makes people feel really special and important. All you have to do is say to your staff, 'You know about this, what do you think?' The key principles to this rule are:

^* ask their opinion

• get their ideas and views

" give them more responsibility than they ever had before -

you'll be surprised how people always rise to a challenge " discuss important issues and news with them * encourage feedback

* never dismiss them as being 'mere workers'.

Even if you know you know more about a subject than they do -still do it. They feel good. They perform better. They learn from your conversations. Maybe you learn too.

And while you're doing all this, take them through the entire process of your industry so that they don't get stuck in a rut of one department. You have to let them see their important role in the overall scheme of things, how their contribution is valuable and helpful and how the whole thing would flounder without them.

Treat them as you would a valuable client you were showing round. Let them in on your industry's secrets: 'Well, we use the new XP8 coatings on our silicon chips, unlike Mathers and Crowley who still use the old XP5, but I expect you know that anyway, but do keep it under your hat as it's how we stole a march on them and got that huge contract with the DVLA last year'.

Keep them informed about developments in your industry -perhaps you could subscribe to your industry's newsletters and magazines, technical journals and papers, that sort of thing - so that they think you are assuming they are interested, informed, know more than perhaps they do. This will encourage them to keep learning and wanting to know more.

28. Don't always have to have the last word

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

Yes, yes, 1 know you are the boss, the manager - and a damn good one, may I say - but you don't always have to have the last word. This isn't like being kids in the playground.

If people in your team disagree with you openly, then there are two possible reasons why: either they feel confident enough to engage in debate (in which case you ought to appreciate that) or they are out of line and you aren't imposing discipline enough to stop them. It may well be a warning sign that things are wrong or a sign that things are very right - only you can judge.

If they are out of line and there's a discipline issue, obviously you need to deal with that in private. Otherwise, remember that your staff are grown-ups. You have to give them room to be real people and that means they will sometimes disagree, argue and get cross. That's fine in a good team where people can sound off and nobody takes umbrage. It obviously doesn't work in a poor team.

It doesn't pay always to have the last word or always to be right or always to correct staff on every little thing. Sometimes, whether they are right or wrong, it's best to let it go. Know the difference between things important enough that you need to have the last word, and things where it really doesn't matter.