Secrets of Effective Management #12 – Managing Your Image

A manager’s image is a critical resource. Management gurus have promoted the notion that the most successful organizations are like big families or small communities, where managers and workers have friendly working relationships, and a spirit of teamwork and camaraderie permeate daily operations. Like most popular notions, however, this scenario is a myth that has rarely, if ever, worked. What are the realities and how can  you make them work for you?

Secrets of Effective Management #11 – Handling Employee Empowerment and Accountability

Empowerment is an attractive, progressive concept with hidden dangers for you. Over the decades, many business “gurus” have touted the value of empowerment, and some companies claim to have followed them successfully, but don’t be fooled. Most employees have no concept of the hard realities of business, and don’t understand the dangerous situations that can be created when employees think they are empowered.  How can you handle this effectively as a manager?

Secrets of Effective Management #10 – Holding Effective Meetings

Effective meetings have many benefits. Well run meetings save time, reduce the need for other communications, and help you maintain your authority with the least possible effort. Here are some tips to help you make all your meetings as efficient as possible.

Secrets of Effective Management #9 – Handling Employee Suggestions

Employee suggestions rarely help. As manager, you’ve undoubtedly thought of any ideas that could feasibly improve the organization or its products, and anything else probably isn’t worth considering. Unfortunately, there is a popular myth that employees are supposed to create ways to improve their jobs, tools, and products, and bring their ideas to management for study and implementation. This leads to frequent and unnecessary interruptions to your busy work schedule. Of course, the smart manager understands how to handle this problem.

Secrets of Effective Management #8 – Strategic Headcount Reductions Made Easy

Sooner or later, every executive is faced with having to eliminate redundancies, reduce headcount, or just plain lay people off. It doesn’t have to be painful for you, though. These tips will help you perform this bothersome task more easily, and look like a star to your boss.

Secrets of Effective Management #7 – Plan Vacations for Maximum Effect

Properly planned vacations can not only refresh you, but improve the performance of your workers. Vacations are essential to your well being, so don’t neglect them. It’s fun ruling the roost, but everyone needs a break, and a strategically planned vacation can have beneficial effects on your organization. So how do you make vacations work for you?

Secrets of Effective Management #6 – Sound Decision Making

Sound decision making is one of the keys to effective management. The way to make sound decisions it to base them on hard facts, and the hardest facts are expressed in numbers. Factors that can’t be quantified are suspect, and should be ignored. Numbers tend to generalize facts and hide details, so they are much easier to work with. Why make your job needlessly difficult? Work with numbers and keep away from other, more problematic types of evidence when making decisions.

Secrets of Effective Management #5 – Maintaining Your Authority

Your authority as a manager is your most important resource, and determines the strength of your leadership. Establish it firmly, even if you have to “knock a few heads” to do it. Then maintain it consistently. This can be achieved through a variety of strategies you can tailor to your personality and style. As long as you have your authority you can control what goes on, whether you know what should go on or not.  Here are some useful approaches.

Secrets of Effective Management #4 – Information Management

Avoid telling lower level employees anything about changes that would affect them or their jobs. Lower level employees love to play guessing games, and find gossip and rumor stimulating. The time they spend discussing rumors with coworkers is a small price to pay for nurturing a stimulating work environment.  Here are some “how-to” details.

Secrets of Effective Management #3 – Control Your Expenses

Expense control is the key to establishing and maintaining profitability. Employees flurry every senior manager with expense requests, so don’t be distracted by them. Arguments such as “Investment is necessary to meet customer requirements.” are just excuses. What employees really want are “gold-plated cadillacs” that will make them feel important, but which will decrease your return on assets (ROA) and available cash.  How does the sharp manager cope with this?