Top Management Story

Writen by Cameron Switzer

The book I am reading, "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman, talks all about how technology since 1991 has dramatically and radically ripped asunder and irrevocably changed the face of the globe. It has opened everything up to new potential never-before imagined. Especially since about the year 2000, things have begun changing so fast that people and companies are now able to do things that they never could have dreamed of "just a few years ago". It is all happening so fast, in fact, that it is almost impossible to keep up with the changes. But, says Friedman, you must keep up otherwise you lose your advantage and the other three billion people out there who have just recently come online, will walk all over you until you cease to exist.

He is so right.

So much has changed so dramatically that the old way of doing business will likely lead to death of that business if I.T. is not embraced completely.

We as human beings no expect so much more for so much less. We want it faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before. In effect we want to eat the whole pie and have it to. This I.T. world has changed us to the point that our wants have become our needs and our expectations have skyrocketed.

BUT....

Today when I went to give my Year End Greetings to a company that I buy product from and respect greatly as a friend, the president came out to my car and said to me something that has always been in my heart, something that I have always believed regardless of this I.T. onslaught.

"Cam-san, everyone is talking about IT these days how it is changing the face of the earth. BUT, there is one thing that will NEVER change and that is the human heart. Our demands may increase due to I.T. but our hearts, minds and souls will forever be analog and that will never change."

He is so right.

No matter how deeply you go into I.T. now matter how much you exploit the Everest-like ascent of the I.T. mountain, the human condition will always be unchangingly analog. The true human needs, that is communication, trust, truth, honesty, a desire to help, will always need to be met through the heart, through the mind, and the soul. This will never change. I.T. may speed it all up and allow us to do things on a global scale that we could never have even imagined before, but in the end, like the rock used by the caveman to kill the deer for food, I.T. will never be more than JUST A SIMPLE TOOL.

When I returned home and checked my email today I received a message from Shivdeep Dhaliwal, a friend/associate in India who is doing exactly what Friedman talks about in his book: working on I.T. from India and receiving outsourcing work and more for the world with a European partner. How is that for a flattened world?

This is what he writes today:

"In my past 3 years of experiance in this field, I have realised that IT is basically a business driven completely on Communication and Understanding."

He is so right.

A computer can never "understand" a human's needs (unless you believe the S.F. movies) unless is becomes sentient. Who knows what the future holds on that wild wild frontier, but at this point in time, it is humans that communicate with humans. And it is humans that understand humans. A computer is just a tool to help get this ultimate goal accomplished more easily than ever before. But again, the I.T. and the world of computers will never be more than JUST A TOOL.

Communication, real communication is human to human and that will forever be analog.

And it will forever be necessary. If you remember that in all of your business dealings, from the front office to the back office "applications", you can't but succeed. Human interaction, heart-to-heart win-win communication is required to succeed in business.

- Cameron

Cameron has lived and worked in Japan for over 15 years. Originally a researcher and educator he has a penchant for details and a natural born flair for communication "soul to soul".

His extensive experience in the culture, coupled with language fluency and a deep understanding of Japanese ethics, morals and thought processes has allowed him to develop a special niche market in the business world.

While working to develop a global presence for a titanium raw material / parts & accessories distributor for the eyeglass manufacturing world for 5 years, Cameron saw the difficulties small/medium sized manufacturers were having themselves trying to expand their businesses outside of Japan. He decided to assist those kinds of businesses get started successfully.

Currently Cameron owns and operates a one-man (one dog) SOHO business designed to help Japanese and foreign companies come together in business in a very efficient, effective, and cost-effective successful manner.

Reach Cameron @: http://www.intrmarketsolutions.com

Visit his blog @: http://360.yahoo.com/intrmarket

Writen by Kevin Augustine

As you climb higher and higher on that precarious corporate ladder, you'll eventually get to the point where you are depending on other people to get work done for a deadline you are responsible for. An example of this would be if you are leading a team doing software design, and you are responsible of having all of the designs done by a certain date. You are responsible for the end result (all of the designs done), but you need your team to actually write the designs for this to happen. What happens if your team doesn't make the deadline? Who gets the blame? This is a simple answer: You.

With this idea firmly in mind, how do you prevent missing a deadline? This is another simple answer, and yet many people don't follow it: Be proactive. What does this mean? Well, I find that a good amount of the time a deadline is missed because the team lead does not check to see if their team is on track until the last minute. Finding out that three designs aren't going to be done the day before the deadline is due is not going to do you any good, as it is too late to do anything about it. However, if in this same situation you were to check a week or two before the deadline was due, the outcome might be different. This is being proactive. For our purposes, we can define it as taking action with enough time before your deadline is due to correct any problems.

The following are three things that you can do to be proactive on your projects as a team lead:

• Have regular meetings - Not just every once and awhile on the fly, but scheduled meetings. This means that your team knows that you have a meeting at a certain time on a certain day every week. For instance, you could have a 10:00 AM meeting every Monday to kick off the week and make sure everybody knows what they should be working on. Also, you could have a meeting at 3:00 PM on Friday to wrap up the week. You don't have to go overboard and have a meeting everyday (unless you're in really deep trouble), but I've found once or twice a week to be effective. Make sure that you have a structure to the meeting as well, and it's not just everybody standing around randomly talking. You need to conduct it and have a clear agenda when you go in for what you want to get out of it.
• Keep a tracking spreadsheet - This is another important organization tool: The tracking spreadsheet. Yes, it is a pain to maintain. However, it will save you from a lot of problems in the future. With this spreadsheet, you can see your team's progress at a glance. This makes it easy to go into a meeting with them and ask questions about who is slipping or who is going to be ahead of schedule and why. This can save your deadlines by allowing people who are ahead of schedule to help pick up the slack of those who are falling behind. Also, this is good for meetings with your boss so that you can give them an easy to understand overview of how your team is progressing. The key point to remember here is to make sure your tracking spreadsheet is up to date. It does you no good if you have one, and yet nobody has updated it for a week. If your team is responsible for updating, remind them to update at the end of everyday (or whatever works for you, I just find the end of the day to be effective). If you are responsible for updating it, make sure you set aside a certain amount of time to do it everyday.
• Check in individually - Even if you have regular meetings, you should have informal progress checks with each of your team members. This doesn't mean that you have a schedule a specific time for this, this can be as simple as stopping by their cube and asking them how they are doing. This way you don't have to find out about a problem that happened on Tuesday at your regular Friday meeting. By performing these progress checks, you relay a message to your team that you are right there with them in the trenches, and that you are there to help if they have any questions. Also, as stated above, this allows you to take action immediately on a problem instead of having someone waste their time working on it for days at a time. Linking to the point above, if you find a change in someone's progress as you talk to them, update the tracking spreadsheet immediately after you get back to your desk. This way you can see how that change is going to impact the rest of the team and your final deadline.

These are just three ways I've found that help me to be Proactive. There are probably lots of other ways specific to your work situation that can also help you out. A good way to think about your deadline situation is this: Whoever is holding you responsible for your deadline probably looks at your project as something of a black box. They don't want to know the fine details, they just know what they want to see come out of it. With this in mind, you want to deal with any problems that arise inside that box, rather than outside of it, so that when your finished product comes out the end result is what this person is looking for.

Kevin Augustine is the administrator for Workplace Life - Where Every Cubicle Has a Window. Visit us for helpful articles on common Microsoft Office software such as Microsoft Word and Excel. We also have articles on career management, surviving in the office, professional email tips, and bits of humor to lighten up your day.

Writen by Vishal P. Rao

Many times business owners can have significant differences in management styles that can deter the growth of both the employees and the business.

Employees can have differing needs that require differing methods of management as well. Problems arise when the management style of a business owner does not match the needs of the employees.

There are two basic management styles that are also broken down into more minor categories, the Autocratic Management Style and the Permissive Management Style. An Autocratic Management Style is one in which the business owner makes all decisions unilaterally. In other words, the business owner is the "boss" period and doesn't value input from employees. The business owner's word is law. The Permissive Management Style allows employees to take part in business decisions. A rather considerable degree of autonomy on the part of employees is encouraged in this management style.

If a business owner possesses an Autocratic Management Style, and the employees and/or type of business would benefit more from a Permissive Management Style, problems will arise, and vice versa.

Management styles may also be "situational", in other words, should be changed depending upon the needs and growth of the business, as well as the differing situations that may occur.

How then can a business owner know if their overall "approach" or management style is hurting or assisting their business? Easy: Results.

The results of the business, in all facets of the business, will dictate which management style is needed, or if a business owner needs to amend their management style. If a business is doing well financially, if clients are routinely satisfied, if employees are happy, are all indications that the management style of the business owner is appropriate. Discontentment and loss of business would be indicators that the approach is incorrect.

An example of this will explain this principle further:

Karen R. successfully managed her own business for several years. She employed a rather Permissive Management Style, allowing the employees plenty of input, with a rather "family style" atmosphere developing. The employees were very much engaged in the business and considered the business "their own" as well, leading to much devotion on their parts.

However, as the business grew, so did the demands of the clients. It became imperative for Karen R. to change her management style to the Authoritative Management Style, as she needed to quickly enforce parameters, and complete projects. There simply was no time for discussion among the employees, and no time for multiple approaches to each project.

This led to much discontent on the part of the employees, and they needed to be reminded that their opinions were no longer welcomed repeatedly, which left Karen R. frazzled and stressed too.

The solution: Karen R. engaged a series of psychological tests for both herself and her employees, as initially she had no clue what was wrong or how to relieve the problems. This test revealed that she was being somewhat "overly authoritative" in her approach, and also that her employees were "too expectant" in their demands that she include them in decisions. A compromise was reached, and Karen R., now allows some "input" from the employees, but retains the right to make a decision unilaterally. This combination of Authoritative/Permissive Management Styles has led to the relief of the stress within her organization, and has also led to increased happiness and productivity on the part of the employees.

Without a good knowledge of their own management styles, or psychological approaches to business, business owners can set themselves up for problems. They may be so difficult in their approach, and so set in their ways, that they in essence, would not put up with this behavior if they worked for themselves. Or they can be so passive, and so permissive, that they become "doormats" for the employees, thus not achieving enough control over the business. Karen R. above is a good example. Her Authoritative Management Style, when adopted, became much too rigid for the growth of the business, and this was because of her perceived "need" for control in a business that was growing rather rapidly. Because she herself felt somewhat overwhelmed by the growth, she tended to approach the employees, with an attitude that was too strict and unrelenting.

Assessment of situations, along with psychological tests administered to all within a business, if problems arise, can go a long way towards alleviating the problems. These tests are generally available online or from Human Resource providers.

Business owners can't rectify a problem or their own behaviors or that of their employees, unless they know specifically what these problems are. Insight into themselves and others, will assist business owners into successful resolution of all problems as they occur. Knowledge of behaviors and knowledge of management styles, can prevent problems in management problems before they happen.

-----------
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of Work at Home Forum, an online community of people who work from home.
-----------