Management

What are the roles of Management?

The main Pillars are: Planning, Organizing, Leading, and Controlling.

* Planning is the process used by managers to identify and select appropriate goals and courses of action for an organization and it's resources. Written plans are ALWAYS needed if you desire to have a higher chance of obtaining a positive outcome. Create an outline, a time line, know who is going to participate, know which company resources you must draw on to achieve the goal. Create Contingency plans after performing a risk assessment throughout your value stream. Know what your value stream is!

* In organizing, managers create the structure of working relationships between organizational members and resources, which best allow them to work together and achieve goals. Coordination of schedules, equipment open time, tooling, etc.. Lines of communication open up between the different members who will participate. Managers communicate information and actively listen to their experts and then use the constructive feedback to help mold and shape the plan and ultimately achieve the goal.

* In leading, managers determine direction, state a clear vision for employees to follow, and help employees understand the role they play in attaining goals. The function requires that a manager use different types of power, influence, vision, negotiation, and communication skills. The outcome of leading must be a high level of motivation and commitment by the participants. This is where the rubber meets the road.... Where the vision starts to become reality....

* In controlling, managers evaluate how well the organization is achieving its goals and takes corrective action to improve performance. It is ones ability to monitor and gain visibility into the daily tasks that are being performed to attain the goal. "It can be like the steering wheel of a great ocean bound ship!"


In management, there are multiple levels with each level requiring more responsibility and experience. The main categories of management are: Top Level, Middle Level, and Lower Level.

* Top level management - provides organization wide vision and helps to guide it to its goals. They get the birds eye view of what is happening throughout their organization and have the ability to keep things on track. This involves controlling the entire organization, all of its groups and all of its projects.

* Middle level management - helps to disseminate the vision and supervise the implementation of the items that lead to the goal. Their view of the daily issues is much closer than that of the Top level management. These managers usually have responsibility over many groups and/or projects.

* Lower level management - supervises the staff and/or production workers. They are the daily problem solvers. Their view is of a small collection of organizational transactions that take place. They are involved with every detail in relation to the collection of issues taking place within their group or project. Their view is much more narrow and focused in a specific area.

* Non-management - this level is made up of the actual staff who perform each daily task and are directed/supervised by the Lower level managers. The view for these individuals is focused on each task and it's outcome. Whether it be running a cash register in a store Or being a production line worker in a plant.



Managers need to be very people oriented. They need to have good body language and communication skills. They MUST be able to Listen Most of the time and Negotiate extremely well. Always being focused on ultimately increasing the organizations motion in a positive direction. All pride and ego aside...

Winston Churchill was a very Charismatic Leader. People viewed him as a Leader with Confidence, Energy, Integrity, Vision, and the ability to be decisive about his decisions that influenced many.

A manager is more than being a person who holds a position of power. It's about understanding what your role is and how you should conduct yourself while coordinating activities. It is important to know how and when to plan, organize, lead, and control. A Good manager will Listen Most of the time and talk less. They will also be able to coach and teach others in order to enhance the skills of their team.

As a Manager, you NEED to recognize that your teams success is your success. You NEED to be people oriented in order to make this happen.


A couple of quotes:

** " Leaders have followers. You think you’re a leader? Look back. If no one is following, you’re not a leader; you’re just taking a walk. " - Anon

**" Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand." -Colin Powell