Top 5 Management Mistakes

We all look up to someone, to guide us, to give us directions and instructions when we are stuck. In our office we call them Managers or Management. Does this make them the holy grail? The pious people who are not prone to make any mistakes? Off course no, they too can make mistakes and below are a few, I have seen many of them, make.

Communication in today’s world is a Sorcerer’s stone; you may hit gold every time if you use this tool to perfection. Concise and crisp communication at all levels is the need of the hour. A lot of corporate companies, I have seen are losing ground on this. This keeps you miles away from the realistic situation.

At times managements are worried about issues and discuss at length in meetings. These issues actually did not crop up as someone took actions nobody knew about.  Or even complete reverse, an issue which was never discussed and crops up to lose a lot of valuable resources.

It’s advisable to have a crisp 15 min call / week with all levels and stake holders.

Managements should never refrain from communication, never shy away from interaction. Customers, employees, suppliers, labors, all this communication builds a sense of confidence and camaraderie towards the organization & its goal.

Solutions are always simple; our perception of the solution is complicated. There is a widely circulated story of a Soap Production line, many a times the soap box used to be dispatched empty. Multiple experts worked on this problem, fancy machines, X-Ray tech was all implemented to avoid the same. When a labor was asked to suggest a solution he simply put a table fan on the assembly line. Empty soap box was light and so used to fly away.  Solutions are always simple.

No one does this on purpose, but we all human beings are evolved, thinking that problems should have a difficult solution. And that’s the reason why the problems exist, in the first place. We need to satisfy our Pseudo Ego.

The Best thing for any management is to keep things as simple as possible. Instead of talking heavy jargon’s that do not make anyone understand the data being discussed; focus should be on conveying the information. The message about the ethics, strategy, expectations, directions, etc.  should reach deep down in the hierarchy of the organization. The onus is always on management to percolate these messages. This helps everyone contribute to one goal, else people work as per their perceptions of priorities.

It is always a tendency to think “let’s clean our house and then focus on the world”. But, this doesn’t come true always. Management should have a balanced approach towards inward and outward focus. Yes, it’s important to put the house in order, but how much time and energy to be spent on that, what time should you dedicate, what approach, how much resource, etc. are also issues to be looked into.  The organization should not lose the lead in the market to clean the house.

Any business thrives only on a thriving customer base. So, the major focus of any management should be Customers: their views, their expectations, their choices, their preferences. If you focus to deliver these, internal operations must automatically fall in place.

Managements often feel that they are in control of their business, without even setting the foot outside their elite glass cabins and corner offices. This is seldom true. There has to be an industry feedback system. Whether it comes from customers / suppliers / competitors / peers / colleagues, but interaction has to happen.

Only when you move in market meet your customers, suppliers, peers do you really get the feel of where the industry head & tail winds are.  Are your plans aligned to it or not? Is your organization ready for that, in that time frame? Is there a need of course correction?

Many a times, managers are driven with a concept of self-righteousness about their decisions. This is a classic trap many managers walk into. The key here is to understand the realities and facts rather than a blind faith on people or self.

It’s important to trust employees, but it is as well good, to check directly with the customers or subordinates. Whether the employee you trust is still in-line with them? Is he portraying the factual picture to you or just his perception of the same? I do not advocate distrusting your team members. But its always good to have a reality check.

This simple trick can save millions for organizations, which could be simply lost in focusing on a wrong market segment, wrong resource allocation, improper product launches, inappropriate capital investments, etc.

Decisions should be based only on facts and facts alone. A simple principle, to drive a profitable business.

Hope you agree with my point of view on the things Top Management (or for that matter any manager) should refrain from? I would like to know your views / any additional points you want to add to this list. Please feel free to comment below or write to me.