A process for management success
Lately I’ve been hearing from a lot of sources that in order to succeed, you have to get your processes in place. You can have all the financial resources you need, just the right people, even a vision of where you’re going and what steps you need to take to get there, but if you don’t have processes to travel that road, you’ll never reach the end.
It’s apparent how determining and documenting processes can help with your business. The same idea applies equally well to your career. In a way, your career is your own personal product, and you need to manage it just as you manage in business.
My career has been on my mind a lot lately, for several reasons. First, we just launched a new Careers resource center on ZDNet. Here you’ll find career management tools; job postings for IT careers; features and columns on managing, career advancement, and issues in the IT job market; salary surveys; helpful downloads; and research resources. If you haven’t visited yet, check it out–I think you’ll want to bookmark it.
At the same time, I just got word this week that a former dot-com employer of mine laid off its entire editorial staff. I feel awful for my former colleagues, who I know worked hard to make the company a success. At the same time, I feel lucky that I made a good career move in time to save myself from the unemployment line.
Finally, I’ve been sitting in on a corporate training session that all managers at CNET Networks (of which ZDNet has been a part since October) undergo. The class, called Symphony, is conducted by The Real Learning Company, and uses the metaphor of a symphony orchestra to teach attendees how to be better managers.
I recommend management training like this for any organization. Too often, managers gain their positions because they’re good at some job in the line of business, which they know well, but find managing their former colleagues new and daunting. Managers who know how to manage make for happier, more productive employees.
What if you don’t have the budget to train all your managers? I’m going to sum up part of what I learned in a few paragraphs. I don’t have room for the entire course, but with this as a seed, you may be able to cultivate some better practices.
The first step to better management is to set goals and expectations. They spring from your company goals. (You do have them, right? Written, distributed, and familiar to all?) Goals should be SMART–specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-bound.
Make sure there’s a feedback process in place, so managers can communicate goals and results, and employees can make their voices heard. Regular performance appraisals and monetary and non-monetary recognition are part of this process.
Gather all the resources you need to be effective. Resources include people, tools, and systems. At the same time, try to remove any barriers you can identify that might impede your group’s performance.
Training your team members is a key to success, especially when they don’t have all the skills they need when they join your team. Learning on the job may be the most effective training, but it’s not the fastest or best in every situation. Consider formal classes and informal coaching or mentoring.
Make sure you have the right people in the right jobs. Sometimes you can bring in new members based on their skills and your needs. More often, you have a team in place already, so you have to effectively select the job assignments to match the skills, ability, and temperament of your employees.
Finally, when you’ve done everything else, you have to make sure your team has motivation. Unfortunately for you, motivation comes from within, and it’s hard to instill in someone. You need to find ways to get your employees to feel a strong affiliation with the team and your company. Some ways to do that are to listen to each member and to recognize their accomplishments and those of the group.
My best managers have always led by example, and I try to follow that path. I try to foster two-way communication and practice the values I respect in those who manage me. Go thou and do likewise.
Articles | Administrator | 
Thursday, May 17, 2001 12:00 pm
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