Whether you like it are not, you are a manager. The only question: Are you a good manager?
As adults we manage many facets of our work as well as personal life. And we are responsible to ourselves to make the best of every minute of every day-if only to make it more enjoyable. These principals apply to work, home, charity-to every activity in which you spend time and energy.
There are five basic operations in the work of a manager.
Managers can improve their performance by improving the results they achieve on the following activities:
• Establish objectives. The first job of a manager is to establish the correct objectives for your organization/life. Only by limiting your concentration to a clearly defined set of objectives will you be able to gain the focus you need for success.
Too much energy is wasted on events that are aligned with unclear objectives. Stop and ask yourself often, "Why am I working on this project? Does it meet my clearly defined objective(s)?" If it doesn't, consider eliminating it from your day as soon as possible.
With a clearly defined set of objectives, it is time to consider what needs to be done in order to reach your objective. The first question to ask: "Do I have the resources needed to accomplish this objective?" If you do not, determine what you need and do your best to obtain it before you commence.
There is nothing worse than beginning a project and then abandoning it without meeting the objective. Too many times we waste such valuable time and resources because we did not critically examine our ability to complete a project before we started. You would be better off spending the day at the beach!
• Managers manage people as well as the objectives. Most projects require the development and the management of resources. Do not limit yourself by limiting the resources that you have in your sphere of influence. Many times it is better to engage an outside resource than to develop your own.
For example, I recently hired an Infusionsoft expert for $100 per hour to complete a project. What is the project? Develop Infusionsoft using a clearly defined sales process flow chart into a complete system and then train my team on how to use it.
For less than $1,000, we will not only have the system developed but will be trained on its use.
Regardless of the type of resource, they all require that you communicate clearly to them the objective and the goals to be of value. Be careful that you do not engage resources or employees without a clearly defined objective for in all cases they will help you define the objective with their own benefit in mind. It will be a waste of money or become very expensive.
Of course commonly opportunities arise as you go through your day focused on your objectives. While you need to have an open mind, be careful of distractions.
Key: Be clear about your objectives prior to committing resources.
• Managers must organize. Organization is a primary duty of the manager. With a clearly defined objective you can now begin the job of organizing the work that needs to be performed as well as development of the non-negotiable that you will deliver. I find that companies that do not have non-negotiable waive key elements of the protocol necessary to maximize results.
For example, if your business has a complicated sales process that requires training, require the participants to submit to training. No ifs ands or buts. Maintaining this important decision will help you grow your business in a focused manner. Elimination of problems is best when done from the beginning.
In addition, you must analyze your activities and decisions. What are the key components of your enterprise? What are the variables of your forecast? Managers must manage to those variables on a regular, even daily basis, if they hope to accomplish the goals established.
How many customers must come through your door on a daily basis to be successful? How much must they spend? Duration of the revenue activity? Productivity per hour for your staff? Percentage of re-occurring revenue units? These are just a few of the measurements for your business. The key is to measure and then soberly understand if you are meeting your targets.
Only the accomplishment of specific measurable events will culminate in the end result of your objective. Don't get to the end of the month to determine that it was not a good month. You can determine it on a daily basis if you have the proper analysis of data.
To be continued.
To your Success
Joel S. Pate
PS: Plan to join Joel for his Jump Start Business Building webinar held each Thursday at 3 PM CST by clicking on this link:
