Friday, May 28, 2010

What is the importance of trust in people management?

Your leadership has the confidence of employees? Polls show that 40% of employees only trust that management told them on issues such as business management, plans, expectations and objectives. Employees are generally proud of their company, they often have full confidence in the company's management is performed. The scandals of recent years, management feeds the cynicism and distrust.

Communication tools are nowavailable have made it easier to transmit information from top to bottom and guidelines. However, employees still have a very clear vision of where the ship sails. The result is less committed and less committed to being. The military learned long ago that the troops of man above must be informed of future actions on the objectives and reasons. So to be equipped and motivated to make changes and challenges, regardless of rank. PrincipleThe rule also applies to life in factories and offices.

Most people who run U.S. companies have good intentions. Working to increase revenue, maintain employment and provide high quality products in difficult conditions. Management, which promises to be so numerous that the recent simultaneous activities to be forgotten. They are not deliberately diverted and try to do the right thing, but going to work, be sure to communicate to the negligence, Coups and confidence down accordingly. Silent, low confidence in management can cost economically, firms with high levels of trust management in proportion to earn three times more than companies with low levels of trust management.

The CEO and other executives are the true custodians of organizational structure and management of trust and integrity. Companies with high levels of management to communicate the trust of good and bad news for workers anddo it often. Trust is also the management of change as businesses such as mergers, downsizing and restructuring support. Small change, what matters is how it is managed. High trust companies generally do a better job of it.

The degeneration of trust in government is a problem for employees and managers. How to motivate the management of work, if not simply believe that the management of information they are told?

RequisitionDistrust

- It 's self-sufficient, not to trust people less confidence in the management and staff;

- Management of mistrust, it's like a virus, gaining strength as it spreads. The more experienced workers new employees that management can not be trusted.

- Management of mistrust and resistance to change. Some managers have concluded that the decision of mistrust that have processes in another part of the country and moveHire a new workforce.

Building trust

- Begin to trust. Authority must demonstrate the confidence of employees. Finally, employees learn to reciprocate. This may take time and patience. It 's like trying to reach a parliamentary battle, while sniper fire continued.

- Do not hide information. Some managers have to work on basic skills, but employees must have a good time information or feel that their informationregular or late.

- Be honest at all times. If employees feel they were misled, the loss of confidence in leadership, perhaps forever.

- Conduct a face-to-face communication. Sometimes employees have to do. To listen directly to the head in the forum management is also important to strengthen confidence.

- Your people listen and let them know they have heard. Employees become suspicious if they feel their views are notto be heard, management must recognize. as suggested by its staff and everyone knows who it was.

- Communicate the things you know, and then see through these plans. This will be the development of appropriate lines of communication and trust in the management of future operations.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Effective Performance Management

Many companies now want descriptions to create a system of performance management of employees can be productive, that the current position. Using Workforce Performance Management, companies can evaluate their employees and work processes for the company to increase productivity and profitability.

For example, a very practical use is through the implementation of management software catalog. This kind of philosophy of an organization isin almost all companies and locations. In this philosophy the practice to improve services company and its products. Tools performance management of human resources is in many ways, including the system of quality control, clearly defined descriptions and reviews of employers' organizations and the position of the result of software companies.

For managers and their staff do not clearly understand what is expected of them, that's when the trouble starts. When jobsbe identified, and then the company can staff the capability to assess the improvements and changes are defined, when you need to achieve a goal.

Most companies use quality controls to improve the management of employee performance. This may help the company to ensure that the final product and service quality are. You can help your company know how long a product at each stage of production and determine which employees should be improved.All information may be collected through this system to better assess the company's equipment and staff to improve and increase profits of the organization.

A routine examination of workers is one of the workers and the most effective tools common to all societies today. This time can be programmed by society and do. It can be weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually. It 'can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the employee. SomeContributions also the expectations of the Company and the career path for the employee that is expected of him and what are their chances to change jobs or get promoted.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Is management a profession?

I called the people to solve problems, and I'm fine. However, usually the person who helps is a member of the team manager or director has a huge skills gaps in their administration, for example. Some of the flaws I see:

Lack of knowledge and application of knowledge in relation to the difference between men know more than personality differences

The stagnation of the professional development

The lack of knowledge in the areas of distributionand obtain feedback, improve training for delegation, has people responsible, music, etc.

Participate in an inefficient and ineffective behavior

Poor interview and select staff of new knowledge and skills

Clinging to ideas and moral attitudes that pain and work effectively

The question is, "The management is a profession?" The only answer is: YES! In many professions, such as health and medicine, members are constantly learning newTreatments, techniques, medications, procedures, and continues to hone their skills.

You can not ignore the growth, development and career advancement, or are obsolete. In the worst case, a panel of experts to learn from professional negligence and void the license for this work.

If the administration is a profession, because they are not executives of organizations to continuously improve all levels to become better managers and emerging?Why is it that shows the shortcomings I mentioned above? It is not their responsibility in professional development? Wait for the company to invest in their education and development? If you are too busy to participate in development activities?

There are huge benefits of personal development as leaders. You will notice an increase in their self-esteem, because the development and use more of your potential and underdevelopedSize.

You do as you progress through your life and Abraham Maslow, motivation to feel alive.

These two benefits are directly related to emotional intelligence of a person and a manager of emotional intelligence can contribute up to 40% of successful job. It is an advantage of self-development? Of course!

If you are a professional, you can search and find the resources necessary to overcome the shortcomings of the spaceIdentification. investment in their training and development.

In general, you should invest 1.2 percent of wages for professional development leads to improved knowledge and skills development.

Manager Wake. It 's time to move and can be the best manager. The resources are there. You must decide what to change attitudes in the past has started and Travelprofessional excellence. Do it now!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Matrix Management

Matrix Management is a compelling buzzword with a tempting nirvana of shared resources and unlimited access to expertise that lies in other functional areas. But are the resources really ready to be monopolized by multiple managers in a redesign of the organizational structure? Think twice before you plug yourself into the matrix.

What is Matrix Management?

Matrix management is a style of organization in which people are pooled for work assignments or to concentrate on specific tasks. In a standard structured environment, employees in a department report directly to a Functional Manager or supervisor responsible for the performance of a department or business unit. However, in a matrix environment, some of these employees may be assigned with select employees from other departments to simultaneously report to a Project Manager appointed for a specific project. In the matrix organization, employees are treated as shared resources between managers and may have to work under multiple managers simultaneously. Managers may have responsibilities for employees shared on isolated projects as well as sharing manpower for several departmental functions.

There Four Primary Styles of Matrix Management Organization

Balanced Power Matrix

In a Balanced Power Matrix organization the resources are assigned from multiple departments and power is shared equally between the Project Manager and the Functional Managers. Philosophically, this type of equality in authority empowers Project Managers to facilitate rapid results by bestowing equal power for making decisions and dictating schedules. However, more often than not, this perception of balanced authority creates conflict. A servant can not serve two masters. The employees are typically caught in a conflict between the ongoing performance requirements of existing job responsibilities with a Functional Manager and the disparate assignments dictated by a Project Manager. Over extended periods of time either the functional job or the project performance suffer. This is frequently underscored by personality conflicts that arise from inability to monopolize the time of shared resources.

Strong Project Matrix

In a Strong Project Matrix organization the Project Manager is primarily responsible for the project and may recruit resources from multiple business units to achieve a specific task. Functional Managers assign resources as needed to support the project. Frequently the same resources are recruited for multiple projects, creating a strain for the Functional Managers and associated business unit performance. While the Project Manager may have responsibility for the attainment of a defined task, the Functional Manager is ultimately responsible for the performance and assessment of the individual contributor as an employee. In this environment the Project Manager is bestowed with authority, but lacks the balance of accountability and responsibility for the individual contributor. This creates the allure of an "accountability free zone" for Project Managers and recruited resources which eventually degrades into projects with insignificant results, lack of focus and a detriment to functional performance.

Functional Matrix

In a Functional Matrix organization the Project Manager maintains limited authority to oversee the cross-functional aspects of a project. Functional Managers maintain control over the manpower and assign resources according to project requirements. The Project Manager is primarily responsible for documenting the milestones and the progress of the project, communicating regularly with the Functional Managers. In this style of matrix management, the Functional Managers share in the responsibility to achieve project results and the project manager acts as a facilitator, rather than a controlling management capacity.

Soft Boundaries Matrix

In a Soft Boundaries Matrix organization the functional team members provides individual expertise and assign resources on an as needed basis. In this environment it is not necessary for a Project Manager or Functional Manager to oversee the assignment of resources. Individuals may contribute as necessary based on a balance of functional responsibilities and the needs of a particular project, assessing the relative importance and urgency of the day to day job responsibilities and the project tasks. This can be an effective matrix solution in a mature environment that has motivated and capable resources available to contribute as needed for projects.

The Truth Behind the Myth of the Matrix

Proponents of the matrix organization are allured by the concept that highly capable resources can be shared between business units to expedite important strategic projects. Typically the most vocal proponents of adopting matrix management as an organizational structure are those managers that desire to draft the expertise and resources from surrounding functional areas in an effort to compensate for shortcomings in their own functional areas. Such shortcomings are defined as strategic projects and resources are drafted from surrounding functional areas to work under the control of a Project Manager. While this style of organization trumpets the occasional notable project result, it is a mere distraction to the underlying impact of strain and diminished performance of the functional organization.

Conceptually the matrix organization is designed to share expertise, knowledge and talent of each individual as needed in multiple functional areas and multiple projects. If all employees shared the same amount of expertise and responsibility in different contexts, then this would be an effective balance. In reality, turn-over of employees creates an unequal balance of experience. Expertise, intellectual capital and experience are rarely equal, so the demands for project related tasks are rarely equal. This can easily create a strain on the most valuable resources within the organization and the associated functional management structure.

Matrix management organizations are designed to mandate a formal structure in order to compensate for a lack of coordination and cooperation between functional areas. This can be an indication of a lack of vision, unclear or undefined strategy, conflicts or compartmentalized functional business units. If it is necessary to an independent organized management structure that is distinctly separate and equal in authority to the existing management structure, then there is probably something else broken within your business.

Real Importance of Project Management

Project Management is a very important and valued aspect of many organizations. Effective Project Management is typically characterized by the definitions associated with the Soft Boundary Matrix or the Functional Matrix. When associated with well defined projects that have clearly defined objectives and timelines, the role of Project Manager can be an essential element to the success of an organization. Frequently these projects are associated with implementation projects, integration or installation projects that have easily defined purpose and ends. This is distinctly different from a matrix management organization in which Project Managers exist with a goal to justify their existence by creating new projects. On the contrary, an effective Project Manager should be indistinguishable from a functional team member, sharing the responsibilities, documenting and coordinating progress toward finite goals with well defined purpose.

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Words of Wisdom

"So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work."

- Peter Drucker

"Management is too often dictated by the migration toward a good idea, rather than the practice of one."

- John Mehrmann, Executive Blueprints

"You can't really know how something works until you know why it doesn't work."

- Art Sakaguchi

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John Mehrmann is a freelance writer and President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Six Sigma Training Vs Total Quality Management

Six Sigma Training focuses on the importance of analyzing structure and processes to determine the best possible paths to quality improvement. Total Quality Management also focuses on looking over the entire support structure of a company, but that is about where the similarities end. Six Sigma Training offers a five step process known as define, measure, analyze, improve, control, or DMAIC, that is often seen as comparable to the plan, do, study process involved with Total Quality Management. However, the reality is that the processes are actually vastly different from one another.

The Six Sigma Process was developed by some of the leading CEOs in the country with the goal of business success in mind. This alone makes it a much more effective process than TQM, which was designed by people with little management experience who didn't focus as much on management principles in relation to the application of improvement processes. The Six Sigma Process allows businesses to operate at their full potential in a manner that is entirely possible to be embraced by any business or industry, while TQM is stifled in its offerings and often limited to only offering process improvement methods to specific industries.

Basically, it can be much easier understood by looking at the situation as a sum of the parts. TQM has some great tools and offerings to give to process improvement, but is much less advanced and developed. The sum of the parts of Total Quality Management does not add up to complete business success. Instead, they stop at improving one process or another to improve a PART of a business. Six Sigma Projects, on the other hand are designed to offer a complete solution and ongoing process improvement plan that will offer business success by improving various aspects of the business over time.

Six Sigma Training is loosely based on older concepts such as TQM, but also offers a much more wholly-embracing approach to improvement. It realizes that in order to achieve business success, an improvement process needs to be developed in any area that a business is having troubles with. Six Sigma focuses not solely on the end result, but on improving the steps that it takes to achieve that end result, including processes and policies within an organization. TQM is a sort-of solution to process improvement, while Six Sigma is a complete solution to provide continuous improvement processes to achieve business success overall.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Workflow Management Tools

Workflow is the manner of managing office work based on the specific requirement of the individual work item. It thus involves timely and effectual response. Hence this assures analyzing, providing solutions and expediting all transactions.

Workflow has to focus on the entire transaction and not just single transaction or part. The end result of any workflow is customer satisfaction. This involves empowerment of the worker, resulting in proper management of the workflow. Workflow of any organization is also based on relationships that exist between the partners.

In some offices and work places, there is a dominance of point of view of a workflow. There is no set flow in the work schedule and the exigency and character of the incoming procedures restrain the job. It is noted that in such a work atmosphere, events that occur are given a lot of importance and the entire action is aimed at reacting to them.

Worker empowerment is one of the traditional tools employed for managing workflow. It is seen that this empowerment involves doing away with the difference between designing and carrying out the concerned work. In this, the worker is allowed to manage as well as design their work. In such a scenario, the worker is not carrying out a series of tasks that is already programmed, but made to judge the suitable tasks that are required to be carried out at a specific time in order to accomplish customer satisfaction.

Several web-based solutions allow an organization to effectively manage its workflow. This is a very useful tool that could be used for creating jobs, ensuring timely completion of projects, storing important information, in short, having the control of the organization. It also increases productivity and thus profitability of any organization.

Workflow management tools can be used to control long-term scheduled transactions that are to take place on specific dates. Workflow management tools are designed to control all projects within the organization.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Anatomy of a Financial Statement - Property Management

Robert Kiyosaki likes real estate investing is because real estate touches each part of his financial statement. Starting with his best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad and continued in many of his subsequent books, Robert explains how real estate gives cash flow to his income statement and on the expense side of the income statement he's able to deduct the property's depreciation as an expense.

When seen from the balance sheet, he's able to gain appreciation on the asset side and the leverage provided by the bank rounds out the liability side of the balance sheet.

Through a property management company you can also access the four parts of the financial statement. Here's how:

Balance Sheet: Asset Column

Every property producing monthly rent is an asset. It is possible to sell the rights to manage the property to another property manager for a lump sum of money.

Balance Sheet: Liability Column

Robert uses his banker's money aka leverage in order to purchase a large property with only a small percentage as a down payment. When the property goes up in value he is able to keep the entire appreciation amount without having to share it with the bank. He can use leverage and still get the benefit of 100% of the appreciation.

In the property management business, leverage is achieved through controlling the income of a property. A property that is producing $500/month in rent gives a property manager $50 in income. If the manager feels that $500 is too low for the area, then her or she can increase the rents by 10% to $550 and the management company's income will go up 10% accordingly. How many companies can increase their income by 10% without a causing uproar among its clients?

Income Statement: Income Column

As a property management company, you take your 10% management fee directly off the top after the rents have been collected. Here again, if the manager feels that rents are too low, the manager simply raises the rent and increases the income to both the manager and the property owner. It's win-win!

Income Statement: Expense Column

While Robert Kiyosaki is able to depreciate the building as an expense, a property management company cannot take this tax advantage because a property manager doesn't own the building-the owner does, however, a manager is able to make money off the expenses incurred by the owner of the property.

Let's say that a tenant calls to say that the plumbing underneath the sink is leaking. The manager sends out his repairman to fix the leak. The repairman sends a bill to the property management company for the $12.00 plumbing parts plus $30.00 for his hourly rate.

The property manager now marks up the bill by lets say $10.00 and now charges the property owner $12.00 for the parts and $40.00 for the repair time. The $10.00 is for the manager's orchestration of taking the call from the tenant and sending out the repairman.

Now multiply this scenario by the management of 200 properties and you'll find that expense mark-up is a significant source of a manager's income.

As you can see real estate allows an investor to utilize all four parts of a financial statement. As a property manager, you can piggyback on the owner's shoulders and receive some of the same benefits of cash flow and leverage and you can actually profit from the property in ways an investor cannot i.e. expense mark-up.

And here's the best part -and the prime example of a property management's ultimate leverage: the manager isn't responsible to the bank for making the payments on the mortgage. The owner is responsible! The property manager is able to make money off the property without being personally responsible to the bank for the asset that creates all the money in the first place.

What a concept!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Span of Management

Also known as span of control, is a very important concept of organizing function of management. It refers to the number of subordinates that can be handled effectively by a superior in an organization. It signifies how the relations are planned between superior and subordinates in an organization.

Span of management is generally categorized under two heads- Narrow span and Wide span. Narrow Span of management means a single manager or supervisor oversees few subordinates. This gives rise to a tall organizational structure. While, a wide span of management means a single manager or supervisor oversees a large number of subordinates. This gives rise to a flat organizational structure.There is an inverse relation between the span of management and the number of hierarchical levels in an organization, i.e., narrow the span of management , greater the number of levels in an organization.

Narrow span of management is more costly compared to wide span of management as there are larger number of superiors/ managers and thus there is greater communication issues too between various management levels. The less geographically scattered the subordinates are, the better it is to have a wide span of management as it would be feasible for managers to be in touch with the subordinates and to explain them how to efficiently perform the tasks. In case of narrow span of management, there are comparatively more growth opportunities for a subordinate as the number of levels is more.

The more efficient and organized the managers are in performing their tasks, the better it is to have wide span of management for such organization. The less capable, motivated and confident the employees are, the better it is to have a narrow span of management so that the managers can spend time with them and supervise them well. The more standardized is the nature of tasks ,i.e., if same task can be performed using same inputs, the better it is to have a wide span of management as more number of subordinates can be supervised by a single superior. There is more flexibility, quick decision making, effective communication between top level and low level management,and improved customer interaction in case of wide span of management. Technological advancement such as mobile phones, mails, etc. makes it feasible for superiors to widen their span of management as there is more effective communication.

An optimal/ideal span of control according to the modern authors is fifteen to twenty subordinates per manager, while according to the traditional authors the ideal number is six subordinates per manager. But actually, an ideal span of control depends upon the nature of an organization, skills and capabilities of manager, the employees skills and abilities, the nature of job, the degree of interaction required between superior and subordinates.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Management Style and Organizational Culture

The potential benefits of improved job design are unlikely to be realized, if attention is focused on the content of jobs alone. Equal, if not more important, is the process by which redesign is carried out. This has led to recognition of the importance of management style and, increasingly, of organization culture. Central to improving the quality of working life is a participative, open style of management involving employees in decisions that affect them, including the design or choice of the technology itself. Personnel policies, including those related to pay and benefits, should attempt to develop a relationship of trust among all members and sections of the organization, and a confident partnership approach to trade unions.

Supervision involves technical knowledge, human relations' skills and co-ordination of work activities. Effective supervision is necessary for job satisfaction and high levels of work performance. Kindly and thoughtful leader behavior is likely to generate high worker satisfaction. Supervisors who adopt a considerate manner towards workers tend to have the more highly satisfied work groups. Lack of job satisfaction and unhappiness at work, may also arise from problems connected with managers.

The increasing pace of technological and structural change has made it imperative to address the issues of managing change in ways that would ensure the best outcomes for organizations and for the people in them. An important issue is still the jobs which people are asked to perform. When change is being planned, particularly if new technology is to be introduced, a 'window of opportunity' exists to think about the work that people will do and the design of their jobs. The aim is to ensure that the quality of working life is enhanced rather than undermined.

Concern of the quality of working life has also been supported by government legislation, for example in the areas of employment protection, employee involvement, and health and safety at work. Such legislation directs management attention to the importance of the work environment and the context, in which work is carried out, which in turn can have a direct effect on job satisfaction. Improving job design needs to take account of how people perceive their present tasks and involving them in changes which affect them and their jobs. It involves the ways of thinking about people at work.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Sourcing Strategy - 5 Steps to Effective Category Management

Category Management is a process that enables you to source more effectively and then to get even more value from continually optimising the resulting contracts. You do this by grouping together products or services that have similar characteristics and are bought from similar supply markets. But that is just the starting point. To succeed with a category management approach you need an effective process to do it. Here is a five step process for category management. The first letter of each step forms the memorable acronym DISCO.

Step 1: D for discovery. This is the step in which you agree a mandate with the budget holder for looking at the category, forming a category project team, agreeing the current status of the category, agreeing the business requirements and setting a target for what you are trying to achieve. It is also the step in which you determine the data you need and put in place a data collection mechanism.

Step 2: I for insight. At this point you will have collected the data set out in the Discovery stage. You now need to turn it into meaningful business intelligence by using analytical tools. This can include price and cost analyses, supply market positioning, supplier preferencing, Porter's Five Forces, supplier capability analyses to name just a few.

Step 3: S is for strategy. Now that you understand your spend data, the supply markets that you use, the suppliers in those markets, commercial risks, your business requirements and trends in technology and capability, you are in a position to develop sourcing strategy options that meet your needs and at the same time reduce costs. Each of these options is analysed against the requirements and a preferred option agreed with the budget holder and other stakeholders.

Step 4: C is for contract. You now need to go to market with the preferred option using your standard contract letting processes.

Step 5: O is for optimise. The one certainty in life is that there will always be change. This step puts in place both contract management processes that enable the contract to meet the demands of any change in a way that continues to offer best value. It is also the step in which you put in place a supplier relationship management programme. This works with your major suppliers on continuous improvement opportunities that are outside of the contract and also promotes good practice that has been developed with one supplier to other suppliers who could also benefit.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Blame Management for Poor Service

Buried in the publicity of a nasty airline strike was a vivid example of how misdirected management's service improvement efforts can become. To improve service, the airline ordered all attendants to attend three hour "Commitment to Courtesy" classes without pay. "They told us the reason we were losing money was because we were rude to passengers," said one attendant.

How reasonable would it be to hold a shipping dock worker responsible for the quality of the goods in the boxes he or she is shipping? Not only would that be unfair, it would be bad management. A good manager would argue, quite rightly, that the manufacturing process should be traced back to find the ultimate source of the defects.

So how reasonable is it for managers to hold the final deliverer responsible for the quality of the products or services he or she is delivering? The person on the front serving line is a symptom carrier, not the source of the problem. While he or she may be contributing to low service delivery, blaming him or her is not only unfair, it's unproductive.

The basic problem is that people are visible, but the systems and organization culture by which group and individual behavior is shaped are largely invisible. So when something goes wrong, it's easy to trace the problem back to whoever touched it last and lay the blame there.

If you put a good person into a bad system the system will win. This has been proven so often that it has become a truism in the quality improvement field called the "85/15 Rule". The 85/15 Rule shows that if you trace errors or service complaints back to the root cause, about 85% of the time the fault lays in the system, processes, structure, or practices of the organization. Only about 15% of the ricochets can be traced back to someone who didn't care or wasn't conscientious enough.

I've seethed in the seats of all too many airport gates waiting for a late aircraft, or scrambling to find an alternate way home. Having a flight attendant then give me a bag of peanuts and a big courteous smile doesn't turn me into a satisfied customer. I often feel sorry for the attendants (and the harried gate agents) while plotting my revenge for the faceless bureaucrats and managers that can't get the organization's act together.

Frontline servers often provide delightful service in spite of, not because of, their organization's support and systems. Given the many obstacles, it's a minor miracle that service is being provided at all by some exceptionally caring employees!

Many manifestations of the "our workforce is to blame" assumption stem from the all too common, but badly misguided, inclination to begin error "seek and destroy missions" by asking "who" rather than "what" went wrong. Symptom carriers of the organization's system and process problems are hunted down and hung by the neck. The result is a culture of fixing the blame rather than the problem. A culture of fear, cover your backside, and finger pointing.

If senior management truly wants to find the source of their organization's declining service levels, the best place to start is with a long and deep look in the mirror.