In the past we have looked at counting. We focused on – The Productivity of Support Staff, Counting Money, Measuring Marketing, Tracking Sales, Counting Production, and The Physical Plant Also Counts. The final count goes to Management which is “The Final Accountability

Good Management is about bringing all seven areas together. In a small business, the owner is often the only decision maker. This is the simplest organizational structure that uses what we call “Spider Management”. All the legs of the spider report to the central body or head. This form of organizational structure can be very effective. However, the larger the company Spider management is  less effective.

In a larger business delegation of responsibility and the requisite authority is necessary for success.  The inability of the owner to “let go” is one of the most common roadblocks to the creation of a capable middle management team and growth. When the owner realizes the value of empowering others, much more can happen.

As the business grows so must the management team. Many companies of size have people in place who are accountable for the performance of others but often, they are not a team. They are more a collection of independent and non-relating decision makers focusing on their own area of concern without regard to the company as a whole.

Helping our middle managers to become team focused, and feeling like a valuable part of a team, is an essential task of senior management.

To this end, at Business Navigators we often present the Three Levels of Management:

Managing Tasks – where getting things done is the managers main concern. Though necessary, this level limits a manager’s overall effectiveness. For greater success, the Task Manager must move to the second level.

Managing People – where helping others get things done is the main concern. To reach this level, a manager must learn to evaluate others, communicate well and be a Coach. These skills are essential to reaching and moving beyond the second level of management.

Managing Vision – Those who reach the highest level of management see the big picture. They envision how the company will look in the future and include others in the creation of that vision. They are Leaders.

Growing a business will succeed when management teams are successful in all Three Levels of Management. When owners can delegate to middle managers and middle managers act as coaches the team performs. Most importantly, every employee sees their place in the future of the company.

Measuring management performance can be highly subjective. We must do it all the same. Self-evaluation of the Three Levels of Management may be the most important measurement of all. It is, “The Final Accountability, because good management is good business.

Successful companies create a culture that fosters creativity and cooperation. It’s not unusual within a company to have some spirit of competition between departments and many owners believe that this is an excellent method to increase productivity and profits. My observation is that while this approach can have some positive effects there are some dangers inherent to this competitive process.

When, you pit one group against another in a “Zero/ Sum” environment there will be “Winners and Losers”.  Anytime you create a situation where someone is a loser you create the strong possibility for negative morale.

I see in the process of “Sharing” a much better and more productive approach among the management team.

A definition I prefer regarding management is that managers are ‘Decision Makers’. In other words, they are given by the president or CEO the responsibility and the power to ‘make decisions’ which in turn, will support the people who report to them. ‘Decision Makers’ provided the oil the wheels of the wagon need, and they focus on removing the barriers which stop employees from doing as good as they can.

The process of sharing among the ‘Decision Makers’ include not only the information needed to make a decision, but the shared process of arriving at decisions on the management level. What this means is that ‘Decision Makers’ are more highly motivated to follow a plan that they were part of creating.

What are some of the things a management team needs to share?

Goals

Knowing what the company’s wide goals are is critical to the success of the company.  If everyone knows where the company is planning to go then anyone can raise the alarm if the company starts to cruise in the wrong direction.

The plan

Understanding the plan and strategies, which are used to achieve that goal, allows individual managers to format their approach. When company goals are broken down to individual department responsibilities, there will be a greater chance of successful reaching those goals.

Current status

It is critical that the management team meets on a regular basis (no less than once a month) to review the current status of the plan. The reports used to provide needed information to the ‘decision makers’ are in their hands no less than two days before the meeting.

What might we do differently?

When the current status report indicates that the company is not on plan, then strategies should be created to get the company back on course or the planned goals should be changed to reflect what is possible.

Sharing with the best

There should be an agreed upon method of communication with the rest of the team. The communication should be on a regular and anticipated basis. If information exists which should not be shared, all managers must be aware and agree.