All businesses, whether they be a mom and pop general store or a multinational conglomerate, require judicious and agile management. The administration of your business is often akin to conducting a well tuned symphony. There isn’t a company on the planet which doesn’t have room for improved business management.
There are those of us who are born with leadership in the blood. They possess an innate ability to assume the mantle of a leader and effectively manage and motivate those who come under their domain. And then there are the remaining 99% of us. For most, managing others is a skill honed over a lifetime, but never quite perfected. Effective administration of your staff and business requires diverse abilities and a depth of related knowledge.
However, the most critical components of management are not to be learned from analytical studies, complex work flow matrices, or anything of the like. The facets of management theory used most often and having the greatest impact upon your enterprise are mostly extrapolated from common sense. There are many 10 year olds who have a firmer grasp of these basic concepts of management than many senior managers.
How would you perceive yourself as a boss should you have to work for yourself? This is an important reflection all managers should ponder. Most, however, remain focused on their own needs and problems ignoring the perspective of those working under them. This often proves to be a critical business mistake leading to staff disloyalty. Once you have lost the respect and loyalty of your employees, your mission becomes close to impossible.
The particular skills necessary to facilitate the managing of your business can widely vary. Are you initially without administrative help? A quick typing class might be a good idea to avoid sending out memorandums claiming how well you are absorbing the concepts of businessmanagement. Will you be managing a relatively large staff? If so, books relating to motivation and office politics should be high on the reading list.
From comic strips to television sitcoms, the communication (or lack thereof) within the business office has been ridiculed. Much of leadership relates to communication, yet most leaders assume their employees can magically read their minds. Being able to effectively communicate tasks, ideas, and more esoteric concepts such as corporate culture is paramount in ensuring the success of any organization. Many managers attempt to communicate with each employee in the exact same style and demeanor. Unless you have a staff of genetic clones, this method will prove disastrous. Each employee is a unique person requiring different management techniques. If this were not so, we’d have a computer program that would be able to manage us all.
The realm of management most dreaded by many executives relates to when employees don’t fulfill your expectations. Many managers are at one extreme end of the spectrum or the other when it comes to this arena. Some are extraordinarily harsh and unduly mean. This creates fear, which perversely many managers desire. However, I challenge you to identify a famous successful manager who was more feared than he or she was respected. Other managers are at the other extreme, unable to mete out any discipline whatsoever. Neither end of this spectrum is desirable. Striking the medium being able to properly motivate and reinforce correct behavior amongst staff is an art learned over a lifetime in business management.
One of the more trickier facets of management surrounds employee discipline. Inevitably, within any organization, a manager will be faced with this often unpleasant task. Managing the star employee is easy. Improving the weakest worker is the sign of a great manager. It is not possible to formulate a universal guide to employee discipline. Each person, hence employee, is unique. One general rule of thumb, however, will serve all new managers well. Praise in public, discipline in private.
In time, you will develop your own style as a manager which best suits your personality. Unfortunately, most often the only way to learn is through the trial and error method. Learn from your mistakes. Seek guidance from a mentor. Avail yourself to the world of free resources that exist at your fingertips online. No matter how long you have been managing people there is always more to learn.
