WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR MANAGEMENT?

Start asking some BIG Questions

As a manager, it's a good thing every now and again to think about how your company, division or team is performing, what you're achieving and where you're actually heading compared to where you wish you were going.

Business planning, whatever time of year it takes place, often doesn't generate truly challenging and inspiring objectives which are enthusiastically 'owned' by both managers and staff. The goals which you - and they - end up with frequently aren't creative and inspiring and don't contribute much to motivation. What they tend to reflect is 'more of the same' even though there's no truer saying than 'if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got'!

One of the reasons why people 'work down in the gutter rather than aiming for the stars' is that we, as managers, concentrate on the small stuff. For example, when we're creating a strategy, devising action plans, putting together timetables and budgets, we're asking questions like:  

• What percentage increase in sales should we add on this year?
• Is it time to update our software?
• Should we assume the usual rate of staff turnover?
• How much are we going to budget for training?

Obviously, regardless of what the answers are, none of it's really going to make much difference.  

What really matters in management

Effective management creates and sustains a motivated and energetic workforce which embodies consistency, diligence, team-work and excellent communication.

Yet many managers - and as a result, their staff - just seem to miss the point entirely. In their planning and their day to day behaviour, they. 

• Don't question, they assume
• Don't create, they copy
• Don't ask, they tell
• Don't communicate, they dictate
• Don't cooperate, they co-exist

You get the picture. and there's plenty more.

If you're feeling a faint twinge of recognition, why not make this the year that things change? How about trying a new and challenging approach at your next planning session by asking questions like:

If we could be, do and have absolutely anything we wanted what would that be?

Now there's a BIG Question!

Try using the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule) to help you decide which Big Questions to ask; it will help you focus on those areas which are most important to you. For example:

If 80% of user 'satisfaction' (internal or external) is created by 20% of our products or ervices, how can we build on that magic formula and extend it into other areas?

Or .

If 80% of what we do is mundane and only 20% is really satisfying, what can we do to increase that 20% and get rid of some of the dross?

Hopefully just from these examples you can see that Big Questions should stop you in your tracks, dig deep into the essence of how you do things and force you to think creatively.

There's no doubt it's a challenging approach, so you may want to consider using an external facilitator to keep control and help you focus on core 'magic wand' issues such as:  

• What would we love to achieve?
• How would that make us feel?
• What would that enable us to do?
• How can we make it happen?

 Three key approaches

In asking your questions and evaluating your answers it's important to step outside the usual perspective which you and your colleagues and staff perennially adopt. Try adopting the following three viewpoints in order to achieve balance and motivation - resulting ultimately in objectives which are challenging, inspiring, and achievable:  

•  Pragmatist - focuses on balance, sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness - and ultimately the affect whatever is being proposed will have on the bottom line.

•  Idealist - 'blue-sky thinking', closely linked to ethics and values - and relating strongly to what you could and would do if money and convention weren't constraints.  

•  Explorer - looking for action; taking you outside your comfort zone and stretching you in a way that you - and others - to recognise that this truly is something 'different'.

Undoubtedly the answers you generate will require debate, but by starting with the broadest possible overview of what you really want to achieve, you only have to concentrate on how to circumvent the obstacles in your path (many of which may prove to be unfounded) in order to move forward. With the vision of what you truly could gain as motivation, this can be easier than you might think.

By stripping away the limiting factors that tie you to doing what you've always done in the way you've always done it, or worse, just doing what other companies do, you will be free to excel. Even better, you will have people who are inspired and motivated to participate in actively improving and growing the company instead of half-heartedly playing at what they 'have to do'. Now what does that say about you as a manager?

© Dianne Bown-Wilson, The BIG Question