Steve Jobs said that the simple is harder than the complex. He believed that it was necessary to work a lot with your thinking in order for it to become pure, clear and simple. By working on yourself, learning to manage your thinking, you will succeed as a manager in a company of any size. In this article, we'll look at five principles of great management.
Principle 1: Management functions
Usually managers are considered heads of a department, project, or company, but this is not an entirely accurate definition of the position. In fact, management tasks include five main functions:
- planning;
- organization;
- personnel selection and team building;
- leadership responsibilities;
- control of all areas and stages of work.
Responsibilities for managers are formed on the basis of these functions. It is necessary to use the best theories and practices, introduce innovative approaches and methods to become a successful leader. By understanding his functions, the specialist will be able to focus on his activities and bring positive results to his company. Now let's take a closer look at these features and how you can improve the manager's work:
- Planning. As you plan, build strategies, define the necessary actions, make decisions, select the resources that will help you achieve your goals.
- Organization. The correct organization of the workflow will allow you and your subordinates to successfully achieve professional goals.
- Management. This function will help you decide how to activate employees, inspire, motivate for successful work. Use your influence, convictions and effective communication skills.
- Personnel. As part of this function, you need to find the best people to work with as a team. It is important to choose not only qualified workers, but also those who will interact well with each other.
- Control. This feature will allow you to assess how well you are doing your job. You can analyze how well the company's goals have been achieved, whether productivity has improved, whether the indicators are in line with those that were originally planned. Set standards to help you conduct analysis, study business processes, compare and make decisions.
Principle 2: Types and roles of managers
Every company has an organizational structure. It is essential for successful business development. Regardless of the field of activity and characteristics of the enterprise, the organization's management consists of direct, middle and top-level specialists. In particular, senior management is represented by the general manager and the board of directors. To understand how the management structure works, what it looks like, you can imagine it in the form of a pyramid: the closer your position is to the top of the pyramid, the less managers are above you.
Each management role has its own responsibilities and tasks. According to Jones and George, a managerial role is a set of specific tasks that a manager performs in accordance with his position. You can develop the skills necessary to work in a managerial structure by studying in the field of organization management.
In the model of the managerial structure, all specialists play a significant role. Management Scientist Henry Mintzberg researched the tasks, roles and responsibilities of managers. As a result, he reduced the tasks of managers and identified 10 roles (ICPM). Its management model consists of 3 types of specialists:
- decisive;
- interpersonal;
- informational.
When managers need to make workflow decisions, they can act entrepreneurial. In this case, the specialist must correctly allocate resources and set tasks, both for departments and for specific employees. In an interpersonal role, leaders must show themselves as leaders and successfully negotiate. In the information role, managers control all work processes, share information and properly motivate their team.
Principle 3: Effective management of organizational resources
Implementing the strategic plan of the company, it is necessary to correctly allocate organizational resources. According to the Associate Dean of the Forbes School of Business and Technology, Dr. Ray Powers, the most important thing to do is to manage resources properly. He explains it this way: “I define such types of resources: people, money, time and assets. The most important thing for a project is to have a goal, to set a start and end date. This is important for any area in which you work.”
Managers plan the budget, determine the order in which tasks are completed, and what resources to use for this. Implementing a strategic plan requires specific goals, determining resources, and deciding what is important and what is secondary.
Principle 4: Using emotional intelligence to unleash the potential of subordinates
Successful managers correctly understand the context of leadership situations. Such professionals are competent in the concept of emotional quotient (EQ) of employees. It is measured by four principles:
- high self-awareness;
- social awareness;
- self management;
- good social skills.
All of these components are important for team communication. They lead to high management efficiency, so an understanding of emotional intelligence is essential for the successful work of a leader.
One of the most important tasks of a manager is to find a way to realize the skills and talents of subordinates, as well as to increase their productivity. This approach does not involve trickery and manipulation. This is about maximizing the potential of employees. In this matter, it is important to study theories, apply different approaches and individually work with each employee, therefore all this together is a synthesis of science and art of working with personnel.
Program Chair at Forbes School of Business and Technology Dr. Diane Hamilton recognizes the importance of EQ. For example, she described a faculty senate candidate with a high level of emotional intelligence as follows: "He demonstrates a high level of EQ and is the specialist that the special services would like to have."
Principle 5: Deep knowledge of your business
One of the important axioms of management is that a high-level specialist should be excellent in managing any business. However, this statement is only half true. In general, most managers are versatile specialists. Many successful executives started their careers not from managerial positions, but from the level of ordinary specialists. The best managers in their companies must bring to the team not only vast experience and knowledge of their business, but also knowledge of the principles of effective management.
In order to properly build a management structure, candidates for leadership positions must first be perfectly familiar with their business niche. Working in a team, starting from small positions, the specialist better understands the specifics of the company, identifies problems and will be able to better understand how to improve the work model in the future. To become a universal specialist, you need to study the situation from the inside. In the future, managers who have grown from ordinary specialists will be able to identify potential, correctly use the benefits, increase productivity, performance and successfully promote the business.
How the principles of great management work
To become a successful manager, you must align with your company's vision, mission, strategies, leadership, systems, structure, and culture. You must treat your employees fairly and comply with ethical standards and principles, based on the values and culture of your organization. Create opportunities for your team and clients. Be an effective manager to build strong, trusting team relationships and improve company performance.
It is very important for managers to choose the right tools for their work. You can use the cloud-based maintenance program Gincore. It allows not only tracking business processes, but also setting tasks for subordinates, controlling orders, and improving work efficiency. This software will save you time and help your company achieve better results.