George Sandford

BEM guide to Managing People

1. An introduction to managing people

It’s sometimes said that management is the only job you get to do because you are good at something else; a good accountant becomes manager of the accounting team but it doesn’t follow that they possess the requisite skills. Managing people involves creating a motivating vision, providing leadership, clear objectives, inspiring, encouraging and developing people to their full potential. Managing people concerns managing individuals but developing the team to create unity, synergy and mutual support. Beyond this, the manager needs to keep track of business goals and provide performance feedback through annual review schemes and informal, ad-hoc chats. It’s a tall order so it’s no surprise that some managers fall short of the mark. Luckily, this guide is on hand to provide the basic know-how.

requisite

necessary, required

vision

view of the future

encouraging

willing people to do well

full potential

maximum possible

unity

oneness

synergy

the whole is greater than the parts

mutual support

two-way support

keep track of sth.

monitor and follow

performance feedback

information about work results

annual review scheme

formal yearly performance review

ad- hoc

unplanned, as the it occurs

a tall order

difficult to achieve

fall short of the mark

fail to meet the standard

on hand

here now, available

know-how

skill and knowledge

Glossary

requisite – wymagany

vision – wizja, wyobrażenie dotyczące przyszłości

encouraging – zachęcający, pokrzepiający

full potential – wielki potencjał, maksymalne możliwości

unity – jedność

synergy – współdziałanie

mutual suport – wzajemne wsparcie

keep track of – sledzić, kontrolować coś

performance feedback – ocena wyników

annual review scheme – coroczny raport osiągnięć pracownika

ad-hoc – improwizowany, ad hoc

it’s a tall order – to ciężka sprawa

to fall short of the mark – nie osiągnąć wyznaczonego celu

on hand – dostępny, pod ręką

know-how – specjalistyczna wiedza, doświadczenie

2. How good are you at managing people?

Tick which answers apply to you, then add up your score.

Question

Never 

    1

Sometimes

      2

Often

    3

Always

    4

1

I create a clear vision of the future

2

I help people to participate in creating the future

3

I create a cohesive team

4

We celebrate successes

5

We hold regular team meetings

6

I am decisive and provide clear leadership

7

At the same time, I am able to delegate and empower people

8

I encourage team members to cooperate

9

I create opportunities for people to play to their strengths

10

I encourage people to take ownership and personal responsibility

11

I support learning and development

12

I personally spend time coaching staff

13

I give timely and objective feedback

14

The team achieves the business goals

15

I act as a positive and motivating role model

Score

31-40

Wow! Can I come and work in your team? It looks like you have all the bases covered; you are a model manager.

21-30

Pretty good - You are certainly well on the way to becoming a great manager but remember, practice makes perfect.

11-20

Are you a reluctant manager? Were you press-ganged in the role? Time to make the best of it and sharpen up those management skills before you’re thrown to the sharks!

0-10

Are you a manager or a mouse? Come on Captain; wake up and start reading this guide right away before your crew mutiny!

participate

be involved, contribute

cohesive

stick together

decisive

able to make decisions

delegate

distribute, allocate work

empower

give power to people

to play to strengths

to do what you do best

ownership

personal commitment

timely

when needed

objective

rational, factual

role model

perfect example to copy

all the bases

all possibilities, all aspects

model

ideal, perfect

practice makes perfect

persistence results in perfection

reluctant

unwilling, unenthusiastic

sharpen up

improve

crew

ship members, team

mutiny

revolt by crew members

Glossary

participate – uczestniczyć

cohesive – zwarty, spójny

decisive – stanowczy, zdecydowany

to delegate – przekazać obowiązki, zlecać

empower – upoważniać

to play to strengths – wykazać się swoimi mocnymi stronami

ownership – osobiste zaangażowanie

timely – w porę

objective – obiektywny

role model – wzór do naśladowania

all the bases – wszystkie możliwości, aspekty

model – modelowy, wzorcowy

practice makes perfect – praktyka czyni mistrza

reluctant – niechętny, ociągający się

press-ganged – przymuszony

sharpen up – poprawić

crew – załoga

mutiny – bunt

3. Leadership

When people think of leadership they tend to think of historic leaders such as Napoleon or Churchill. Usually, such figures are blessed with immense charisma which enables them to galvanise whole nations. The humble office manager may be unable to aspire to greatness but nonetheless can seek to develop some of the great leader’s qualities.

Effective leadership involves the following aspects:

being personally credible

creating and sharing a vision

Inspiring

involving and engaging

converting dreams into tangible goals

drawing up a roadmap

managing and developing systems

setting standards

building teams and individual talent

being decisive

evolving

galvanise

motivate to action

credible

believable

tangible

real, touchable, concrete

roadmap

path, route, plan

engaging

creating commitment

evolving

naturally developing

Glossary

blessed with – obdarzony

immense – ogromny, wspaniały

galvanise – ożywić, poderwać do działania, zdopingować

aspire – dążyć

credible – wiarygodny

engaging – ujmujący, ciekawy

tangible – konkretny, rzeczywisty

roadmap – ścieżka, plan

evolving – rozwijający

Being personally credible

Leaders have followers and in order to have followers, they need to be credible. People need to feel certain that you know what you are talking about and that your judgement is sound. One of the factors that influences the credibility of a manager is how s/he is perceived and treated by other managers and directors. When peers and superiors show respect and admiration, this will have a positive effect on the team’s perception of their manager.

Another thing that has a strong bearing on credibility is what is called authenticity; are you the kind of person who says what you mean and mean what you say, or are you two-faced and taciturn? Staff will soon decide which you are. Furthermore, being authentic means behaving in a way which is consistent with your personality.

sound

good, solid

peers

people at the same level

bearing

effect, influence

authenticity

genuineness

two-faced

hypocritical, dishonest

taciturn

changeable, unreliable

consistent with

matching, fits together

Glossary

sound – rozsądny, słuszny

peers – równorzędni partnerzy

bearing – wpływ

authenticity – autentyczność

two-faced – dwulicowy, nieuczciwy

taciturn – małomówny

consistent with – zgodny z czymś

Creating and sharing a vision

It is often asked what the difference is between leading and managing and one answer is that managers manage operations whilst leaders create a vision, sense of purpose and direction. The higher up a manager is, the more important this aspect will be and many companies now have a mission, vision and values statement. On a more modest level, the department manager can create a sense of vision regarding how the department could develop and what the future reality could look like. People are often worried by or sceptical about change so the leader needs to make the vision into something that is more attractive than the current reality.

Inspiring

When people say something is inspirational they usually means that it enriches their soul, makes them feel better about themselves and raise their expectations about what they are able to achieve. The inspirational leader brings a positive vibe with them when they enter a room and leave the staff feeling uplifted and excited about what they do and can do. Are you an inspiration leader; do you bring rain or sunshine into a room?

operations

functional activities

higher up

more senior, higher position

mission

the reason for existing

values

beliefs and morals of the company

modest

not extravagant, small scale

sceptical

disbelieving, doubting

vibe

atmosphere, feeling

Glossary

operations – działania

higher up – wyższy, starszy

mission – misja, cel

values – wartości, ideały

modest – skromny, niewielki

sceptical – sceptyczny

enrich – wzbogacać

vibe – klimat, atmosfera

Involving and engaging

A vision will be ineffective if it remains the sole property of the person who created it therefore, the manager needs to find ways of sharing it so that staff feel that it is their vision too. This can be done through empowerment and giving employees plenty of say in the detail of how the vision will be realised.

Converting dreams into tangible goals

In the song from the musical, Happy Talk, the words go:

‘If you don’t have a dream, how are you going to make a dream come true?’

Dreams can be very inspirational and energising but with clear goals, they will remain forever nothing more than dreams. You will note, that at the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold! It is romantic notion concluded by a practical outcome. Therefore, leaders and teams need to think in down to earth terms and ask, if this dream were to come true, what would be in place; what would the new reality include?

Drawing up a roadmap

Having established the outcomes that will be present in the future reality, it isn’t so difficult to see the current status and to plot a route between the two. This needs to include milestones and deadlines.

Managing and developing systems

One of the things that sets higher level animals apart from less developed species is the ability to make tools. In its most primitive form this might be using a rock to crack a nut. In an organisational context, this means developing systems and processes. So, having established the target and the route, the next question is what tools do we need to get there? This might involve the re-evaluation and modification of current systems or the development of something totally new but either way, tha functionality of systems is something that leaders take great interest in.

sole property

owned exclusively by sb.

empowerment

giving power and authority to employees

to realise sth.

to achieve, to complete an objective

energising

giving energy

romantic notion

dreamy idea

outcome

result

plot

plan, draw, create

milestone

target along the way of a main goal

deadline

time by which something must be done

to set apart from

to make different

re-evaluation

reassess

modification

make more modern, improvements

functionality

properties, functions

Glossary

sole property – wyłączna własność

empowerment – zwiększenie uprawnień pracownika

to realise – realizować, spełniać

energising – mobilizujący, wzmacniający

romantic notion – marzycielska wizja

down to earth – praktyczny, realistyczny

outcome – rezultat, wynik

to plot – planować, przygotować, sporządzić

milestone – kamień milowy

deadline – ostateczny termin

to set apart from – wyróżniać spośród

re-evaluation – ponowna ocena

modification – zmiana, modyfikacja

functionality – funkcjonalność

Setting standards

‘That’ll do won’t do!’   

Well known saying

In most areas of working life these days, slipshod work and mediocrity are unacceptable. Many organisations have specified performance standards but the manager can also enhance this by setting the tone regarding what standard of work is expected. Standards are likely to involve completing work punctually and with the minimum of errors. In customer facing jobs, there are likely to be standards regarding courtesy and customer service. 

Building teams and individual talent

The difference between a poor manager and a great leader is that the poor manager doesn’t value development and sees it as an inconvenience and something that should be taken care of the training department, whereas the great leader sees it as one of the most important jobs. The leader converts the rhetoric of ‘people being a company’s greatest asset’ into clear actions by spending time building the team and maximising the capabilities of every member. For such a person, this is the means by which the vision is realised and not just another time-consuming distraction. Conversely, the ineffective manager is always bemoaning the limitations of his team and complaining how busy he is.

Being decisive

If it all sounds too good to be true it probably is and there will be times when everything doesn’t go according to plan. In such situations, decisive leadership is required. The effective leader will not dither or procrastinate but be confident and decisive. This will give confidence to the team, faith in the manager and a belief that adversity will be overcome.

Evolution

Overriding all other aspects of leadership behaviour is the concept of ongoing continuous improvement. Whilst dreams, visions and roadmaps are created, once reached, they are just stepping stones towards something more. There is no chance for team members to rest on their laurels for there will always be ways to do things better, and better things to do.

slipshod

poor workmanship

mediocrity

to state of being average

performance standards

specified levels of work

punctuality

on time

customer facing

in direct contact with customers

courtesy

politeness

inconvenience

not at a good time

means

methods

bemoaning

complaining, to moan about sth.

dither

be hesitant and weak

procrastinate

delay, put things off

adversity

extreme difficulty

stepping stone

stage towards sth.

rest on your laurels

to be complacent

Glossary

slipshod – niedbały

mediocrity – mierność

performance standards – wymagane standardy pracy

enhance – rozszerzyć, zwiększyć

to set the tone – nadawać ton

customer facing – w bezpośrednim kontakcie z klientem

courtesy – uprzejmość, grzeczność

inconvenience – niedogodność, kłopot

means – sposób, środek

distraction – zakłócenie spokoju, odwrócenie uwagi

bemoaning – lamentujący, użalający się

to dither – wahać się, nie móc się zdecydować

procrastinate – zwlekać

adversity – przeciwność losu, niekorzystna sytuacja

stepping stone – kolejny szczebel

to rest on your laurels – spocząć na laurach, zadowolić się tym co się ma