The Management Art
Management is the art of making people more effective than they would have been without you. This requires you to plan, organize, direct, and monitor the work. In order to do that effectively, you need to know where you are going, what tools you have to get there, what tools you need that you don't have, and how to get what you need.
Start by figuring out where you need to go or what you need to get done. If the group is humming along smoothly, don't jump in and screw it up. However, if you have been told that this group productivity is the lowest in the organization, you need to improve productivity. If there have been complaints about quality or customer service or accidents you will need to address these issues. As soon as you know the goal, tell your people. I like to do that with a short meeting on the morning of Day One.
Day One Meeting
Get everyone in the group together in an open area within your work area. Give them a short introduction, "Hi, I'm Rashid." They know that you're the new boss so you don't heave to tell them. Tell them why you are there. "As you know Mary got promoted" or "This group has grown so large the company felt further growth required more direct management." Then tell them your immediate goal (you can always change it later, but they need to know the game plan. "This group is doing great work. I'm going to learn how you do that and do what I can to help that continue" or "The returns rate for this group is too high. Together we are going to figure out how to improve that to the point that we can all be proud of."
Finally, tell them that you will be meeting with each of them individually to discuss the plans in more detail, learn from them, and answer any of their questions that you can.
Next page > Meeting with your employees Page 1, 2
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