Management Skills and Practices

Topic: Decision Making
Words: 651 Pages: 2

It is hard to disagree that an extended number of factors can severely affect the team’s performance, success, and motivation. It is of vital importance to assess the members’ level of stress and readiness to work hard because these two aspects can reduce their success. What is more, the wrong selection of management practices and skills can also have an adverse influence on the team’s performance. Even when the methods refer to the management process that has been set out for years in the company, there may still be a need to change the practices to improve the situation.

Overview of the Identified Issues

A close investigation of the case has allowed me to identify several problems in the selected management process that deprive workers of the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and contribute to the company’s success. First, it is evident that managers fail to pay proper attention to the actual skills and knowledge of each individual and assign them those tasks that can be completed perfectly precisely by this employee (Soomo Learning, 2020). In other words, many workers receive those tasks that they have no competency in, which slows the working process and reduces the general performance of the team. The second possible issue is the excess paperwork that the staff needs to complete on a daily basis. Instead of focusing on the received task, every employee needs to fill out detailed timesheets every day to cross-reference the task list, as well as prepare informative e-mails in case of any deviation from the list. These two management issues do not allow the general working process to be quick and productive.

The Value of Management Approaches

Overall, the need for appropriate management processes and practices is highlighted in the previous paragraph. It is possible to say that the general functions of management involve leading, controlling, organizing, planning, and staffing (Soomo Learning, 2020). Managers’ basic duties are to motivate employees, improve the team’s performance, and ensure that each worker’s mission and values align with the mission and values of the entire organization (Soomo Learning, 2020). Further, it is vital for managers to use established management skills and practices, including conflict resolution, praising effectively, clear communication, showing respect, delegation, and some others. Managers should always be attentive and aware since when employees see that they pay increased attention to their existing skills and knowledge, as well as needs or issues, the level of trust between the parties grows. Communication and understanding improve, and mutual respect and trust between managers and workers appear due to the established skills of the former (Soomo Learning, 2020). Finally, talent retention improves, and the staff members strive to have high performance and contribute to their firm’s development.

Recommendations

A number of recommendations can be provided in order to enhance the situation described in the scenario. First of all, it would be beneficial to introduce shared decision-making and allow the staff members to be actively involved in making essential choices (Landry, 2020). Next, creativity and striving for feedback should be promoted and encouraged among employees. It is of vital importance for them to have an opportunity for self-expression, and those managers who support it and provide substantial feedback can achieve higher performance (Gavin, 2020; Soomo Learning, 2020). These two steps will be effective because they will reduce the level of stress among workers and assure them that they are needed, cared about, and taken seriously. What is more, these recommendations will strengthen the connection and relationships between employees and managers.

Third, it is possible for the latter to focus on integrating the P-O-L-C framework. They should consider the need not only to send out a task list for the team but also to plan the workers’ duties and their abilities to complete the tasks (Lumen Learning, n.d.). This recommendation will be efficient because it will enhance the working process and ensure that the organizational role belongs to managers.

References

Gavin, M. (2020). 10 tips to help you boost team performance. Harvard Business School Online. Web.

Landry, L. (2020). Why managers should involve their team in the decision-making process. Harvard Business School Online. Web.

Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Strategic management in the P-O-L-C framework. Web.

Soomo Learning. (2020). Managing and leading in business (1st ed.). Southern New Hampshire University.