Category:

Managers need to make decisions

3/27/2011

Part of a managers job is to make decisions. The decisions will not always be the right one's, but it is better to make a decision and be wrong than to dither and not make a decision at all. And face it, we probably learn more from our bad decisions than we do our good ones. To make a good decision (more often than not) you should:

Clarify the real objective
Develop creative alternatives
Understand the consequences of the decision
Make appropriate trade offs amongst conflicting objectives
Deal sensibly with uncertainties
Take account of your risk taking attitude
Plan ahead for decisions

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Managers need to lead

3/17/2011

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We will all have experienced good and bad leaders during our lives. Unfortunately having the title “Manager” does not make the leader, which is a shame as management roles involve leadership either directly through managing people, or indirectly by influencing the actions of others.

Hopefully you know at least one good leader:

Someone people want to follow
Someone who makes ideas real for people
Someone who creates energy and drives people towards a common goal

So what is it about a good leader? Research has shown that effective leaders have these common traits:

They think about the job at hand and the people
They are able to achieve goals by enhancing productivity and job satisfaction
They are proactive
They start with the end result in mind
They prioritise and put first things first
They aim for a win-win situation
They listen before they speak / act
They make sure all things work well together
They make sure the right tools / skills are in place

If you know a good leader, take the opportunity to learn from them. You will learn more about leadership from their mentorship then you will from a book. Now, not everyone can be a great leader but that should not stop them from being a good manager. . As a good manager it helps to know the various styles of leadership:

Autocratic – do as I say
Bureaucratic – we must follow the process
Diplomatic – not lazy, just work challenged
Participative – what do you think?
Task-Oriented – we must finish this tonight
People-Oriented – how are you today?

Most managers will have a “one style fits all approach”, but good managers know that they need to adapt their management style to the people they are managing. This is because they will be a diverse group and will differ in: gender, age, race, culture, religion, education, lifestyle, and sexual orientation. They will also know that different people react differently to each style because people are both rational and emotional in behaviour. A persons response is a consequence of rational (conscious) and emotional (unconscious) influences.

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Effectively manage people

1/10/2011

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People need direction, support and assistance. It is the responsibility of their manager, team leader or supervisor to ensure they get it.

What you can do
Ensure managers, team leaders and supervisors are trained on how to manage people.

Often people are promoted into these roles based on technical / process knowledge. This does not mean they will be good at managing people.
Provide mentoring or training to help them become good managers

Monitor and reward performance

People within a team / organisation know who the good and bad performers are. If they see someone getting away with bad performance then everyone’s performance will begin to drop. If they see a good performer going unrewarded or acknowledged then the same thing will happen – they will decide it is not worth the effort.
Do you pay enough to get the right people for the job? If you pay peanuts expect to get what you pay for. You do not need to be the best payer, just pay a fair wage that attracts good people to the roles.

Monitor working hours

If someone is working regular overtime you want to know why. Do you pay overtime and they are milking the system; or is there to much work; or do they lack the appropriate skills / knowledge.
Long term overtime is counter productive. Work productivity will drop during regular working hours and/or good people will eventually get sick of it and leave.

Monitor people’s attitude to their work and others

People do have off days – we are not talking about this. What you are looking for are people who just do not like their jobs and people who do not get on with others (not just 1 person, but lots of people).
If someone really does not like their job then they will not care about the results of their efforts or the impact their attitude has on others. If they are on a constant downer they will bring the rest of the people down with them, affecting everyone’s performance. You need to get them interested in their job, find them another or encourage them to find a job that they like.
People’s attitudes and personalities can have a big impact on an organisation. They need to fit in.

Provide support and guidance

Managers should be there for their people, but should not be micro managers.
If you have hired the right people provide them with support and guidance while leaving them free to do their job. Good workers will get sick of the micro management style which is restrictive, demeaning, done to heighten the managers self esteem and becomes an excuse for poor quality workers to hide behind.
Micro management is bad for an organisation. It discourages initiative and focuses skills/knowledge within one person, the manager. When that person moves on a vacuum is created.

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Reducing staff turnover

1/2/2011

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Staff turnover has a big impact on an organisation. It costs the organisation time, money and skills / knowledge. If you want the employee to leave fine, but if you don't there are actions you can take to mitigate the impact of staff turnover.

Plan for high turnover

Forecast your recruitment needs and let an agency know you will look at suitable people if they become available.

Increase staff retention

Rotate staff through roles to increase their skills and make life interesting
Focus on the individual by expanding their opportunities and developing personal career paths
Target “Manager” and “Team Leader” prospects by giving them extra training and responsibility
Provide extra training for high performers
Allow flexible working hours - identify the core hours for the role and allow some flexibility for working hours outside these, while ensuring that role coverage is maintained within teams
Provide non-monetary rewards - time off, a site visit, fun task, special project or even just a thank you
Actively increase role variety and ensure varied tasks shared

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Train your people

11/21/2010

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Many organisations play lip service to training, they say they will do it but never follow through. Managers need to realise it is an investment and a must do.

What you can do

Ensure training manuals are up-to-date
Set training cycles -e nsure key training is completed on a regularly basis. Every 6 months or at least annually

The training should cover:

Procedures / processes
Process controls
Customer service
Tax / regulatory updates
Site / customer visits
Train managers on how to manage

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