The first thing you can do after turn on your computer is checking schedule for that day. Before you go on the first meeting, you can go through few contracts and to reply on most urgent emails. Other emails will have waited until midnight. Also, you need to face problems that either can’t be solved by others, either no one wants to take responsibility for. That made me think that solutions are usually simple, but process of choosing one of the options is complex.
Some decisions you can postpone for period when you won’t be tied up doing daily tasks, but there are small chances that it will happen soon. However, you are aware that you need detailed analyses, more time and maybe extra conversation with colleagues for that type of solutions, or to simply put – sometimes you need to move away to see better.
And now from that distance, you asking yourself – Have you always made a good decision? Everyone makes a mistakes, but it is important that mistake doesn’t impact longtime goals and strategy of a company. One wrong move, doesn’t mean that you need to change direction.
Having in mind previous quotes and here we are on first meeting! Golden rule: “If you know something, speak, if you don’t, listen!”. Execpt the fact that meetings are place for brainstorming, and often a place for finding a solutions for complex situations between departments in company, or between you and customer, they can be interesting. Otherwise, they turn into collateral of time and energy, so you can think that you’re not in the right place. However, it does not fit you as a manager to give it importance, but when you don’t understand something, do not insist that everyone take notice.
In the meantime, between the meetings, the most important task of a manager follows – having conversations with employees. Here at Saga, this is very important because it is most important value of the company. It is necessary to maintain the tone, coordination of different characters and individual needs, all with the aim of achieving optimal working conditions. Although it may seem like an impossible mission, it is not quite so. An experienced manager knows the qualities of his associates well, because a good team is not the strength of the individuals, but it’s strength of the unit and how they function together.
There are also a lot of stressful situations in these conversations. Sometimes it’s not easy to explain things that seem obvious to you. The most common reason for misunderstanding is lack of information. Transparent access cannot be replaced by manipulation; nor is it advisable. Simply, if the truth does not help then there is no help.
Despite the your manager skills and common sense rules you consistently follow, there will always be people who will upset you. Your role is not to expose your feelings through verbal conflict or rash reactions. We are all sometimes nervous, frustrated, overwhelmed. Different view of the problem and perspective, in many situations leads to acceptable solutions. There are situations when this is not possible or when the frequency of such situations of some employees exceeds the acceptable limits. However, I am a human engineer, first of all, so I would best illustrate this situation through the equation D=A-I (Disaster=Ambition – Intelligence).
Fortunately, these are exceptions and rare situations, but at the end of the day, they always make you ask yourself “Am I a successful manager?”. The question is not special and philosophical, but what do we mean by success, because a man has many character traits, and a successful man nurtures their ideal subset.
Except rational approach, experience and knowledge, continuous improvement are required. The daily routine I write about continually makes you better and makes version 2.0 of you, but you also have to consciously work on it. Learn from others. You will never have the time they have spend to find the knowledge you need.
A successful day. You finished everything on time and also learned something new. The rest moments will follow. Ah, yes! Unread emails…
