Set them up for success: A practical approach to managing your team

Introductions

Program Objectives and Outcomes

The purpose of this book is to provide a practical approach on how to improve one’s performance as a manager in industry and commerce today. The book can be used for interactive training or personal development by those wishing to grow their knowledge and improve performance. The book takes a practical approach in addressing topics which often arise day to day in industry and commerce. The emphasis is on a practical approach to training managers on effectiveness and hence, most of the stories, examples and exercises used in the book are practical. It is meant to help people in management to reflect on why they take the actions they do; and help each individual examine their personal motives and decisions.

The book contains exercises and is role play designed to help the reader visualize and acquire the skills necessary to understand:

The cornerstones of leadership and management: Trust, Competence, Fairness, Respect and Confidence

Critical interactive competencies, including: communication, planning, delegation, effective meetings, time management, handling interruptions

Understanding the main leadership style and building trust

Determining direction, objectives and goals- and ensuring alignment with the organization’s vision, mission and objectives

Creating order and structure through organizing and role clarification-allocating work, designing teams, recruiting, orienting and inducting

Ensuring delivery through root-cause analysis, problem solving, decision making and efficient reporting

Building morale and capability through teamwork, coaching and guiding

Managing performance: effective planning, coaching, guiding and reviewing

Them vs Us-and those who choose to stand between

Leadership and bargaining.

Expected outcome after reading this book.

After reading the book you should see an improvement in your understanding of the basics of effective leadership and team management within your working environment, including:

Being able to plan, organize and allocate work to individuals and teams

Manage interpersonal and team processes to achieve the required outputs

Evaluate the achievement of work unit objectives.

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

What does this word management mean? Drucker & Bennis (1985) contrasted management and leadership as follows: Management is doing things right and leadership is doing the right things. From this definition it is clear that management focuses on the bottom-line things relating to the process of how a manager can accomplish defined tasks. It focuses on efficiency of delivering on those tasks. The word management is also used to refer to positions or people who perform the act(s) of management. So anyone responsible for getting people together to accomplish desired goals is managing that group of people. The term Manager is often highly misleading. In fact, there are many groups of people who have different titles, but they are also part of this category of management. Think for a moment of Directors, Executives, and "Chief Executive Officers. These people are also managers. In many organizations, there is a distinction between various levels of managers such as in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Levels of Management in a traditional organization

There are significant differences in some of the responsibilities that each of these different levels of management has, but there are also significant similarities.

The higher one goes within an organization, the greater the requirement will be for aspects such as:

Determining the overall direction of the business

Determining the structure and positioning of the business

Strategic planning

Marketing

Financial planning and reporting.

All managers, including middle managers and supervisors, have the responsibility to:

Plan the activities of the employees who report to them

Supervise the activities

Guide and lead them to improved performance

Motivate and persuade them on an ongoing, sustained basis

Coach them and source appropriate training to ensure that they are competent

Take action when there is substandard performance

Perform various administration duties needed to get the work done.

When one considers all the roles and responsibilities that a manager, at any level, has to perform, most experts agree that, perhaps, the most difficult one of them all is that of Supervising. The reason for this is that when you are supervising you are dealing directly with people, with their aspirations, their frustrations, their different values, their different cultures, and their different interests and expectations.

Supervising is a tough job, especially in today’s world in which there has been such a shift from the old Master-Servant relationship. Today’s employees have greater expectations of participating in the decision-making process, having their opinions heard, being treated with respect, feeling that they belong, feeling that they have a sense of ownership, being sensitive to gender, diversity and multi-culturalism, feeling that they are cared about as individuals, and not just as another part of the organization’s machinery. Employees demand individual recognition for their identity, recognition of their output and individual contribution to the organization.

(Formative Assessment)

Individual Activity: The Ideal Manager

Think of someone who you really believed was a great Manager in your life. The person may not have actually been a Manager; he or she may have been a coach, a mentor or a teacher, a religious figure, etc. Think about the reasons why this person had a positive effect on your life.

Mentally develop a picture that expresses your sense of the ideal Manager.

Depict this ideal individual using a drawing. Consider the following characteristics:

What kinds of skills are possessed by the ideal Manager?

What values are held by the ideal Manager?

What would the ideal Manager do on a day-to-day basis?

What kinds of knowledge would the ideal Manager possess?

What kinds of behavior would the ideal Manager avoid on the job?

If you were walking down the street, how could you identify the ideal Manager?

2. SHOULD YOU REALLY BE A MANAGER?

2.1. RISKS INHERENT IN BEING WRONGLY APPOINTED INTO A MANAGERIAL POSITION

For many people, becoming a manager happens without them even thinking about it. They are good at their job, or they are respected or liked by senior management, and next thing they find they are given a promotion to the position of manager.

The problem is many who are good at their jobs do not make good managers. Being respected by a senior management is hardly a good basis to believe you are ready to be a manager. Many who become managers do not have the ability to acquire all the competencies necessary to be a good manager or a leader.

Consequently, many people who find themselves in supervisory or managerial positions they hate. They hate the stress, they hate the responsibility, and they hate always being caught in the middle between senior management and the workers. If they could, they would return to their previous positions, but usually pride and a drop in salary stop them from doing so.

However, when you stop enjoying the work you do you can become highly frustrated and miserable within yourself. Your performance is likely to deteriorate and your feeling of self-worth takes a knock. These feelings often roll over into your personal life.

If you find yourself in such a situation it is critically important that you address it early and either:

Find a way to come to terms with it (in such a way that you become happy in your work as a leader)

Or else find a way to return to what you enjoy and are good at doing

Or else start looking for other options, such as other skilled positions that you would enjoy and which do not require the responsibilities of managing and leading people.

(Formative Assessment)

Individual Activity

Appendix 1 at the end of these notes, entitled "Self-assessment instrument: Why do I want to be a manager?", is a useful tool to get a better understanding of why you may have chosen to become or may be thinking of becoming a Manager.

Fill in the form without looking at the scoring methodology, after which you will assess yourself on your motive for becoming a manager. After that, read 2.2 and assess your main reason for desiring to be a manager.

NOTES

2.2. REASONS WHY PEOPLE CHOOSE TO BECOME A MANAGER

There are many reasons why one may choose to take on the additional responsibilities of being a manager. Some of the most common are:

1) Power. For many people, find themselves at the receiving end of instructions and directives all the time. The chance to break free and feel their power over others can be very attractive. However, as we will see later, this is one of the worst reasons to choose to be a manager.

2) More money. Many individuals find themselves struggling to make ends meet on the wages of a general worker. In many organizations, if one wants to earn more money, becoming a manager is the first thing that comes to mind, as a means to earn more income.

3) Status and ego. For many people, becoming a manager means they will be able to hold their heads higher, as part of management. There is, for them, a feeling of: I have broken free from the rank and file; I have arrived; I am going places.

4) Increased security. When companies retrench, the first heads to fall are usually those of general workers. Becoming a manager can, therefore, be seen by some as providing a greater element of job security.

5) Escape from monotonous work. In many organizations, the day to day work of non-management employees can be repetitive, tedious and boring. Many people doing such work find it depressing and degrading. The chance to escape from the monotony is often too good to pass up and people grab at the opportunity to do something different.

None of the above reasons are wrong for becoming a manager, but if they are the only reasons, then you may be making a terrible mistake. Striving for status, more money, a challenge to do something different are all admirable in themselves, but the physical, emotional and mental stress that will come with it if you are not suited to a managerial role may not be worth it in the long run.

2.3. IDENTIFY YOUR STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES AS A MANAGER

If you are already in a manager’s position or about to take on that challenge, it would be to your benefit to assess your strengths and weaknesses for that responsibility. Many of have strengths that they are not conscious of, the strengths may not have been utilized in their current position. There are a lot of strengths that would benefit you in a managerial role, if you allow yourself to improve on them. Let us look at some basic characteristics that are essential:

Ability to listen

Ability to analyse problems

Ability to make clear decisions

Being flexible

Being assertive and firm without being aggressive

Being interested in the development of others

Being able to interact confidently with people at different levels in the organization

Understanding of the work or the requirements of the organization.

Some good traits to have as a manager include, being:

Well organized

Detail-oriented

Forward-thinking

Proactive

Good natured

Approachable.

(Formative Assessment)

Reflection activity

Have a look at the above list.

Write down those that you feel are your strengths:

Write down those that you feel you need to work on

(Formative Assessment)

Group Activity

Develop a list of 10 – 12 things that could be your weaknesses, that could negatively affect your ability to be a successful manager.

Now let us consider the other side: weaknesses that could have a negative effect on your success as a manager. What do we mean by weakness? A weakness can be any one of the following:

Baggage from the past

Ineffective behaviors

Negative behaviors

Bad habits

Lack of skill

Self-defeating behaviors.

In a managerial position, most of your workday is spent interacting with other people. It is important to realize that any baggage, infective behavior, self-defeating behavior, etc. that you allow to present in your managerial role will have a negative effect on your success as a manager.

(Formative Assessment)

Reflection Activity

Have a look at the above list.

What baggage are you still carrying from the past?

What do you commit to doing to rectify it?

What ineffective behaviors do you sometimes portray?

What do you commit to doing to rectify it?

What negative behaviors do you sometimes display?

What do you commit to doing to rectify it?

What bad habits do you sometimes carry over?

What do you commit to doing to rectify it?

What skills do you feel you lack?

What do you commit to doing to rectify it?

What self-defeating behaviors do you feel you tend to do?

What do you commit to doing to rectify it?

2.4. ESTABLISHING YOUR MANAGERIAL STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES BY GETTING FEEDBACK FROM PEERS

When managers are new to the organization, and they have many direct reports, it will normally take a while to get to know them well. 360 degree feedback could be the ideal process to apply when gathering behavioral information about oneself. It is very fast and effective. Feedback is essential in facilitating performance improvement. It informs employees of their actions, and the behavioral changes needed to improve working relationships, team synergy, performance outputs and customer service. If feedback is received in a positive, open-minded, non-defensive spirit, 360-feedback can play a major role in employees’ personal and professional growth, and job satisfaction. It can serve as a strong spur for personal development and behavior change.

A good way of identifying your managerial strengths and weaknesses is to consider the feedback you receive from others, by using the form below.

Table 1: Feedback form for assessing managerial strengths and weaknesses

First, recall what other employees, supervisors and managers have said you were particularly good or strong at. Write them down in the left-hand column. What are those aspects that make you a good manager? The fact that you are already appointed a manager because of some positive managerial traits that they saw in you, means someone thinks you could become an effective manager and is prepared to invest time and money in developing you in that direction.

Sources of feedback

Figure 2: Sources of feedback for a manager

Secondly, think about any behaviors and skills that you lack, that indicated that you might find it difficult to be an effective manager. What have other employees, supervisors and managers said that they are not happy with, or that you need to improve? Write them down in the right hand column. Remember that no one is perfect. We all have things we need to work on, and if we don’t recognize them and do something about it, they will trip us up in time.

A useful exercise is to keep a copy of this form close at hand (in the top draw of your desk) and whenever you hear frank comments about you, whether they are positive or negative, write them down, and commit to actions to address them.

Should you tell others that you are constantly assessing your competence as a manager?

Absolutely! Not only will others see that you are focusing on improving, but they will also see and become appreciative that you have their interests at heart. You will be amazed at how they will pick up that you are confident in your abilities, and they will respect your willingness to grow as a manager. You will also be amazed at how confident you will actually become.

However, it is essential that you never react negatively or defensively when people give you feedback. No matter the spirit in which they give it to you, always take it with dignity and humility, be gracious and appreciative, and then commit to doing something positive about it.

Here are few points you can follow to help you address those aspects that you identify as areas in which you need to improve (i.e. self-defeating behaviors, bad habits, baggage from the past, lack of skills, etc.):

For each behavior or skill that you want to change or improve upon: On a sheet of paper, write down:

The behavior that you want to change.

The reasons why you want to change that behavior or improve the skill level.

Describe the new behavior with which you want to replace it.

Develop a plan of how you intend to change the behavior or acquire the skill.

Implement your plan, and record your progress as you implement it.

On a frequent basis (weekly, monthly or quarterly), evaluate how you are doing.

Make changes to your plan as necessary.

3. THE CORNERSTONES OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

For the last two decades it has become widely recognized by most scholars and academics that the ability to supervise and manage people is like laying the foundation for a house: