The first question you have to ask yourself about every person you manage is: "Who is this person?" NOT "Who is this person deep inside?" BUT "Who is this person at work?"

You know, some management trainers will tell you that you need to figure out who your employees are deep inside… You need to psych out their deep inner motivations. My view is: It's none of your business who your employees are deep inside and, anyway, most managers are simply not qualified to figure that out.

What if you could just figure out who that person is at work? Is this person a high performer or low performer or somewhere in the middle? Does this person do high productivity work or low productivity work or somewhere in the middle? Does this person have high quality work, low quality work or somewhere in the middle? Does this person have irritating behaviors you would like him or her to cease or positive behaviors you would like to encourage and you would like others to emulate? Who is this person at work? What role does he or she play in the workplace? Wouldn't that be enough if you could just figure out who is this person at work?

BONUS MANAGEMENT BEST PRACTICE
Regarding every single person you manage, regularly ask and answer for yourself: "When (and how often?) do I need to manage this person?"

When?
- Sometimes the time is dictated by logistics.
- The best time might depend upon your and your employees' typical mood schedules.
- The best time might be indicated by a performance issue.

And how often?
- Most people need to talk with you a lot more than you would guess.
- Most need to talk more when they are working on something new.
- Force yourself to meet more often than you think necessary for a while.
- Over time, you will probably step back a bit and meet less often.