Role of manager is today's changing organizations...Increasingly we are witnessing organizations undergoing a state of constant change. Be it changes due to the changing external environment in which the business operates or due to the changing organizational dynamics. In a fast paced and changing organization what is the role that a manager needs to play to ensure he is extracting the best possible performance from his/her team which is inline with the organizational objectives and at the sametime satisfying the inherent selfish requirements of every individual such as constant learning, challenge and growth.
This question has been bothering me for quite a long time and everytime I try to find answers, I find myself coming up with one word which may actually be holding the key to success and that word is COMMUNICATE.
Human beings have an inherent need to be aware of their immediate environment and same if replicated at the workplace could mean the difference between a high performing focused team and disengaged team working towards completing the task at hand.
Know the "person" first: Managers need to make sure that they are interacting with every individual member in their team as individual people and not as another piece of equipment in their team to get results out of. They need to appreciate the fact they have people working for them and it is critical for them to establish a relationship with their team members as people before they actually look at them for higher productivity, commitment or greater engagement.
Once a manager has established that critical link at an individual level with his/her team members, it gives him/her a chance to know them better. This improved understanding of an individual's self enables a manager to better translate the expectations from a particular team member in a language which is inline with his/her value system and at the same time ensure that the team member is in a position which gives him/her a chance a to maximize his/her personal victories. These personal victories if achieved in light of the organizational objectives would mean greater commitment to the task at hand by the individual and improved and significantly better output for the organization.
Teamwork means success:Teams do not necessarily work in isolation and are frequently dependent on other functions/departments for support in effective execution. Hence, as a manager it may be helpful if you can work with the team to understand and identify such points of interaction and work closely with your peers (other team managers) to ensure that your teams are able to better communicate and work together. It never helps if you as a manager are constantly bashing the other team managers and members for their incompetence as it only leads to loss of mutual respect and only deteriorates the relationships further.
Be Honest:A manager needs to constantly keep his/her team updated with what is going on in their larger environment. This does not mean pushing down all your individual pressures to your team members and expecting them to come up with answers. But this means keeping them posted on why something is being done and what this means for us as a team and what this will translate into for us as a organization. This little and regular communication will go a long way in ensuring that your team is looking at the same goals as you and the organization.
All the above little actions when clubbed into a bucket may actually classify as "Effective Communication- at an individual, team and organizational level" and hence could mean the difference between a highly effective team manager and one who is struggling to come up with the answers in review meetings.
