Techno Finance and Executive Diary...

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

My Team- My Life

Everyone wants to please his boss. Most effective IT managers want to please their bosses to achieve organizational objectives which is a positive approach. However, the same approach becomes venemous when you start neglecting your team members at the expense of pleasing your boss.

Have you ever reported to a boss who seemed like he was never free to talk to any of his staff members. You would call, send e-mail, to talk to him, whatever you thought would work. He would always be busy talking to the MD or some important strategic partner, which would be fine, but you’ll always miss out on the attention and guidance at our end. Such people fail to admit that they have too much on their plate which doesn’t make things any better at your end.

Here’s what a whole lot of managers don’t understand. Your team members are the hands behind meeting those business goals on which your reputation rests. You represent your team in those meetings with upper management, not just yourself. A manager who doesn’t have his team’s backing is not going to get much loyalty from his team.

Here’s what managers should do to effectively manage the two way traffic between the higher ups and the team members.

1. Have an effective communication plan. Communicate your thought process to the higher ups and your team members.
2. Give respect. If you don’t give respect to your team members, you have no right to get it. As the saying goes, earn it, don’t demand it.
3. Walk your talk. If you say you will call back, please call back. Calling back should not get influenced by the status of the person in the hierarchy
4. Be approachable. If you team members have to think twice before approaching you for a problem, remember that you are doomed.

Middle management is a two-way street. Ignoring your team at the expense of pleasing the higher up is a grave management sin which will lead you down. You may win your team members co-operation but you will never ever win their full co-operation which is the difference between success and failure.

Labels: stories

Posted by "CPerformance" :: 7:22 PM :: 0 comments