MANAGEMENT NOTES
for
FEBRUARY 2012

YOUR TEAM

Over the past ten years, many of my Monthly Management Notes have focused on managing, leadership and teams.

I have tried to define each of these terms and provide you with practical tips on incorporating these techniques to help you become a more effective manager, a more effective leader and engaging with and effectively leading your team.

One thing I enjoy about this continuing exercise is there are so many angles in which to examine and gain insights.

Let me lead off with an insight I gained from an E-Newsletter from the Center for Creative Leadership in an article entitled “What Is This Team For and Why Am I Here?”

It is a very basic question that each of us needs to examine.  Denny Strigl, the former President & CEO of Verizon Wireless,wrote in SHRM's October 2011 magazine that there are four fundamentals that a team or for that matter any aspect of an organization needs to focus on:

• Growing Revenue
• Getting New Customers
• Keeping Existing Customers and Growing Transactions With Them
• Eliminating Costs

Not every teams works on all four of these fundamentals.  The manager/leader needs to have their team focus on one or two of those fundamentals.

A good manager and leader must understand their people.  A basic building block is that far and away most of your employees want to do a good job, be part of a winning team and receive recognition for their efforts.

Our job is to make that expectation happen because it is our expectation as well.

So we need to define with the our team what its purpose is, in other words why do we exist?

Next we focus on one of the fundamentals that Mr. Strigl laid out.  Continuing this blueprint plan we need to define each person's role and identify overlaps and gaps.  Then the definition of each person's role becomes their accountabilities.  Ensure the necessary resources and skills are accounted for.

Once everyone knows their role and accountabilities, let them go at it.  Your job as their manager and leader is to coach; continuously communicate with them as to how things are going (yes, the good, the bad and the ugly); and deal with problems as they arise and before they become obstacles, between team members or with other internal groups.

So the manager and leader need to understand how they influence their employees, peers and higher ups.  Be flexible because there are always “bumps in the road” and/or we learn new things that can possible cause us to change our course. We must constantly communicate our vision of where we are going.  That clarity keeps the team focused on achieving results.

In summation, as a manager and leader, we must focus on getting the results through our team.  In the end, nothing else counts.

An additional thanks to Larry Shoemaker of Shoemaker & Associates for his thoughts and inputs.

 NOTE: HR STAR Consulting is the name of my human resources and management consulting practice. Should you or an acquaintance of yours have a need for some assistance ranging from an HR Audit, to recruiting, to employee handbook, to policies, to training and development, to performance management, to defining your culture, to Vision-Mission-Value Statement, etc. give me a call. Please visit my WEB site, www.hrstarconsulting.com