In a growing organization, it is possible to outgrow a member or multiple members of your staff. It’s never an easy decision on how to proceed and managers fret over how they’re going to move forward no matter what the options available may be. Most often, it is a case that the employee was there when the company needed that resource, but the employee has not continued to evolve with the organization.
Category Archives: Management
The Importance of Gratitude
There are few people in the world who do not feel good when receiving a “thank you” from another. Even the consummate philanthropist who asks for no recognition and only that the world accept his work does not react poorly when gratitude comes his way.
However, it is often hard for us to thank those around us for the things they do. We fall back to thoughts of “they’re just doing their job” or “it’s all in their day’s work.” We’ll still thank those around us for exceptional work, but rarely do we express gratitude for the things we’re used to them doing.
The Chain of Command
In business, the chain of command is not “the chain I go get and beat you with ’til ya understand who’s in ruttin’ command here.” Although, not following that chain of command can often make your employees feel like it is.
The higher you go in an organization as a manager, and more often as an owner, the more likely it becomes that you’ll run into a situation where you’re going to be looking down the length of your own chain of command and deciding to go around it. The best advice that I can give to you is: don’t.
Employee’s First Steps
My wife and I are expecting our first child in October and one of the things that people give you when you’re expecting is a “Baby’s First” book. It notes the accomplishments of your child, when they occurred, and how. For a newborn, these are things like “took her first step” and “walked across the room.” As the child gets older it’s “rode a bike without training wheels.” All of these, in retrospect, are small accomplishments to those of us who do them daily. I can’t remember the last time I took note of myself moving from place to place. But when your baby is learning these things, they’re huge accomplishments.
Time Management: Delegation
One of the common questions we get from entrepreneurs is “How do I find the time?” or, put in the phrase of a restraint, “I never seem to have enough time.” It’s common in corporate management training to hear the word “delegate” repeated like a mantra, but it does take some time to understand what delegation means.
Metric Mistakes
There are three mistakes that are common to managers when it comes to metrics. It happens with new managers, but even those who feel that management is old hat sometimes forget about the pitfalls of metrics. At Mystech, we do business analytics and metrics with statistical relevance are very important, but it helps to take them with a grain of salt.