The Common Sense Approach to Management

By Robert Jacobi

The Common Sense Approach to Management was written for the aspiring manager. This book will examine the subject of management from a practical, Common Sense perspective – and in plain English.
The Common Sense Approach to Management will acquaint the aspiring or new manager with the necessary understanding of management in order to succeed; it will assist the mid-level manager with his/her career growth; and it will be of benefit to senior management, if only as a refresher course.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9780990631897

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

In order to be a successful manager, it is very important to first know what a manager is. In my experience, a good manager is:

A Leader

A Teacher

A Mentor

A Great Communicator

A Resource

A Businessperson

A Public relations specialist

A Customer/Guest Service professional

An Employee relations expert

A Confessor

An Innovator

A Planner

A Standard bearer

A FRIEND

A complete manager is all of these. In order to be a good manager, you will have to acquire, develop, and possess all of these skills. You should also know that a good manager never stops learning, growing, and improving himself/herself.

CHAPTER ONE

COMMUNICATION

All of the management skills covered in this book are essential to success and are of equal importance with the exception of communication. If a person possesses all of the skills necessary to manage except the ability to effectively communicate, he/she will never be a successful manager!

Communication is the skill of conveying your thoughts and ideas to another person or to a group of people in order to achieve a desired change in another person’s or to a group of people’s thoughts, ideas, or attitudes. Communication is the wheels on which management travels. Communication must be clear and concise; it must be presented in terms that convey meaning. Effective communication should achieve desired results.

Communication exists to achieve goals – to get results. Communication probably came about when man first discovered that a group of people could accomplish together more than one man could accomplish alone. Communication probably came into being when man felt the need for help, for cooperation. No matter how great a manager you are, you are only one person. To succeed - you will need the cooperation of other people - the people above you, the people below you, plus your peers, your customers, and your vendors.

To truly understand communication and how to communicate effectively, it is important to know and to understand what is not communication. Communication is not only the spoken word; communication is not only the written word. In fact no communication takes place until someone hears what you say or reads what you have written and reacts to it. Always remember your goal as a manager is to gain the cooperation of others. Never forget; words have meanings… .

I am not going to present the hows and whys of communication, but rather the obstacles to communication. As a manager, it is equally as important to understand the obstacles to communication as it is to be able to communicate. By now it may have crossed your mind that you have good communication skills and everything to this point has been basic Common Sense.

However, is that really the case? Think back to the last three times that a goal was missed, instructions were not followed, or a report was incorrect or incomplete.

This could be something you generated or something you received. Why the failure or partial failure? What was the excuse? Did someone mention poor communication, misunderstand, or perhaps I thought you were looking for …? In all probability the problem can be traced to miscommunication or a lack of communication.

How can this happen? Everyone spoke the same language and acceptance of the assignment probably took place; yet the desired results were not achieved. Herein lays possibly the largest problem a manager has to overcome: The communication breakdown.

Does communication breakdown, or rather does it fails to take place? You give an assignment to a subordinate; you explain what you want, when you want it, and in what form you want it. He/she accepts the assignment but fails to provide what you felt you both agreed to. You are understandably upset. You did your part, or did you? Just because you are the boss does not mean you always get one hundred percent of your subordinate’s attention.

Your subordinate may or may not have your level of proficiency or your same perspective. He/she may not be aware of the big picture. So where did you go wrong? You may have failed to consider the obstacles to communication.

We will refer to these obstacles to communication as forms of interference, similar to the interference you occasionally get on your radio or television. Interference distorts the message and often makes the meaning unclear. It prevents your complete participation in the activity of listening to the radio or of watching and listening to the television. In an interpersonal exchange, whether it is the spoken word or the written word; interference can and will prevent complete participation in the activity of communicating. In a business setting, it will prevent you from getting the desired change in the production, attitudes, or thoughts of others and will adversely affect your ability to gain the cooperation critical to the success of your business.

Let us take a hard look at some of the more prevalent obstacles to effective communication. In no particular order of importance, they are:

DISTRACTION

DIFFERENCE IN PERCEPTION

PREOCCUPATION

EMOTION

DISTRACTION: Interference takes place most often in the form of distraction. Distraction plays a role in all forms of interference, with the exception of difference in perception. What is distraction? It can be anything that takes one’s mind off the subject on which one should be concentrating. Some people enjoy distractions, calling them brief mental vacations, an opportunity to daydream. This form of interference is not as likely to occur in a one-on-one meeting or when reviewing written communication. However, it is very likely to occur during a long meeting or while doing routine or boring tasks. Anything that breaks the train of thought interrupts concentration: a telephone ringing, notification of an incoming text, a knock on the door, loud noise outside the office, etcetera. The problem is that distractions happen, and it is the manager’s responsibility to be certain his audience’s attention is regained before he/she continues. More to the point, the manager should be involved enough in the exchange to notice if he/she has lost the audience’s attention. It is very easy to get so caught up in the substance of a meeting that you do not notice that you have lost the mental presence of your audience. The manager has to raise his/her own awareness to such a level that he/she can both preside over a meeting and participate in it, ensuring that the attention of the audience is held.

Two of the most effective ways to keep an audience’s attention are to present your material in segments and to require feedback from all participants. This works well with a small group and will quickly point out if you have lost anyone. At the completion of your presentation, it is also a good idea to have the participants sum up for you what they got out of the meeting, rather than just letting them get up and leave. This will assure you that they got from the meeting what you intended – especially the key points.

DIFFERENCE IN PERCEPTION: Perception, or interpretation, is a very personal experience. We are all different; our interpretations are governed by our experience or lack of experience; by our prejudices, biases, personal goals, level of education, and personal motivation. Difference in perception is a double-edged sword; it cuts both ways, being affected by both the person originating the communication and the person or persons receiving it.

It is important to remember that the purpose of communication is to gain cooperation. This is accomplished by the substance of the communication. Knowing about differences in perception, the good manager/communicator will take the necessary steps to ensure that the proper meaning is conveyed. He/she will communicate in the third person.

Stick to the facts; always keep personalities out of all communication. Take into consideration any known differences in perception of your own and of the intended receiver; form your communication to minimize there effect. This is no guarantee that you still will not have some differences, but good management awareness should be able to identify these and overcome them, thus ensuring success.

PREOCCUPATION: This is one of the most common forms of interference and one of the potentially most damaging. To be preoccupied mean already mentally occupied, or lost in thought; not giving full attention. Mental preoccupation usually lasts for brief periods of time when the mind changes lanes and concentrates on another subject or blocks out what is being said or done long enough to allow something else to enter the mind. These brief mind trips are brought on by worry or dreams (fantasies): for example, How much will my car repairs cost? or Will I get that raise or promotion? or