Management is not just for people who have a department or team to oversee. We can add it to our personal lives as well. That way, we get some energy from seeing that we are moving in the direction(s) we choose and accomplishing what matters to us. And it’s pretty simple!
All three steps – Alignment OF the people, Production BY the people, and Accomplishment FOR the people – are needed for effective management. Drop out one step and you are likely to diminish or prevent the alignment, the productivity, and the accomplishment. Management isn’t difficult when you break it down to what you want: the people engaged in their work, the job done well, and the real-world satisfaction for all in its accomplishment.
A compliment is always nice to receive. No matter what world it comes from.
Managers see their world of work in a very different way than staff members do. What does this tell us about how to improve Manager-Staff communication? The performance review is a good tool that can support a more effective Staff-Manager relationship.
We often make leadership sound like a lofty and desirable role, while making management sound useless and misdirected. Maybe we should think again.
Sometimes we are so sure we know what other people need and want that we don’t talk with them about it. We just go ahead and give them our solution, then wonder why they don’t appreciate it.
We specify our work goals, and our intended results, and (sometimes) remember to give solid deadlines. But we often forget an important piece of our work specifications: the collaborators, resource-providers, authorities, and beneficiaries of our productive work.
Employee engagement means communicating what you want them to be engaged in. What is the goal they are working toward? Are they making progress? What is the “accomplishment of the month”? If people are disengaged at work, it’s a clue that there’s not much available to engage in.
People stop paying attention to an overload of changes at work – unless you take the time to debrief the progress of the change now and then. It begins to look like a swirl of pointless activity until someone says, “Hey! We cut our backlog in half!” Or, “We just saved X dollars on transportation and distribution!” Closure conversations are worth mastering.
People pay attention to people – and make lots of assessments and judgments. That’s natural. But it maybe not the best way for a manager to support high performance or reach an organization’s goals.
Awarded "Best Management Book" by 800-CEO-READ.
Rated #5 "Best Business Book" by The Toronto Globe and Mail.