Now that I've long lost hope that I might learn any proper management skills from work I thought I might benefit something from learning what I shouldn't do should I ever become a manager. I'm still at the infancy stages of considering management positions but I think some of these points might be practical even in real life.

Find time for staff - I can still remember how I felt the first time that I heard the "I haven't got time for you phrase" and a few minutes later saw the boss spending half an hour with our maid. If you are a manager you are supposed to manage people and when managing people you must find time for the people. If your schedule is so busy try to learn some new time management skills but do find the time. Unless you're a super boss staff don't usually like to be in front of you, consider this as soon as somebody comes over to talk without being asked to.

Listen to your staff and believe in them - I feel mostly motivated when I know that the person for whom I'm working believes in me and wants me to achieve my goal. Listening to somebody is one of the ways you can show that you care about the opinions of your staff. Listening means actively listening, not just acknowledging words and then loose track of what was said the minute the person is out of sight.

Treat everyone on the same level - This is very tricky but keeping a good open communication with the workforce might be the best tool to achieve this goal.

People are not dumb and they have feelings - No matter how stupid somebody may look he still has feelings so you must always pay attention not to hurt his feelings. I think it's more beneficial to treat people as though they were intelligent animals rather than dumb ones.

Treat staff as people not as numbers - It's true that the companies interest are the most important factor in any equation but the people are what make or break the company. People feel dejected, unmotivated and are unproductive as soon as they start feeling that they can be used instead of oranges in kindergarten classes when children are learning addition.

Continue meeting with clients and customers and don't close yourself in an ivory tower - Most things boil down to communication so it should be kept alive as much as possible. Meeting with people face to face is usually more fruitful then sending an e-mail or picking the phone. When you talk with customers you can understand their requirements better.