The Uncomplicated Truth About Management

Over the course of time, management has become shrouded in unnecessary layers of complexity. Books, articles, and leadership coaches frequently add nuances that obscure the core purpose of management. However, the essence of management is remarkably straightforward: provide resources, remove obstacles, and enable your team to thrive.

This approach ensures your teams function seamlessly, creating value without unnecessary interference.

The Three Pillars of Effective Management

1. Provide Resources:

Ensure your team has the tools, systems, and processes needed to create value, meaning they are solving problems and fulfilling needs for its stakeholders, whether internal and/or external. This includes ensuring your team members are setting up and managing effective workflows, and you're providing training with a laser focus on competency development.

You are also responsible for allocating necessary budgets to create an environment where your team members can focus on delivering value without worrying about basic needs.

2. Remove Obstacles:

Identify and eliminate barriers that hinder productivity or innovation. This might involve streamlining bureaucratic processes, resolving conflicts, or simply being a sounding board for ideas. By removing obstacles or roadblocks to progress, you enable your team members to work efficiently and creatively.

If your team members come to you regularly to remove obstacles, you may need to look at the bigger picture to see what systemic issues or bottlenecks are causing your team to miss the mark.

3. Get the Heck Out of Their Way!

When managers do not have tools to manage, they tend to default to parenting. Parenting is not managing. Once you have resources in place and obstacles are cleared, step back and let your team go!

This means trusting them to make informed decisions, take ownership of their work, and drive outcomes. Enabling autonomy fosters a culture of accountability and innovation.

How do you do this?

Create Conditions for Gratitude and Pride

As detailed my blog, "The Modern Day GPA™," it is the manager's responsibility to create an environment where team members feel valued and proud of their contributions. This entails that they know what is expected of them 100 percent of the time and have clear deliverables for their functional role. It's about genuinely supporting them as individual contributors and as a team to ensure success of the business. 

Understanding Your Team

An effective manager is intimately familiar with each team member's deliverables, their competencies, capacity, strengths, weaknesses, and potential for growth. This isn't known by happenstance. It is due to intentional regularly scheduled monthly 1:1s with clear agenda topics. This understanding helps tailor support and opportunities to enhance their ability to solve problems and fulfill needs—create value—for stakeholders. It's not about checking boxes on a task list; it's about ensuring that every team member contributes meaningful value in their functional role.

Creating Deliverable-Based Outcomes

Management is about driving individual and team-based deliverables that contribute to the organization's overall success. This thinking doesn't always come naturally, so a trick to discover the outcomes for your role is to identify a task, and ask yourself, "So that what happens?" This tends to convert what a team member does to why they do it. The why they do it should contribute to KPIs or other information that tells you that your team in tracking in the right direction. Without data, it can be hard to tell if the work performed is actually creating value.

Clear Expectations

Every team member should know exactly what is expected of them at all times. This clarity helps prevent confusion, reduces stress, and ensures that everyone is working towards the same goals. By setting clear expectations - and working with team members to set them - you help your team stay focused on the right work at the right time and be productive.

Where the Magic Happens

So, what happens when management gets it right? Well, it's not just about checking boxes or attending meetings; it's about creating a workplace where everyone thrives. Here are the outcomes that make all the difference.

1. Employee Engagement:

Think of engaged employees as your secret sauce that makes your business go from good to great. They’re not just clocking in; they’re passionate about their work and committed to delivering results. And guess what? It’s not about ping-pong tables or free snacks (although those are nice, too). It’s about being valued and supported. 

2. Accelerated Profitability

When your teams are engaged and productive, profitability isn’t far behind. It’s like a well-oiled machine—every part works together to drive growth and success. And who doesn’t love a good profit story? 

3. Increased Customer Satisfaction

Happy employees = happy customers. It’s simple math. When your team is motivated and committed, they deliver better service, which means customers come back for more.

4. Expansion of Impact

With enabled team members armed for success, you’re not just growing your business; you’re expanding your impact. It’s like throwing a stone into a pond—ripples spread far and wide. 

5. Culture of Accountability

Finally, great management fosters a culture where everyone feels responsible for the team’s success. It’s like being part of a great sports team—everyone plays their role, and together, you win. 

Simplify the Path to Your, Their, and the Organization's Success

In the end, your role is to simplify your team members' path to success. By providing resources, removing obstacles, and enabling your team to thrive, you can create a culture of gratitude, pride, and continuous value creation. It's time to strip away the unnecessary layers and focus on what truly matters: delivering results through enabled teams.