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Management - Five Things Great Manager’s Do
April 28, 2007 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Uncategorized
Management - Five Things Great Manager’s Do
By Ed Kugler
We’ve all worked for some ‘not so great’ managers and we love to talk about it. Just listen in the airport, on the golf course or at the latest social gathering and you’ll know what I mean. But what does a good manager look like?
I took my wife to the airport yesterday morning at 0 dark early and stopped at the grocery store, a national chain, to get a couple things. While checking out I struck up a conversation with a nice lady who I’ve seen for some time while shopping there. She’s always pleasant and helpful, as a customer she’s surely a good employee.
“How are you today?” I asked, taking my time, since no one was behind me.
“Oh I’m doing okay.” She replied a little less enthusiastically than usual.
Being in my line of work I couldn’t resist asking about just being ‘okay’. About that time a voice came over the stores intercom calling someone to the office.
“That’s why I’m just doing okay. That’s all you can do around here is be ‘okay’.
She went on to explain that was the boss on the intercom with one announcement he could get you in a bad mood. I asked why and she quietly and I might say, kindly, told me how he had no respect for anyone who worked for him and it showed in how he treated them. About that time he came on the intercom again asking for yet another employee.
Now this isn’t a big super store, he could have walked out of his office or scheduled these folks ahead of time. I’d actually had dealings with the guy before so this news didn’t surprise me. He violated the first principle of sound management. That is you treat your employees like people, with respect. Managers like this one don’t understand that a team is built as a result of their actions and not going off to some nonsensical offsite (they were talking about doing just that I was told) for team building.
Here are five things a manager must do to build a thriving team.
1. Respect: As outlined in the story above you must treat those who work for and with you with respect. Treat them as human beings with lives, hopes and dreams and a big part of that is learning something about them, like their expectations of the job.
2. Job clarity: When you hire them or when you takeover the group you must sit with each individual and be clear about their position and what it is to contribute to the bottom line. There should never be a doubt about why they come to work each day.
3. Expectations: Set clear expectations about the results you expect, the acceptable personal conduct and the results of non-compliance. You should live by the maxim of ‘no surprises’. If people choose either to not perform to expectations, provided they have the skills, or to not adhere to the rules you outlined … then they ‘choose’ not work there. Be clear and when people aren’t performing in any area ask yourself this question. Is the non-performance caused by a deficiency of knowledge or a deficiency of execution? When you know the answer … act.
4. Create a safe environment: You must create an environment where it is safe to talk to you and to tell you the truth; even if it is a truth you don’t want to hear. Don’t just think you are that way; make sure you have people in the workgroup who will tell you if the environment is safe. If you don’t have a ‘safe environment’ you are doomed like Enron.
5. Follow up: It is important that you routinely follow up with your people both as a group and individually. No excuses. You should be providing group updates weekly. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate meeting, fifteen minutes. Keep it simple, short and sweet. For individuals with performance problems it needs to be right at the time of incident, fair and documented. For everyone, that is everyone who works for you, you owe them a sit down quarterly; quit whining about it, you have the time to let them know how they are doing.
Management is about getting results through people. To get those results in the most effective way you’ll make these five principles a practice and you’ll leave work knowing you and your group is a success.
Ed Kugler
Ed Kugler has been living change since the jungles of Vietnam where he was a Marine Sniper for two-years in the Vietnam War. He came home to a country he hadn’t left and began work as a mechanic and truck driver. Since then he has worked his way into the executive suite of Frito Lay, Pepsi Cola and Compaq Computer where he was Vice President of Worldwide Logistics, a position he achieved with no college degree. Ed left in 1997 to consult and write. He is the author of Dead Center - A Marine Sniper’s Two Year Odyssey in the Vietnam War and five other books and counting. He regularly consults with some o the nations leading companies on organizational change and coaches individuals to make the most of their lives. Ed is the father of three, grandfather to three and has been married to the same woman for 38 years and counting. http://www.nomorebs.com http://www.edkugler.com
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