4 Steps to a Better Management Technique

4 Steps to a Better Management Technique

        The article titled 4 Steps to a Better Management Technique, written by Doug and Polly White tells about how to establish new techniques in the workplace to improve management efficiency.  They start by listing four steps which are: setting appropriate goals, developing a plan to achieve the goals, empowering the employee and assessing performance and making adjustments based on the results.  

        Managing people is no easy task but it can be learned and made easier if you apply the four steps.  Setting appropriate goals is something essential in a business because it will help everyone prioritize and focus.  The authors mention that managers should set SMART goals (specific, measurable, action oriented, realistically high, time and resource bound).  This will allow for the employees to create their ‘’To Do List’’ the right way.  

        After the goals are set you need a plan to be able to achieve them.  The manager and employee must take on how to break down tasks and commit to action, if you do not establish a plan the goal will not happen.  The manager can help with the experience that they have and make the plan smart but not overwhelming because this can bring problems to the employee and slow progress. It is recommended to set meetings to check on status of the work and set deadlines.  On the meetings the employee should report his progress, where you can give feedback and set new dates depending on the workload.

        The next step is to empower the employee.  You as the manager have to offer training and allow them to develop the skills for the necessary tasks.  Motivation plays a key role as does rewards for success and consequences for failure. The manager must also be sure that when he empowers an employee he can provide the tools and information he needs to perform the task and not let corporate ‘’roadblocks’’ get in the way.

        Assessing performance and making adjustments. This is needed after the three steps are completed to make any changes on the performance.  This is a quick response to see how the employee is doing the tasks at hand.  The article mentions that the manager should be more on point, leave his workspace, check around the office and be interested and available to them if they have any doubts.  The manager should take a role in performance of everyone including company and employees.

        The main idea that we are presented on the article is new ways to improve management on a short and long term basis.  The issues we face in today’s workplace are different than the past and management has to fall in with the change.  These simple but important steps are the basics to what an effective manager can do with his employees to improve the operation of the company or department he leads.  The authors provide compelling arguments with these steps, which make sense in today’s world by being simple, effective and best of all expense free.

        My personal opinion on the arguments that the authors made is that they are completely right and we have to adapt management from traditional to a modern style.  This means changing the corporate structure from a single employee having 4 supervisors at once (like me at my own job) to a flat structure that allows more empowerment and tools to be a more effective worker.  The steps they listed I think are essential to the success of a company because if a company has bad management but good employees then eventually all the employees will start to leave and by bad corporate strategies it will not bring profits and eventually go to bankruptcy.  Setting the goals and developing a plan is a must because without that you cannot operate efficiently and will not be able to have a short or long term future.

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