Understanding the Management

MANAGEMENT – AN INSIGHT

We all grow up in hierarchy and hardly had a chance to learn the Management subject in its own sense. It has been observed that an unbalance existing between the development of technical and social skill that is disastrous. Many a time it is found that a good technical personnel have poor managerial skills. An insight to this subject:

FUNCTIONS OF TOP MANAGEMENT:
· Making strategic decisions about objectives and priorities.
· Assessing organizational performance & Development of Human organization.
· Establishing sound relationship with suppliers, dealers, government agencies etc.
· Dealing with emergencies.
· Taking care of ceremonial functions.

These functions are formulated in to Management Policy. Management is working with and through individuals and groups to accomplish organizational goals.

The managerial functions are:
1. PLANNING,
2. ORGANISING,
3. MOTIVATING and
4. CONTROLLING

Planning involves setting goals and objectives for the organization and developing strategies to achieve these goals and objectives.

Organizing the Plan involves bringing together resources - people, capital and equipment - in the most effective way to achieve the goals. Organizing is, therefore, integration of resources. It involves staffing, training and co-ordination.

Motivation means inspiring and guiding people to peak performance. The best way to motivate people is to communicate with them. We should make them understand that the development of the organization and the people are interdependent. The organization should be genuinely interested in developing the individuals that contributes to its development.

Controlling involves feedback of results; follow up to compare achievements with plans, to make necessary adjustments / corrections to ensure the desired performance.

MANAGERIAL SKILLS:
TECHNICAL SKILL: It is the ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques and equipments that are necessary for the performance of specific tasks.

INTERPERSONAL SKILL: This skill is ability of working with people, delegating, motivating and application of effective leadership. Studies show that 85% of success in business can be attributed to this skill and rest to technical knowledge.

TEACHING SKILL: Today, a manager is involved in developing and empowering employees. This compels him to take up the role of a good COACH.

COMMUNICATION SKILL: The ability to think & express clearly are essential for communication. An effective person is one who gets his message across to others with minimum possibility of misunderstanding.

PERSONAL QUALITIES: Certain personal qualities such as warmth, genuineness and unconditional positive regard are identified as a prerequisite.

RECOGNITION: By giving recognition, we acknowledge the importance of other people. Never miss an opportunity to appreciate an act or achievement. Ask others about their familiar interests and applaud their contributions. Let people voice their own ideas and opinions freely and openly. It is through acceptance that we give others the strength and courage to change for the better.

EMPATHY: Empathy is the ability to perceive and communicating accurately the feelings of another person. By placing us on his shoes, we are creating an atmosphere of mutual self respect. A “win-win” situation is created in this process that generates a solution.

SELF PRESENTATION: The way we show ourselves to others is the way they see us. We must present ourselves as alert, interested, friendly and attractive. Show concern for the feelings and control their moods as not to inflict their depressions and worries on others.

EXPRESSIONS: Tone of voice and facial expressions are the most obvious ways of indicating one’s attitude towards others. To establish rapport with people, we have to be conscious of what we are doing. We have to be aware what sort of approaches and attitudes are likely to bring us to a reasonable degree of understanding with others and consciously employ these techniques in every new encounter.

MANAGERIAL ROLES
PRODUCING: Producing to achieve results better than the competition. He should have a functional knowledge of his subject to achieve cost effective and technologically superior products.

IMPLEMENTING: Being individually productive and having technical skills do not enable a manager to produce results while working with a team. He should be able to administer the team and make these people produce desired results within the time-frame. In this - IMPLEMENTING – role, he schedules, coordinates, controls and disciplines.

INNOVATING: In changing environment he must use his judgment and change the goals by which they are implemented. In this role he must be organizational entrepreneur and innovator. He has to be a self starter.

COACHING: It is traditional for managers to step in to solve crises, instead of giving employees knowledge. A more productive approach is to use these crises as opportunities for teaching. A detailed discussion with the employees about the problem and how it was solved will enable them to learn and solve similar problems in future. Do not feed them water but make them thirsty.

INTEGRATING: It is a process by which individual activities are merged into a group activity – say strategy, risk, goal etc. When a group can operate on its own with a clear direction in mind and can choose its own direction without depending on any one individual, then it is obvious that integrating role has been performed adequately. If this part of the managerial role is not fulfilled, the entrepreneur will become a “crises maker", the administrator a “bureaucrat", and the producer a "loner".

MANAGER’S EDUCATION:
TECHNICAL SPECIALTY: It is necessary to specialize in the chosen technical field. There after, he grasps its interrelations with others and coordinates their work. The transition from a specialist to a generalist is a significant landmark in managerial experience; not every one achieves it, but it is one approach not to be overlooked in an age of technology.

ECONOMICS: Business is an exercise in applied economics, and managers must become Economists of sorts. Managers have to acquire enough of economic background to enable them cross with confidence through this jungle of conflicting professional opinions.

MATHEMATICS: Management sciences have become mathematically oriented and most momentous business decisions depend upon interpreting and understanding quantitative evidence. To do so intelligently, a manager must know enough about data processing through computer and mathematics to decide when the services of a professional programmer can be helpful and to understand what he is talking about.

GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS: Contemporary business operates in a framework of government regulations that are covering more aspects in details- - taxes, tariffs, employee benefits to name a few. No longer can one afford to have lawyers to attend these concerns.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS: Modern managers are reminded constantly of their public relations, community responsibilities and the demands of corporate citizenship.

THE ABILITIES OF MANAGER
In addition to these areas, there are special skills the business manager must learn. They relate to solving problems, making decisions, devising an organization structure through which to act and developing a willingness in subordinates to do what is expected of them.

PROBLEM SOLVING: The first step in problem solving is to make sure that the problems have been accurately defined. A tentative outline is useful in breaking down their various aspects into logical order and sequence. It is the mark of a trained executive mind to approach problems systematically and directly, avoiding distraction by irrelevancies.

DECISION MAKING: The decision, the manager does not make are likely to be as significant as those he does make.

WORKING STRUCTURE: This point refers to the managers’ ability in drawing on the assistance of others--his ability to delegate. Decentralized authority balanced with centralized control is the cardinal aim of effective delegation. Top management lay down general principles of operation, mapping out corporate objectives, budgeting resources and seeing to the availability of competent executive personnel. Those at lower levels in the executive hierarchy must be more concerned with the specifics of operations, observing schedules, authorizing controlling expenses, instructing and supervising performance, etc.

However when top management becomes involved in day-to-day operating details, it duplicates the efforts of subordinates and, for lack of time, it is almost certain to neglect responsibilities that only it can carry out.

EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION: The manager must be capable of creating and maintaining high morale in their organizations and as part of the climate, seeing to it that the authority of their subordinates is protected. Discipline and guidance are always necessary, but clumsy handling resulting in humiliation is a sure way to destroy a subordinate’s executive potential. Remember that it may be possible to punish people into compliance, but we can not punish them into commitment.

An achiever never feels that he has achieved enough. Managerial performance can not be powered by past glory.