Magnetic Management style

One is always intrigued by the way magnet behaves. It is one of the most common visible force that we come across in our day to day life. Hence it was pleasant to watch Prof. Mandi walking into class with a chunk of magnet in his hand and a question in his mind, “Why does a magnet attract?” OK, we know this! was our first instinct! After many technical answers explaining this phenomenon, one word echoed in the room, “ALIGNMENT”

A magnet possess its power because it can align the innate magnetic dipoles in a metallic substance. For the same manner, Mandi continued, “A manager aligns human forces to get work done. The better the organization, the more perfectly it is aligned.

So managers align people and power. But is that enough to make diverse people work together. Here we come to a very important management lesson, “Management by Objective”. It is a process of defining objectives within an organization commonly accepted by management and employees. Employees must understand what they need to do in the organization and how their work will help to achieve it. The term "management by objectives" was popularized by Peter Drucker in his 1954 book The Practice of Management.

The essence of MBO is in

• ·         Participative goal setting

• ·         Choosing course of actions

• ·         Decision making.

 An important part of the MBO is the measurement and the comparison of the employee’s actual performance with the standards set. Ideally, when employees themselves have been involved with the goal setting and choosing the course of action to be followed by them, they are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities.  

The above analogy can also be set into a simple management abbreviation (PDCA):

P: Plan                  D: Do                     C: Check               A: Act    

Follow the cycle

We concluded that the reason for mis-management is a skill set mismatch. Multiple skills COULD come as a disadvantage as the ability to exercise choice comes into the picture. Management should figure out which all skills to hone & nurture and which all to get rid of or discourage.

The most important take away in today's class is – without any doubt – the concept of MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVE.