It's been a long time since I've updated my blog, I've been focusing more on team management in the last couple of years, and I've relaxed on myself when things get busy, so let's start over with a management tip.
Management is an art, there is no standard answer, different environments have different perceptions, purely personal experience, recorded for everyone to do a reference.
An introductory mindfulness approach to team management has two key focuses, clarifying the manager's mission and choosing the right management style.
I. The mission of managers
What is the mission of a team manager? In my opinion, there are two things that a manager should never forget at any time: "to achieve goals" and "to develop members".reach a goal
The reason why a team is formed is to accomplish a certain goal of the organization. If a team consistently fails to achieve its goal, it should be disbanded or reorganized; if a team member is not subservient to that goal and cannot contribute, there is no need for him or her to remain and he or she should be eliminated.
Goal-oriented, this is the cold and utilitarian side of management.
Development of membersProvide coaching and assistance to team members to enhance their professional skills and careers, allowing subordinates to grow and have the opportunity to earn more lucrative compensation or take on more important work.
It is the warm and sacred side of stewardship to fulfill others.
Jack Welch once said, "When you are a manager, success is only as good as the growth of your subordinates." But in the real world, developing members is not an option. Or, in other words, achieving goals is a measure of a manager's competence, while developing members is a measure of a manager's excellence. A newly minted manager will choose to survive first, so the workplace version of "one man's work is done, ten thousand bones are lost" is not uncommon.
If you aspire to be a good manager, you still need to work on harmonizing these two missions, and here are some concrete steps to take.
1. Goal-setting
In some cases, the team's work objectives are flexible. Objectives at different levels are formed during the gradual decomposition of corporate strategy downwards, and team managers have the opportunity to participate in the formulation of objectives. At this point, it is the manager's responsibility to try to find the overlap between the organization's goals and the development of its members, so as to set a goal that takes into account both the organization's goals and the development of its employees, and can achieve a win-win situation.
It is a manager's greatest responsibility not to let go of any win-win possibilities.
2. Combination of short- and long-term objectives
Team goals should be a combination of short-term and long-term. Long-term goals are goals set with an eye to a larger picture and a judgment of trends, and have long-term value, but may not have significant benefits in the short term. For individuals, it may be acceptable to work around long-term goals, not be shocked by glory or shame, rely on self-motivation to get through the dull or even difficult days, and "sharpen a sword for ten years and try it out once".
However, this approach does not hold true for management teams, where team morale is sustained by constant victories. Without tangible incentives over time, team morale will be damaged, people will become disorganized, and long-term goals will be difficult to sustain. Managers themselves can sacrifice for ideals, but don't expect the entire team to be idealists.
Therefore, it is necessary to find short-term realizations for long-term goals, even if these short-term goals are not on the shortest path to the long-term goal, which can be reached in a roundabout way, or even by backtracking and iterating on this path.
To use an inappropriate analogy, this is like the "four crossings of the Red River" on the Long March. Each time we swam across the Chishui River, we achieved a short-term goal, otherwise the Red Army would not have survived, and only at the end did we seize the opportunity to realize the long-term goal.
Focusing on short-term goals is a necessary compromise for managers.
3. Open-mindedness for the fulfillment of others
When we talk about the achievement of others, we will unconsciously add aura to ourselves. In fact, the achievement of others is also conducive to managers, subordinates grow to bring the ability to improve the work, can help us better reach the team's goals. The real devil to break is the relationship between growth and leaving.
This is like the theater and the actor. A small theater provides the actor with better opportunities for growth, and the actor has greater fame and better economic returns for the theater. However, one day, the actor has to choose a bigger theater because he needs a bigger stage and a bigger audience, and at this point, as managers, we should not reprimand him for his treachery, but rather bless him with more brilliant achievements in the future.
After all, the theater and the actors had a great past and we made each other. Don't have too many distractions when developing your subordinates. Don't hold back to avoid turnover; that leaves behind a potentially painful experience for each other. Members leaving for a better future is also an incentive for the existing members, it's a way of telling others that the team is worth the effort and will be rewarded, and that leaving at that point is also a contribution to the team.
In today's day and age, the odds are that a person's career will be spent in different organizations. A manager's desire to achieve others should not be predicated on locking out employees. No manager can give unlimited rewards to his subordinates within any organization, but can create opportunities for them to grow so that they have a chance to be rewarded for their times outside the organization as well.
Achievement of others is a test of the manager's ability and mind.
II. Is the management style authoritarian or democratic or something else?
There is actually a standard answer to this question. Mature managers should adopt different management styles based on the situation of different teams. Managers should have the ability to adopt different management styles, combine different management styles, and switch between different situations.But I honestly think that's a very theoretical statement.
Just like an actor, theoretically, a qualified actor should portray different character roles according to the needs of the script. However, in reality, most of the actors have been performing in their own color all their lives, presenting their own character traits and playing themselves in different scripts. The real breakthrough in characterization, which only the best actors can do, is really rare.
I believe that a manager's best management style comes from his or her personal values.
Some managers enjoy the majesty that comes with authority, and whenever he is present, his subordinates are silenced. Some managers, on the other hand, communicate on an equal footing, breaking down the formalities of inferiority and superiority, and building a democratic organization as a credo.
Whether it is authoritarianism or democracy is a matter of values, and I prefer the latter because I believe it is a more universal pursuit of human society. Of course, there is a limit to what can be done with such a grand proposition within the constraints of objective factors and personal abilities, but even if it is just a little bit, or if it only exists for a moment, it still has its significance and value.
Management style is not just about the manager's dedication, but a series of actions and skills to reach it. Concepts need skills to support them, which requires systematic learning and practice. Otherwise, even democratic intentions can lead to bad management. And a word of warning, democratic management is much more troublesome than authoritarian management, so please be prepared if you want to practice it.
To wrap up, two management mind tricks were covered today, namelyThe mission of the managercap (a poem)Choice of management styleThe so-called mindfulness method is more about the heart and beliefs, and a little less about the operation. If you are interested, then we will talk about the operational level of a little experience.