Quintessential Techniques of Effective Management Essay

Goal oriented performance, combined with productivity and employee satisfaction to achieve a positive cash flow is the key to a healthy and lucrative business in today’s world. The success of employee performance is due in large part to the management of employee time and proper training. It is the duty of a supervisor to direct the employees towards satisfactory accomplishments in these areas and orient them towards the goals of the parent organization.   In order to lead with positive results a manager must not only lead the team, but be an effective part of it. The development of work team identity, performance goals, skill development, and a satisfactory rapport between management and employees falls on the supervisor. A good supervisor will understand that management is only as effective as the partnership he or she sustains with the employees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There has been a great deal of time and energy devoted to the research of effective management skills in the workplace. According to Joseph Wholey, the â€Å"theory of management is being able to develop a reasonable level of agreement on agency and program goals and strategies† (Wholey, 288.) A solidly founded program will ensure both fairness and objectivity. In order to do both, and effectively manage the time and skills of employees, a supervisor must assure that performance is be both carefully measured and documented. This begins with the establishment of a performance plan, agreed upon by both the supervisor and the employee. The plan should set both short-term and long-term employee goals. The team should review these goals quarterly. One of the most effective techniques for this type of a system is a monthly scorecard kept for each employee by the supervisor. During a performance review, the manager would examine the records produced during the previous quarter and records and evaluate the employee’s performance during that quarter as well as against past quarters. This performance rating should include ratings for individual goals, team goals, and open-ended comments, as well as an overall rating. After accessing the past information and reaching an agreement on the current rating, the supervisor and the employee should work together to develop new goals with higher team and individual expectations. The implementation of priorities for the upcoming year should also be written at this time. It is during these performance reviews, and not during the normal working shifts, that supervisors are able to get important information and feedback from their employees.   There is little productive about interrupting the scheduled work in order to ask how it is progressing. In order to maintain smooth supervisor and employee relations there must be respect for the job as well as the individuals. The responsibility of a supervisor during the normal course of the working day is to encouragement the successful maintenance of the work schedule rather than to bond with the employees.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On occasion, there will be rough patches at work that are unaccounted for during these goal-setting meetings. Supervisors must support their teams through these difficult times.   It is imperative that the supervisor understands the development stages of teams in order to aide the team in getting through the trouble spots.   Fusion Associates discusses how performance goals are tied directly to team development. Developing performance goals and standards show participants how to establish SMART-based performance standards. It is one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time-framed. The SMART approach enables team members to better understand organizational performance requirements and their own role in moving the business forward. Because SMART is a collaborative way to develop goals and standards, team members intuitively agree to the process and give their full commitment to its success. By using SMART with their team members, managers demonstrate their commitment to an open and consistent performance improvement process. (Fusion) In many cases the industry of the organization has a major effect on the way in which teams are organized, and supervision is handled. For example, in today’s telecommunication industry, sales figures drive the perception of company success. In this case, the effective supervisor must encourage employees to believe every call is a sale opportunity, rather than allow then to focus on the failed calls. An instance of this problem and solution can be found in the following case. Connect Wide is one of the leading local cable companies. The quarterly performance goals, based on sales, have been increased in regular increments without discussion with the employees. This has led to low moral amongst the employees.   The employees in turn complain that they can not sell, or up-sell, to customers who feel that the pricing is too high, or already run past due on their billing accounts. Once the problems have been defined, the management needs to implement a program to reverse the low morale and increase sales. A good supervisor would begin with designing a successful operating plan to present to the employees. This plan should include the encouragement, empowerment, and support of the employees during the change. Despite the poor beginning conditions, change is almost always considered with both reluctance and suspicion in the workplace. The implementation of changes for the betterment of both the working conditions and the sales driven goals would be well served by a mini-training course on transitional selling. Following this with a good marketing campaign should ease the burden of making hard sales for the employees. These implementations would both increase the revenue and therefore make goals easier to reach. When the individual, team, and department goals are met the supervisor is often rewarded. By passing these types of rewards down to the employees, it will sustain the motivation in the workplace. When a manager administers a plan successfully, what results is a motivated work force, which maintains productivity and reaches set goals. This type of direct intervention is often called management coaching.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Understanding the concept of management coaching and how the employee and company can all benefit is an important hallmark of a good supervisor.   One of the key components to successful coaching is observation of the employee’s performance in order to grant feedback. There two types of feedback the supervisor must be aware of, both which are valuable to employee development. The appropriate type of feedback needs to be given to the employee, depending on the developmental needs witnessed by the supervisor. Motivational feedback is the first type. This feedback focuses on positive actions which the supervisor wishes to see the employee continue.   This type of feedback most often elicits future performance gains from the employee. The other type of feedback is developmental.   Developmental feedback allows the supervisor to offer the employee ways in which to improve their performance. Clear, concise suggestions for what needs improvement must be balanced with an effort not to make the employee feel berated, especially in front of other employees.   This type of feedback is far more dependant on good communication skills. To reach the best performance standards employee coaching must be conducted with a conscientious approach to customer service.   Fleischer describes this as an   approach to retention seems like an efficient way to sustain revenue from existing customers.   But in practice, this attempt to prevent churn backfires because it creates a conflict between customers’ expectations of service and the company’s willingness to fulfill them. (Fleisher. 40) The coaching is a process does not require a great deal of time; however it is a great benefit to the company. The secret to successful coaching is to create and seize coaching opportunities, which present themselves everyday in the work place. This small investment of a supervisor’s time with his or her employees often results in large pay-backs of more motivated worker and larger profits. In conclusion, good management must be successfully implemented by a supervisor who leads his or her team towards redefined goals.   The must use encouragement, motivation, and listening skills in order to connect with their employees and help their employees connect with each other. These skills can be honed under various development paradigms. One of the most successful of these is coaching, the delivery of feedback to the employees, and listening for feedback from them in order to improve both sides. Works Cited   Human Resource Management International Digest 14.7 (2006):   ABI/INFORM Global.   ProQuest.   1 Nov. 2006 http://www.proquest.com Holiday Extras is flying high:   Found monitoring calls knock a minute off the average call, while improving quality to the customers.   Monthly staff turnover fell from 7.95 to 4.2 percent versus a year before.   Sales increase by 6 percent using transition keeping in mind each call could be a sell opportunity. Fleischer, Joe. Call Center Magazine 1 OCT. 2006: 40. ABI/INFORM Global.   ProQuest.   1Nov. 2006 http://www.proquest.com/ Don’t Just Say No — Is approach to retention seems like an efficient way to sustain revenue from existing customers.   But in practice, this attempt to prevent churn backfires because it creates a conflict between customers’ expectations of service and the company’s willingness to fulfill them. Fusion Associates.   Forging High Performance Teams.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2005 7 Nov. 2006 http://www.fusionassociates.com/index.html Developing performance goals and standards show participants how to establish SMART-based performance standards. It is one that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-oriented, and Time-framed. The SMART approach enables team members to better understand organizational performance requirements and their own role in moving the business forward. Webster, Richard .   Call Center Magazine 1 Nov. 2006: 42.   ABI/INFORM Global.   ProQuest.   1 Nov. 2006 http://www.proquest.com Beverly Stryker, Starbucks Coffee Company — Starbucks hired Stryker in 2003 to oversee and build upon a virtually non-existent quality assurance and training program.   Stryker took pains to convince her staff that the aim of the quality assurance program was not to spy on employees, but to improve customer interactions. Wholey, Joseph S.   â€Å"Performance-Based Management Responding to the Challenges.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   March 1999.   Vol. 22.   Univeristy of Southern California and U.S. General Accounting Office.   Pg. 288.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Theory of management is being able to develop a reasonable level of agreement on agency and program goals and strategies.