The Best Manager

Of course, many might suggest that the classic role is to plan, control, measure, and direct work. While this may be true, the classic approach tends to ignore how work gets done.  Work gets done with people. And people are not robots. They have feelings, motivations, goals, and, also, personal lives. Too many managers just assume ...

The daily life of a manager is complex and requires a combination of skills and approaches.  The important thing to remember is that action which a manager takes has a direct relationship to the whole system.  When a manager plans a project, it impacts how the project will be organized.  Who ...

Wouldn’t it be great if we all get along well? Have you ever met people at work with whom you really got along well? Have you ever met people at work with whom you wished never meet again? What causes these great differences? Too often, we are expecting others to be just ...

What causes stress at work? Stress impacts all of us. It causes health problems and accidents and affects the national economy. In my management career, I observed that incompetent managers cause stress their employees. These managers seem to always adopt a crisis mindset when managing. They rarely listen to others; they lack creativity and rely on ...

Do these time management habits sound familiar? It is always interesting to me to observe how others especially managers manage their time. For example, when I was young in my career, I can remember one manager, who had a habit of trying to handle 3 things at once. I would be in his ...

Do you look forward to your next meeting? If your answer is no, this does not surprise me. In over 25 years of managing, I saw many meetings which didn’t work. Either the wrong people were there to make a decision or the right people were there, but the meeting leader was disorganized. ...

If your answer is no, this does not surprise me. In over 25 years of managing, I saw many meetings which didn’t work. Either the wrong people were there to make a decision or the right people were there, but the meeting leader was disorganized. Many times, the meeting was unstructured, and, ...

Why hire in the first place? Any employer hires for the same reason, they have a problem which needs to be fixed. When hiring, the best manager looks at three following factors: if the person has the ability to do the role, if the person has motivation to do the role, and if the person ...

What is career development? Many organizations view career development in a typical way that a person will move up over time within a specific job ladder. Compensation guidelines are established to enable growth within these ladders. The better idea of career development is to assist people to match what they are good ...

The most common financial mistakes managers make In many organizations managers are not taught how to manage their budgets. In some cases managers are given budget responsibility but not budget authority. In these organizations it takes 5 levels of signatures to get a few hundred dollars approved. Worst, managers are given both ...