Traditional Tool: The Role of Leadership and Standard Operating Procedures

Topics Last Week n Bill Eimicke u very good: F central theme(s) of the case; F budgeting and performance measurement n I enjoyed the case last week, watch out for the quality of your presentation. Do you stand in a corner? Are you standing in front of the audience for questions? The simple stuff is important.

Topics n Housekeeping: u Let ‘s go over the case F Pos: original solutions, well worked out, good set up link with the literature the questions in the syllabus were addressed F Not a perfect case lot of text recommendation/analysis u Cases should be asked under the author name: Kennedy School n Personnel n Budget & Performance n Leadership & SOP

HRM Department/ Personnel Section Which Human Resources manage the Human Resources? n It is horrible when HRM is slow, or badly managed: u You ‘ll get bad new staff, demoralization, delays u You cannot work around, remove, or adapt rules u increase in power struggles n We have not talked about new performance systems such as 160 degree feedback. More people from different levels evaluate each other

About Unions & Courts n Why is the American system so antagonistic? n Are there other systems? What can you do? n Realize that they can also have weak leadership n Develop a partnership n don’t get personal, look at policy issue n if it fails, damage control

Leadership & SOP n Today, look at the influence you have: u people you work for u people who work for you n In organizations, there are two ways to get things done: u because there is a command u because people do it themselves: F their own initiative F habit: culture standard operating procedures: fixed form of behavior n Give examples of SOP: u budgeting, telephone service, order intake, etc.

Leadership n In literature, two aspects of leadership: u people oriented u task oriented n Practically, whose demands should be met? u Ask yourself which demands should be met. u Ask which specific demands facilitate or impede important accomplishments u So, you need to know your own goals & the goals of the org. (or group, department, etc)

Skills n Express yourself n Listening: people often focus on expressing themselves, selling themselves, and getting recognition, etc. n Yet you need to listen because: u people have skills and knowledge you don’t have; you can learn u people outside of your org. have info you don’t u people come up with their own solutions n Take into account u non-verbal/body language u cultural differences u your own constraints, time, etc.

Skills n For listening, but also in general informal and interpersonal relations matter u what goes around, comes around u separate people from the issue n In this respect, the most common misperception about mgmt is that it is about ordering people n Homework: Listen to a person that you find difficult.

Keeping your boss relatively happy n Ascertain your boss’s mgmt style u allow time for mutual adjustment, if it doesn’t work: leave u realize that different people prefer different styles u how can you fulfil your own/org’s goals taking his style into account

Keeping your boss relatively happy n Preserving your boss’s time u be prepared for a conversation u use his or her time sparingly F have priorities in case you lack time F bring a problem & suggest solutions F if possible, resolve conflict ahead of time F develop informal, rapid methods for delivering urgent messages F sometimes a retreat is necessary u bosses lack time: no reaction does not mean a rejection. Feel free to try again

How to keep your staff relatively happy n Silly grins or do people look forward to come to work? n Learning what motivates your staff u Listening, trial and error, observation u Different people/parts of organizations prefer different incentives u staff motivation can be more important than financial indicators.

How to keep your staff relatively happy n Avoid u pronouncement from on high, dramatic changes in direction, reliance on formal communication, lack of explanation, jargon, silence. n Advantages formal communication (written) u officially recorded u you can reach lots of people n Advantages informal communication u individually tailored message u it can be more intimate u you can directly consider feedback (wo loss of face)

How to keep your staff relatively happy n Deal with unhappy staff u Identify source F mismanagement F management competition F poor working conditions F inadequate promotion potential or cutbacks F personality conflicts F external conditions F inadequate follow-up on decisions u All these issues are legitimate, and there is a lot you can do about it u Overdirect in the sense of being clear, but people are adults