By now you should have gained some valuable insights into effective management. The most important question at this point is this:
The truly interesting part of effective management lies in its implementation, so if you really want to make the most of what you have read, you should now concentrate on applying what you have learned.
The issues raised in this book are all time-honored questions from the practical application of effective management. I would advise you to start with those that are of greatest use to you personally and then take it from there. It is not very important where you begin, as long as you ultimately end up running through all the questions. The three parts of the book cover the essentials of management, and each chapter presents an important module for effective management. All the modules are compatible with each other.
With very few exceptions, all organizations can be made both more effective and more efficient. Often it is the best-performing organizations and managers that steadily endeavor to boost their achievement potential even further.
Make certain you know exactly why you want to acquire the know-how in question. The reasons should be yours, reasons that make sense to you, and only you can define them. So be honest with yourself about what motivates you to learn how to manage effectively, efficiently, and responsibly. If you have a compelling reason, you will be able to draw strength and stamina from it when the going gets tough. Practicing effective management competently is a tall order, as is applying expertise in any of the various disciplines that exist. However, management can be learned and is extremely rewarding. If the examples and achievements presented in this book have inspired you, know that management know-how is the knowledge of how to succeed.
There are no real secrets in management. As already stated in the Preface, if you apply this know-how, you will become exceedingly effective, highly efficient, and probably also extremely successful.
If there was a secret in management, it would be to focus on one thing at a time. In this respect you should be uncompromising in your implementation of effective management, taking up only a single issue and then really seeing it through. The more you concentrate on one topic, the sooner it will become a habit; and you will then build on it by concentrating on the next issue. There simply is no faster way of becoming effective and efficient in the long run.
If you choose a different path, you will run a major risk of gaining some mastery in different domains, but of never becoming truly competent in any of them: and the greatest danger then will be that you will break off your implementation because it does not yield results or bring you success. You are better off concentrating on one thing, for therein lies the key to success.
Enter on your schedule the issues on which you intend to focus. Everything takes time, and only if you systematically allocate yourself the time to work on an issue will you achieve results. Otherwise you will be left with nothing but good intentions. Since many of the issues in question will need to be discussed with your colleagues, workers, or boss, and perhaps even with customers or other people outside your organization, you will also need to schedule appointments for such discussions. Entries on a manager’s schedule stand a good chance of being attended to, whereas anything not allotted any time will simply not get done. Take enough time to really think issues through to their logical conclusion. This may not be difficult, but you must ensure that you actually do it and invest the necessary effort. Otherwise you will be “found out” at the implementation stage.
One key question asked by organizations that are good at implementation is this: who will do what by when?
If the decision about what needs to be done is made by one manager or a group of managers, a specific person must be designated to take responsibility for implementing that decision. The individual in question will need to ensure that the decision is indeed carried out, but the responsibility for the decision will remain with the person or group that made it. All experience indicates that strength of implementation results from individual responsibility, so do not make a team, group, or body responsible.
Next, make sure that each measure has a specific deadline for its completion. It is better to set tight, as opposed to generous, deadlines, because you will mostly find it easier to allow yourself a little more time than to bring a deadline forward.
When decisions are made in your organization, be aware that you can never win everyone’s support. If you are interested in becoming a strong implementer, concentrate on convincing the key people to back a decision. The number of such people will often be rather small but their word will carry clout, being the best minds in your organization. Experienced senior managers go to great lengths to promote consensus among such top people and secure their commitment because they know that implementing something against the will of such powerful individuals will almost inevitably end in failure. Indeed, this is only logical, because they are the best, most highly respected managers. And if they disagree among themselves about what needs to be done, how can the other members of the organization in question be expected to know?
Once a decision has been made, organizations that are strong on implementation do not lose sight of it until it has either been implemented or postponed with good reason. But no decision ever gets forgotten. Everything gets followed up. So make sure that you have an absolutely watertight system for implementing decisions. Note in writing any matters you intend to deal with yourself or have delegated to others and always set a deadline for following up on them. This is not difficult, but it does take discipline. Above all, take a look at the results yourself; do not merely rely on reports by others. Strength of implementation is achieved by doggedly following up until the desired result has been achieved. This might not always make life comfortable for the people around you, but it will make you effective and respected. Managers’ performance is convincing when they achieve important results for their organization. It is by doing this that they display their competence and show what an impact they can have.
Management is one of the most fascinating topics there is. If you apply management know-how, there is almost no limit to what you can achieve.
The introduction to this book began with the sentence: “Management know-how is the key to success for individuals, organizations, and societies.” Now it is up to you to seize the opportunities such know-how opens up to you.