Foundations of the Savvy Manager. Smart Management Principles for Success. 4 Key Functions of Managers.

March 30, 2010 by smsadmin
Filed under: Business Management

Today’s business world is global, where competing successfully intensifies the need for fundamental changes in how you manage. Doing “more with less” and “lean and mean” gives way to realistic strategies. It demands that you work smarter, not harder. And today, smarter means more than just doing things differently. You must think differently! Your thoughts ground your actions. As your thoughts shift, new actions that are more sustainable emerge from a deeper understanding of what’s happening.

The simple truth is that achieving consistent high performance is all about the relationship between people and work. Sustainable change comes from an integrated perspective of employees as people and work as an expression of service. Performance explodes as organizations reinvent themselves with fresh ideas about how to engage people, promote communication, engender trust, inspire purpose, and empower action. Harnessing the creativity and productivity of all employees in concrete ways generates prosperity for all. Employees are seen as vital assets in the performance and profitability equation.

Optimizing your managerial and leadership competencies by incorporating five new skills that enable your best performance. The five skills of self-managing, reflecting, acting consciously, collaborating, and evolving drive optimal performance and shape the savvy manager within you.

One could say that management is the identification, alignment, and integration of available and appropriate resources, in just the right mix, to achieve a desired outcome. It is a discipline steeped in the operational science of precision, processes, and execution: Input leads to transformation, which leads to output. Systems, quantitative measurements, schedules, and processes monitor and control the critical balance between inputs and outputs to ensure the company achieves intended results. Procedures direct people and processes to perform efficiently and effectively. At first glance, this might seem effortless, with management appearing to be “common sense” or just the job of establishing and following a plan. Managing time, analyzing systems, balancing budgets, and allocating resources are all part of the “black-and-white,” scientific part of management. These powerful tools are critical, but insufficient alone to manage today.

The actual task of managing processes with flawless precision rests on the shoulders of people, who are both complicated and unique. Organizations, as a collection of people engaged in work, make managing more about “art” than science. Here is where most managers find themselves unsure and struggling. The savvy manager we are coaching you to become develops that unique ability to work with the human dimension of his or her company—with each individual person, both separately and together. If you have been fortunate enough to work with or for a savvy manager, you know firsthand the distinction being made here. You can also appreciate the challenge!

Peter F. Drucker, one of the greatest management intellects of our time, held that management had three primary functions: managing the business, utilizing the full complement of available resources, and effectively matching employees with the work required.

Consider these three questions:
?   Are your management skills producing the results you want?
?   What are your greatest challenges and opportunities?
?   Where do you want to grow?

Functions of Managers

1) Manage the business

Managers are tasked with creating the appropriate set of circumstances to achieve profitable business performance.

You need to think like an owner. You must envision the “big picture” of your organization and its long-term global fit. Only then can you analyze current processes and systems, aligning these with employees’ capabilities. The savvy challenge focuses on your ability to achieve profitability now and taking the steps necessary to be profitable tomorrow.

2) Make all resources productive

Managers blend together and make the various resources available to the business productive. Efficiency, choosing wisely, and decisive actions direct this function.

You must choose wisely. Resources are costly. Savvy managers assess their needs and the available resources in ways that enable them to select only the best. These are the resources most suitable to the tasks at hand and the resources that show promise for future possibilities.

3) Manage workers and the work

The manager must align available resources, employee skills, and the work flow to optimize results. When humans enter the picture, “the many shades of gray” appear. Clearly, maximizing process and systems with people presents the greatest challenge.

You need to become the conductor. You must channel all your actions toward engaging your human resources—the people who do the work. By connecting with the full person (heart, mind, and spirit), you bring out the best in each player, aligning that “best” to continuously produce outstanding results.

4) Support social responsibility

Managing the business in ways that sustain the means for people to earn a living and create a life for themselves, their families, and their communities supports organizational social responsibility.

You represent the quality of life gatekeeper. The challenges of daily life are ameliorated when people have meaningful work and can get their own and their family’s needs met.