Gary Business

Archive for the ‘Management’ Category

Management development training is management training which is specifically geared towards improving your performance as a manager so that you can motivate your staff towards greater productivity and teamwork. Most training consultants will combine their experience of consultancy with a wide variety of clients with elements of psychology, Neuro Linguistic Programming and systems thinking in order to decipher which strategies will improve your management techniques and boost your performance levels.

Most management development training programmes are inspirational and dynamic and utilise keen perceptions on psychology, philosophy and human behaviour in order to encourage a more profound understanding of just what motivates people. A professional management training consultancy will gather particular information from each manager attendee before the course commences in order to specifically design materials and delivery styles which will be the most appropriate to their individual aims and objectives.

Follow up plans and ongoing assessment services may also be offered by consultants and in order to help you to secure funding, they should be able to provide testimonials from satisfied former customers and some projections of how your attendance at their course will improve productivity and efficiency.

Some management development training schemes are held in fixed central locations but many companies will be willing to travel to your premises in order to deliver customer- designed courses. Sophisticated psychological and NLP techniques are always explained in layman’s terms so that they can be utilised in vitro in the workplace and produce satisfactory results. As a manager, the performance of your team directly reflects on your ability to motivate, encourage and inspire. If your team constantly underperforms, your professional abilities are likely to be subjected to increasing executive scrutiny and ultimately, your employment could be terminated. Making a positive and powerful change to your management style now could prevent this scenario from ever occurring.

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Managers beware; somebody’s watching you and it isn’t just your boss. It’s your employees and your peers. The need to be mindful of what you say and do in front of others goes beyond the fact that as a manager you’re viewed as a role model. How you manage yourself at work tells your associates a great deal about your respect for them, or lack of it. It also establishes an underground “buzz” about you at the office which may or may not be good.

One of my best mentors directed a residence camp the first year I was a counselor there. A lesson I found applicable in every subsequent work environment was what he referred to as “Conscious Use of Self”. These days that might be called “being mindful” or “self-management”. At camp this meant not just avoiding bad language because the kids might imitate it. It also meant not communicating your fear when you saw a tarantula the size of your fist because it would send panic throughout your group of kids.

What’s this got to do with management you may ask?

I’ve observed many an otherwise skillful manager set aside self-management to his or her detriment. The most common mistakes occur when the person is not strictly engaged in a task e.g. when he or she is walking from one place to another, riding the elevator, or in conversation with a peer in a public area. Somehow self-awareness or awareness of others is abandoned. Consider the following real-life examples and the likely perceptions of surrounding associates:

Two managers who are also good friends, whisper in the hallways in a manner that appears conspiratorial to others. Message: “We have secrets. We may even be talking about you. If not you, somebody else is being picked apart.”
Two managers talk at normal volume about a legitimate business issue – while they stand in between two cubicles where employees are trying to get work done. Message: “You and your work are not important enough for me to consider talking elsewhere. I’m so involved in important matters, I don’t need to be sensitive to others.”
One manager talks to another about the performance of his company stock options within ear shot of employees who don’t have stock options. Message: “I’ve got money and status. I’m important (and you’re not).”
Two managers in the 50+ age group rarely talk to the twenty-something manager outside of the meeting room. (Or two twenty-something’s ignore a 50+ manager.) Message: “We have nothing in common. Get lost.”

To avoid inadvertently slipping into these scenarios, keep in mind the principles your mother taught you while you’re at work:
Don’t whisper in the presence of others
Don’t exclude others; be inclusive
Don’t discuss your personal money situation
Be considerate; avoid being someone else’s “noise pollution”

Ultimately, you develop a “brand” for yourself with all the accompanying characteristics. Ask yourself: how would people describe my office personality? If you use basic manners, stay considerate and unpretentious regardless of your elevated position, the office buzz will do you justice. If you stray, your reputation will as well. Though being popular is not a criterion for effectiveness and promotion, if word drifts up the food chain that you provoke negative feelings or ill will your overall potential for upward mobility could be affected.