When you think about it, football and management really go hand in hand. How? We’re glad you asked because we’ve been sitting on this golden egg for years. Football players are constantly adapting to the playing styles and habits of opposing teams, adjusting their tactics to support weaknesses in themselves while using the weaknesses of the opponent.

Similarly, managers are skilled leaders looking to adapt themselves and their veteran staff to every new employee, client and business situation. Both are constantly updating their plays in hopes that they come out of the stadium (office) with a W. For the manager, this win would be a new engaged and knowledgeable employee feedback or a successful customer relationship. As with a football team, in order for a manager to achieve those wins, there needs to be some solid players and a good game plan set in place. When you notice the go-to play is failing, you must have halftime adjustments ready before the game is over. We’ve detailed below the many ways your management could be underachieving and how to better tackle daily tasks with a few simple game changers. Check out these fumbles and how to fix them, pronto:

Fumble #1: Comms are Down!

Communication is an essential part of any successful team. Remember, “Remember the Titans”? Denzel Washington plays a football coach that brings together one of the first interracial football teams in a small southern town. At first, there was a lot of pushback from the community but through hard work and communication, the team tackles some amazing feats and overcomes great adversity. Having a strong sense of communication in the workplace sets you apart from the competition and it is through symbiotic thought and innovation that truly remarkable ideas are born. If you aren’t communicating with your employees effectively you could be leaving room for doubt which could lead to costly mistakes.

Challenge yourself to push beyond the status quo of one beat communication. What do we mean by “one beat” communication? Giving vague direction or feedback that lacks depth and understanding. Instead, give detailed direction with constructive employee feedback. Assuming your employee understands vague bullet points of ways they can better improve is a mistake. Be detailed, be constructive, BE COMMUNICATIVE!

Fumble #2: Vague Feedback

We’re not trying to contradict our first point here, but there is such a thing as too much (and too long of) feedback. Take, for example, the standard annual performance review. Waiting until the years’ end to review every detail of employees’ handy work is insufficient and managers and leadership are bound to miss something. Similarly, if coaches and quarterbacks only communicated at halftime or in time-outs, there wouldn’t be enough time in either to avoid total confusion on the field. If that negative wasn’t enough, we’ll do you one more: employees anticipate this long performance review with what is often little enthusiasm. In fact, an astounding 30% of performance reviews end up in decreased employee performance.

Game Changer: Players have a ton of discussion, tape watching and studying even before the game starts, so when on the field, changes can be communicated through quick audibles that all players understand. For the workplace, think Twitter: 140 characters (give or take a little here or there.) Think mini performance reviews as your own audibles filled with quick actionable employee feedback that help guide employees and also gives you easy to look at information before each annual meeting. iRevü gives managers a tool where you can do just that and in an organized way. Quick, real-time feedback that easily gets your point across in a timely manner.

Fumble #3: Aloof Coach Syndrome

Not being approachable is a huge setback. You are the manager; your employees should respect you, but not fear you. You should be approachable enough that your employees can ask you meaningful questions to avoid mistakes but respected enough not to get fluff questions that Google could easily answer. It is your job to manage a productive and successful team, happier teams produce more results.

Take this into consideration: 65% of employees say they would happily take a new boss over a pay raise.

Game Changer: Think of ways you can be a little more approachable with your employees, whether that is “talking golf” with Carol or taking the time to buy Girl Scout cookies from Scott’s daughter. If your workplace is less casual than that, look at town hall meetings or face-to-face one-on-ones to give your employees multiple times to come up and say their piece. Putting in the time to get to know your workforce will only add to the quality of work your employees turn out. With a well-kept playbook on how to miss the managerial fumbles, take your team to the next level guiding your team with a real-time employee feedback platform like iRevü that will keep you organized and at the top of your game.