Business Management

Business Management - How To Communicate Effectively Through Writing

2011-01-28T11:36:00.002-08:00

In business communication is probably the most important skill you will need to learn and master. The ability to get your message across so that it can be easily understood and acted upon is a highly sought after skill. Those managers that are effective communicators are high in demand and handsomely rewarded.

Today there are many ways to communicate from face to face, phone, email, fax, letters, memos the list can go on. The huge developments of information technology have created a variety of ways that the written word can be communicated. Therefore, one of the most important skills for a manager is to write effectively.

Whether you are writing a short email or a 250 page report you need to be able to write in style that is concise, easy to understand and can and impact.

The following are a number of guidelines that you can use to become a more effective communicator through the written word.

1. Plan ahead
Before you write anything you need to do a few things first. These include understanding the audience that you will be writing to. For example, if you are sending a report to the Managing Director your style will be different to writing an email to your secretary about booking fights for the next business trip. Therefore, it is important that you understand your target audience. Another important point is defining the main purpose of why you are writing and the result that you want. Clarifying this will help you write more clearly and with purpose.

2. Get the structure right
Once you have identified the audience you are writing to and defined the purpose then, come up with a list of the main points that you want to get across. If you need assistance with this then, it can be helpful to get a second opinion.

3. Informal writing style
The way you write can have a huge influence on how well your message will be understood. It is not advisable to write in a very formal style using unnecessary complex words and filling the page with fluff. Remember clarity is the key. Therefore, write in a more casual less informal style as if you were talking to the person face to face. When I mean casual it does not mean that you include jokes or slang words.

4. Be Concise
The advances in technology have created an avalanche of information for managers to deal with. Therefore, the time frame that people can deal with each communication is getting shorter and shorter. Therefore, you have to write get to the point quickly by being concise.

When explaining a point or problem use as few words as possible but make each word count. Do not include words just to fill the page as this will make it less clear. Never, repeat sentences or points. Keep your paragraphs short to about 3 sentences per paragraph.

5. Simplicity
It is very tempting to over complicate things especially when it comes to writing. We want to impress by using fancy words however, by trying to impress we lose the effectiveness of getting our message across.

6. Rewrite until perfect
Very few people can write a perfect piece on the first draft. The first draft should be used to get your main thoughts down on paper and not stop until you finish. The second draft should be used to edit and add structure. Depending on the type of communication many drafts may have to be written to get it right. It is advisable that the author has it proof read by a fresh pair of eyes. You need to check for spelling, grammar and to ensure it flows smoothly.

7.Write with a positive mindset
It is very important to convey your message in a positive way. Even if the news is bad you should find a way to write it with a positive attitude.

Project Portfolio Management and the PPM Tools

2011-01-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

What is Project Portfolio Management?

Project Portfolio Management (PPM) is a term used to describe the different approaches towards treating the various processes in project management as a part of a project investment portfolio.

Thus, it is a complete shift from the one-off, ad-hoc approach towards project management and a set of projects is treated as a portfolio. These concepts are borrowed from established portfolio optimization methods such as the Options Theory, Modern Portfolio Theory and Applied Information Economics from the financial information sector.

The project portfolio management concepts are thus held to be quite similar to the IT project management and portfolio management concepts. They are also considered to be a part of corporate portfolio management concepts and thus can be used by any corporate segment or group effectively.

What are the functions of the various PPM tools?

Various PPM tools are used to measure the performance of all the different projects within the organization. Apart from performance analysis, these PPM tools can also help the organization objectively decide things such as whether the project is contributing to the overall achievement of the portfolio or not, whether the project’s performance will negatively impact other projects, which projects in the portfolio are inter-dependant, and most importantly, whether the project will deliver the desired objective or benefit. All these factors are measured in terms of a cost-benefit analysis.

One of the PPM tools which is quite popular is the use of decision trees in formulating business decisions regarding project management. This is very popular, especially within the higher echelons of management. The decision nodes in the decision tree use multiple options that optimize against a constraint. Ideally, the combination of the projects in the project portfolio should yield a certain amount of payoff. If the cost-benefit analysis is not in accordance with desired results, an opportunity cost analysis is conducted and that particular project can be discontinued and these resources can be allocated elsewhere.

Thus, resource allocation becomes a very important function of these PPM tools. This includes all kinds of resources and capital including human and financial. Different stages of planning, budgeting and implementation are included within this function. Start and finish dates for projects are also established. Future projects can also be forecasted.

Apart from the various cost and benefits analyses, another function of PPM tools is called ‘Pipeline Management’. This encompasses an analysis which considers that within the given the number of projects happening simultaneously in an organization, and given the limited or finite amount of resources within the organization, how the different projects in the portfolio will be executed in the specified time. Thus, it can be seen that resource allocation is the first step towards a pipeline management analysis. This ensures a realistic approach of the organization towards the planning processes.

What are the ideal features of Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Tools?

Based on the points mentioned above, we can thus compile a list of the various features which a PPM tool should ideally provide. They are:

A streamlined method of project evaluation: The project evaluation method needs to be streamlined, systemized and thus organized in an orderly fashion in order to ensure that project evaluation becomes a smooth and comprehensive process.
Resource planning: As seen before, resources of an organization are always finite. It doesn’t make sense for any organization to plan a project portfolio which goes beyond the limits of the resources which they have.
Tracking of costs and benefits: This ensures that the budgeted and the actual costs and benefits are recorded and compared so as to ensure that the logic used for the project portfolio management can be checked, and corrected if required. This data can also be used in the future within the organization for creating comprehensive PPM policies.
Cost-benefits analysis: This is again a key element in any project management venture. However within the purview of project portfolio management methods, this analysis can be conducted across all projects held within the organization.
Opportunity cost analysis: This is again an important aspect of project portfolio management. This can help organizations analyze the effectiveness of each and every project when compared to its efficiency and value addition to the entire project portfolio.
Reports on the progress of the various projects at different levels of execution: Again, this is an important PPM tool. All this data and information should be easily translated and collated into various types of reports which can be circulated to all levels of management within the organization.
Communication enablement: These PPM tools should also include a communications module which will ensure that the relevant data gets communicated to the different operational heads, so that they can bear the organizational goals in mind while executing their projects.
Accessibility: This is one of the basic and important functions which must be included, especially in today’s world. These PPM tools must be both accessible for the relevant people within the organization and the accessibility must cover all IT related aspects as well (such as web accessibility, cross platform accessibility and integration etc.).

Based on these features one can decide if the organization needs to implement such a strategy within their policies and even purchase the various PPM tools that are available in the market today.

Business Code of Ethics

2011-01-28T11:34:00.002-08:00

As a branch of 'Applied Ethics', Business Ethics attempts to apply theoretical ethics to the business. It examines the ethical principles and problem that may arise in the business environment. Business Ethics helps the business organization to stand on the strong pillars of integrity, fairness and trust.

As demand for the ethical business is increasing most of the business organizations opted to implement the code of the ethics :

To define the framework of the acceptable behavior.
To follow high standards of practice.
To create benchmarks for self evaluation.
To enhance sense of community.
To create transparency in the business activities.
To foster higher standards of business ethics.
To comply with government laws and norms.

The code should include following key areas:

The Purpose and Values of the Business: The vision and mission of the organization should be kept always in consideration while creating the code. The products and services offered by the company, production and financial goals should be kept in the mind.
Stakeholders: Shareholders, Customers, Employees, Suppliers are the integral parts of the organization.
- The employee welfare, working conditions, equal opportunities, harassment issues and retirement plans should be mentioned.
- Maximization of Returns' to share holders is the basic purpose of any business. While making the code of the ethics, the conflicts may arise while dealing with this purpose. The protection to the investments and the timely returns on the investment are always needed.
- Every business organization knows the importance of the customer satisfaction. The promises about the fair pricing, quality, after sales service made to the customers should always be kept.
- The payments to the supplier should always be on time. No excess hospitality or bribe should be accepted or given.
Society, Government and Environment: The compliance with the laws and the social norms should be maintained. The company's activities should always be environment friendly.
Implementation Process: It always important the code is implemented properly. It should be seen that the code is reached and understood properly by all. Awareness campaigns and the training programs should be run if required.
Scope for Feedbacks: The feedback is always necessary for improvement and evaluation of the code. At least annual report should be given to the board members. Review procedure should be created to update the codes.

Following factors should be always kept in the mind:

Involvement of The Senior Management: Every company needs a champion or roll model or mentor to guide the corporate ethics program. A senior person mostly CEO or Chairman should take the responsibility to lead the ethics program. The board and senior management should show the enthusiasm and always provide the guidance to the employee.
Involvement of The Employee: No program can be successful without involvement of the grass root employees. It is important to know what bothers people while making the code of ethics. Each and every person should know the code of the ethics and should be made to follow it.
Picking The Well Tested Model: A framework which addresses issues as they affect different constituents should be used. Sometimes the competitors should be considered. If the company is global then laws and people of the other nations must be included in the model.

Running the Corporate Ethics Program is not always easy but it's worth running as it gives returns in the long run.

Business Management: Self-Managing & Directed Teams

2011-01-28T11:34:00.000-08:00

Service industry is getting more attention in B-World. It has never been so easy to establish a company, I should say, listed company as it is now being in service industry rapidly. Production and operation enabled companies have seen so many business management fundamentals for quality control and best team management including quality circles.

If I were to point, I would talk about Baldrige Award Framework that promotes quality awareness in organization. It is based on a weighted score of seven categories of performance criteria. Consultancy firms, IT or Hospitality services and so other services in this industry want more influential, organizer and innovator talents.

Take an example of a small IT company of 10-50 talents serving best functional and operational solutions to giants. Do you want to categorize such company in levels? E.g. One HR, One Director, One Software Engineer, One Writer, One Quality Tester, One Functional Analyst, One Support Engineer, One System Administrator, One Hardware Engineer, One Designer etc. I agree to hire masters but I am against individual operations capability. I favor multiple skills specialist or in other words "All Rounder".

This article is to describe the team needed in today’s service industry so called as ‘Self Managing Teams".

Emery suggested, "In designing a social system to efficiently operate a modern capital-intensive plant the key problem is that of creating self-managing groups to man the interface with the technical system."

The basis of the autonomous work group approach to job design is socio-technical system theory that suggest that the best results are obtained if grouping is such that workers are primarily related to each other by way of task performance and task interdependence.

Charles Peguy described, "A man is not determined by what he does and still less by what he says. But in the deepest part of himself a being is determined solely by what he is." Self-management team is made of such persons who are motivated by self.

Defining Self - Managing Team

A self-managing team or autonomous work group is allocated an overall task and given discretion over how the work is done. It provides for intrinsic motivation by giving people autonomy and the means to control their work, which will include feedback information.

Self-Directed (or Self-Managing) Teams are teams that have been structured to manage and coordinate their own activities and make many of the day-to-day decisions that would have traditionally been made by a supervisor or manager. They usually have responsibility for a complete piece of work (such as engine assembly) and they work quite closely and interdependently.

A self-management team is a permanent group of employees who together are responsible for the total process where products or services are made and delivered to internal or external clients.

According to one research, the TQM and mass production organized groups did not improve customer service quality or sales volume. While self-managed teams improved sales by 9.4% and quality of customer service by 6.3%.

In fact, comprehensive surveys report that 79% of companies in the Fortune 1,000 currently deploy such "empowered," "self-directed" or "autonomous" teams. Because of their widespread use, much research has been devoted to understanding how best to set up self-managing teams to maximize their effectiveness.

Understanding Multi-skilled Team Better

Self-managing team incorporates the concepts of Hackman & Oldham's job characteristics model.

Autonomy
Skill variety
Task significance
Task identity
Positive Feedback

- The team enlarges individual jobs to include a wider range of operative skills. It is multi-skilled team operations.

- It decides on methods of work and the planning, scheduling and controlling of work.

- It distributes tasks itself among its members. The team plans and guards the process on its own, solves daily problems, without always having to consult the manager or supporting services.

- It takes account of the social or group factors and the technology as well as the individual motivators.

- The team maintains independently contacts with others teams and staff.

- The team improves working methods on its own, and has all the relevant information available on the basis of which they evaluate their results.

- The team-members posses both qualifications on both the care they deliver as well as certain organizational qualities.

Self-Management Team Development

According to Vanessa Urch Druskat and Jane V. Wheeler "Leading Self-Management teams in organization is the process that requires specific behaviors that can be grouped into four basic functions.

__First moving back and forth between the team and the broader organization to build relationships,
__Second scouting necessary information,
__Third persuading the team and outside constituents to support one another, and
__Forth empowering team members."

Self-Managing Team & Corporate

"Whole Foods is very committed to the team structure and self-managing work teams; they're like the basic cells of the company. The teams are empowered. They do their own hiring. They do their own scheduling. To become a team member at Whole Foods, you have to get voted on by your team after a trial period. If you don't get a two-thirds vote, you don't get on the team", said John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods on Self –managing work team.

Hewlett Packard trusts and respects for individuals, focusing on high level achievement and contribution, conducting business with integrity, achieving objectives through teamwork, and encouraging flexibility and innovation.

Let it be either small or big, no doubts most of the companies are applying to have self-management teams in organization.

Books on Self-Managing Team

Dawn Burstall, T. Michael Vallis and Geoffrey K. Turnbull, "I.B.S. Relief: A Doctor, a Dietitian, and a Psychologist Provide a Team Approach to Managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome".

Ronald E. Purser and Steven Cabana, "The Self-Managing Organization: How Leading Companies Are Transforming the Work of Teams for Real Impact".

The Four Hour Work Week: It's Not Work, It's a Lifestyle

2011-01-28T11:33:00.001-08:00

Tim Ferriss can created a lifestyle concept that truly will give people something to ponder on. It's called the Four Hour Work Week, and it's a concept that richly deserves some thought, if not implementation. Tim tell us that we need to redesign our lives to become more productive. More to the point, we need to live in a way that allows us to peak, and to soar. Tim Ferris introduces us to a way to achieve this concept and he claims that it's not very hard to do.

The bottom line of the Four Hour Work Week, is that you learn how to prioritize and manage the task of your business. If you can do this effectively, you'll have freed up more personal time for yourself. The point is to learn to enjoy more time for yourself, instead of draining yourself all week long. According to this system, it's about putting in quality time for your task, and not quantity time that drains your personal time.

Does that mean that Tim Ferris is advocating that you shirk off your responsibilities? No, this is not what The Four Hour Work Week is promoting. Rather, it is promoting the notion that better organization can yield a much more streamlined process. Such a streamlined process enhances productivity will also presenting the much needed free time required to truly enjoy life. And most people do want to enjoy life which is why the concepts developed by Tim Ferris are so recommended.

Now, don't misunderstand. Tim isn't encouraging his readers to blow of what they need to do to function. What he's in fact saying, is that a with premium organization, a person could maximize productivity. If a person becomes streamlined in their processes, then they can create personal time to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Most people truly want to work to live, and enjoy life to the fullest. Tim Ferris wants this for his readers, and that's why he created the concept.

The main goal if this program, is that a person learns how to plan, and how to prioritize. First, a person needs to have clearly defined goals in mind for their business. The top reason for the time that is wasted in business, is the lack of focus. Greater success will be achieved, when the business owner, or operator has a target to focus, and to hone in on. They will be able to achieve increased success each day.

The key for a business owner cutting out some wasted time, is to learn the power of delegation. While it's true that you might not get your work process, or time spent at work down to four hours, but you will free up time. Outsourcing is another way to create additional pockets of time. In this way, a business owner isn't passing off his responsibilities. Just the opposite; the business owner is living up to their personal responsibilities by allowing others to help them, and by not allowing their business task to become all consuming. A business owner isn't doing themselves any favors by being a mirco-manager. All this does is waste time, is frustrating, and kills off valuable personal time.

Once you create systems in your business that makes your business manageable, lean, and efficient, then you will find that you are a better business owner. This is because you've created time to take care of yourself. You've made space to make your personal life worth living. You weren't given talents simply to spend on business, and not use them in your personal life, or to improve the lives of others. Tim Ferriss teaches in his program that the Four Hour Work Week is a goal that should wholehearted be looked into, and sought out.

mpact Evaluation: For Better Outcomes

2011-01-28T11:32:00.001-08:00

3ie Impact Evaluation initiative thoroughly measures the force that a project has on stipendiary. It usually measures the impact evaluation by analyzing the result between stipendiary and a control group, both previous to and after a project has been executed.

Impact evaluation initiative associated with the counter-factual analysis. Impact evaluation can be defined as "an evaluation between what actually happened and what would have happened in the absence of the intrusion." Impact evaluation is a significant constituent of the armory of evaluation tools and approaches and integral to worldwide efforts to get better the efficiency of aid delivery and public spending more in general in achieving outcomes.

It is very important to do Impact Evaluation scrupulously and accurately in order to arrive at a precise depiction of the best way of achieving preferred outcome for customers. Randomization is a procedure randomly assigns an arranged fraction of the appropriate beneficiaries to the project, creating what's called the treatment group. The exceptional appropriate beneficiaries make up the control group. The dissimilarity in outcomes between the treatment and control group is the impact of the project.

Instrumental Variables is a procedure in Impact evaluation initiative that identifies a factor that determines reception of a project, but which does not influence outcomes of interest. Regression Discontinuity Design is used when a cutoff point on an everlasting variable such as a poverty index is used to decide who receives a given project. Propensity score matching is a tool in Impact evaluation for identifying an appropriate assessment group to measure up to the recipients of the project (the treatment group). The project’s impact is then the dissimilarity in outcomes between the treatment and comparison group.

Pipeline Comparison is another factor in Impact evaluation initiative at 3ie that compares outcomes of beneficiaries who have already received the project, with those who have not yet received the project but are about to. This technique relies on the supposition that the beneficiaries who have already received the project, are alike to those who are about to receive the project. For More information about impact evaluation strategy visit, 3ie.

Reasons to Pursue a Business Management Degree

2011-01-28T11:31:00.001-08:00

You probably want to be as successful as you can in the world of business. Who doesn't want to earn more money, have more meaningful work to do and impact their business on a daily basis? If you are serious about becoming a success, you need to have the right skills.

Besides having the right skills, you also need a demonstrated, proven way to let your employer know that you are the kind of employee they need. The kind of person who knows how to deal with the ever changing needs of today's business world. A lot of people say that they are "management material", but it takes someone who really has drive, and determination to take the steps needed to become a real leader. Pursuing a business degree is one of the most important steps you can take to show that you are the kind of person that companies need to have in their management positions.

Company Requirements

You always hear the stories of the CEO who started off in the mail room and worked his or her way up to becoming the top dog of a huge organization. These stories, though, are exceptions. The hard and fast rule of business for most companies today is that management must have a formal education. You'll find it very rare in the business world that you will be able to get a management position without the right education.

That's why you need to pursue a business management degree. Not only does this type of degree show that you take education seriously - it shows that you have the focused education and skill-set needed to be a great manager. Companies don't want to waste their time, energy and resources on people that might be a good fit, they want to know when they hire you that you have what it takes. A business management degree tells potential employers that you do have what it takes to be a great manager or leader in their organization.

A Strong Foundation

Even though a lot changes in business from year to year, some things remain constant. The foundational education you receive when you get a business management degree ensures that you will always have a solid understanding of the basic business concepts that every manager or executive needs to know.

Technology will always change and improve, but some of the core concepts in business will remain the same for decades to come. You need to have a thorough understanding of core concepts, like business budgets, employee relations, business communications, and other core skills to be a consistently good manager. When you get a business management degree you will be taught all of the basic business concepts you will need to be a success.

What Important Skills Are Needed for Business Management

2011-01-28T11:30:00.003-08:00

For anyone who is ever interested in owning and operating their own business will surely need some business management skill in order to be successful. This idea of running your own business will mean that you will have to know how to manage the activities of men, materials, machines, and also money too. You will also need to know how to be the maximum output from all of your available resources and to learn how to achieve desired organized objectives.

All organizations will strive towards achieving many common goals with the use of good methods to achieve the goals. The managers are the ones who are within the organization and who will play a big and important role towards the success of the business by monitoring and controlling all of the organized activities of the business.

Management is known as the process for planning, leading, organizing, controlling and staffing all of the activities from many types of resources that are known to be part of the organization, which is through a systematic, and coordinated and also a cooperative human effort that is needed to achieve all of the organizational objectives.

Planning is a process for selecting goals for the organization and also the designing that is necessary programs that will help to achieve the goals. And then there is organizing the process for the assigning and also allocating the tasks towards achieving the objectives. Then there is staffing which involves manning the many positions that are created through the organization process, like recruitment, identifying the work force, the orientation and selection of the employees.

Also there is leading which involves influencing, directing, and also motivating all of the employees towards all of the many organizational objects for the company. Controlling has a few main elements such as measuring the performance of the employees, comparing all of the performance to the standards and along with the taking the corrective actions in any case of deviation.

Then there are three levels of management that are highly important for a manager to know, like the technical skills, which are a persons ability on how to use some methods, along with many processing skills in any special fields that are needed. And there is human skill like having the ability to work with many other people as with groups or as individuals too. These skills are so very important to have as a manager.

The conceptual skills are equally important as well. These type of skills will require someone to conceptualize some tough situations. This type of skill is needed to be able to possess a very clear understanding of all the operations of the organization. Also there is designing skill too, which will require a top level manager to figure out solutions to any and all problems in a way that can benefit the whole organization.

Being a manager is not the easiest position for anyone which is why it takes a certain type of person who has all of the necessary knowledge and skills that will assist a company of a business to survive and to always stay successful.

Impact Evaluation

2011-01-28T11:30:00.001-08:00

Impact Evaluation evaluates the precise outcomes attributable to a meticulous involvement or agenda. They do so by comparing outcomes where the involvement is functional against outcomes where the involvement does not exist. A suitable comparison assembly represents what would have happened in the nonexistence of the involvement. By establishing a good quality evaluation of outcomes for these two groups, an impact evaluation seeks to present unswerving evidence of the amount to which an involvement changes outcomes.

Such evaluations engender acquaintance on which sorts of programs generate substantive consequences and which do not, and under what situation. Such information is significant not only for the policymakers unswervingly in charge of the program evaluated, but also for others who may be taking into consideration adopting its approach. Using impact evaluations strategically - to experiment the usefulness of precise approaches in addressing explanation progress challenges - is a plausible advance to assessing outcome. These evaluations can also present significant inputs (benchmarks) to other monitoring and assessment behavior.

3ie’s mission is to give to the accomplishment of aspirations for happiness by encouraging the production and use of substantiation from meticulous impact evaluations for policy decisions that progress social and economic development programs in low- and middle-income countries. High-quality impact evaluations determine the net transform in outcomes that can be qualified to an unambiguous program. It helps put in the picture strategy as to what works, what does not, and why. This record covers impact evaluations conducted in low and middle-income countries. It summarizes study findings and methodologies for both researchers, and program managers or policy makers, who require substantiation on what works, in scheming and implementing impact evaluations. The database includes studies that enumerate impact using a counterfactual - unreservedly or unambiguously - with a focus on ultimate welfare outcomes, using qualitative, quantitative or assorted methods.

A latest impact evaluation of Mexico’s flagship CCT program Oportunidades shows an enhancement in the eminence of prenatal care for low-income rural women, with momentous positive effects on birth weight, somewhat as the program encourages women to become knowledgeable and vigorous consumers of health care. However, in Nepal even despite the fact that the Safe Delivery Incentive Program has raised skilled birth number present and abridged the chance of a woman delivering at home, the program was found to have no effect on infant mortality and only 40 per cent of the appropriate women benefited from the program - with allocation heavily skewed in act of kindness of relatively better-off families.

Selecting a Coach for Your Employees

2011-01-28T11:29:00.001-08:00

Your coaching program can have any number of purposes. It may be to help front line employees with their immediate job needs and technical skills. Or it may be to help develop managerial or leadership skills. The skills requiring development may be for a current or for a future role. Once you have decided why your coaching program exists and what you want to achieve from it, your next question revolves around who will take on this important role. Your coach may be internal or external to your organization.

They may be someone who has an existing working relationship with the employees. Choosing the right coach for your situation will be a crucial determinant of whether your program succeeds. What are your options and what are the benefits and loses of each? In this article, I will look at each of your possibilities in turn.

Manager

With this option, I include anyone who is responsible for the work of other employees and sits higher in the organization chart than those individuals. Such people include the person to whom the employee reports directly (team leader, foreman, supervisor, etc), people higher up within the same reporting line (manager’s manager, director, etc) and people higher up, but within another reporting line (immediate manager’s peer, etc).

Where the coaching is of a more technical nature, choosing the immediate manager can be an effective choice –provided that the manager is very conversant with the skills in question. Selecting the immediate manager into the coaching role can have one or more of these distinct advantages:

It can cement a stronger working relationship between the manager and employee.
The manager is in the best position to convey the exact job requirements and to give accurate performance feedback.
It can prod resistant managers to more whole-heartedly bring about needed workplace changes.

For situations where the coaching is for professional, interpersonal or leadership skills, choosing a manager higher up the organization’s tree or on a sideways branch may be more prudent. Choosing a coach that is not in day-to-day contact with the individuals may afford a greater level of objectivity. A second benefit worth considering is the greater levels of trust and confidentiality that the increased distance brings.

Trainer

Selecting a trainer as your coach is a clear choice if your coaching program is meant to be integral with a training course you are running. The course trainer can serve as a highly effective bridge between the training program content and the participants’ application of the skills on the job. Trainers have the dual advantage of ready expertise in the skills being transferred and familiarity with the participants’ background, learning styles, and so on. You will still be wise to verify the trainer’s depth of coaching skills. Some trainers are excellent at putting on a performance and being center stage, but fall down when they need to put the participant at the center.

Subject Matter Expert

Where the trainer calls in subject matter experts and the employee’s manager does not possess the necessary expertise, a third option is to use the subject matter expert as the coach. This option is also a possibility in cases where the manager and trainer are not available to fulfill a coaching role. This option may work well where the primary subject of the coaching program is deep technical skills, such as engineering or information systems. As with using trainers as coaches, be sure that the subject matter expert possesses the necessary coaching skills. In addition, ensure that they have sufficient resources and time to give credit to the role.

Internal Employee

Managers, trainers and subject matter experts acting as coaches are usually employees of the target organization. However, you may select a coach from outside the organization. Keeping your coach as an internal resource can have distinct advantages. These benefits may include:

Program costs are reduced as employee expenses are already accounted for in recurring budget expenditure.
Time is not wasted familiarizing the coach with the organizational context for the coaching and developing new relationships.
Familiarity with the organization and its people allows the coach to get things done more quickly.

External Consultant or Contractor

Sometimes those features that make for a good internal coach can turn out to be handicaps. Here are some characteristics of an external coach that may tip the balance of choice in their favor.

The initial unfamiliarity with the employees may lead to greater objectivity.
They may have played a part in the change or training program, giving them a head start.
Having no previous experience with the organization, they are more immune from power plays and favoritism

These added benefits will, of course, come with a cost as external coaches are not on the organization’s payroll. Each program is different, so you will need to weigh up the pros and cons of using an external coach for your situation.

Peers

An employee’s peers are those people whose role is at the same level in an organization. An employee’s peer can reside within the same organization or in a different organization, or even in a different industry. Choosing peers as coaches may seem unconventional and perhaps even misguided. Even though this type of coaching relationship may lack the formality of the usual coach-employee relationship, learning opportunities amongst peers happen every day in every way. Here are some options for facilitating this kind of peer-to-peer learning.

Set up lunchtime sessions in which employees take turns to speak on a work topic or invite an outside speaker.
Encourage employees working within the same group to take time out to review a segment from a recent training course and to discuss a related work issue.
Actively support the use of company-, industry- and profession-wide forums and chat rooms.
Set up a corporate wiki and encourage contributions to external wikis on relevant subjects.
Promote attendance at special interest group meetings and seminars run by local professional associations.
Search out Communities of Practice (CoP) in the relevant subject area that promote learning for its members using some of the above methods.

In choosing the right coach, you have a number of choices before you. Your choice is not necessarily limited to one option either.

The more opportunities you provide for your employees to experience worthwhile coaching interactions, the better they will be. Providing more and different points of contact helps overcome the work and personal constraints limiting each employee. Some employees may not be able to attend lunchtime sessions or work with a coach after hours. These same employees may benefit from contributing to forums or a wiki. Making available multiple options also caters to employees varying learning styles. This does not mean that you need to provide more than one workplace coach per employee. Setting up a message board or paying for professional memberships can help provide this expanded array of options.

As you think about who will fulfill the coaching role and what other coaching opportunities you will provide your employees, consider also the other key factors that make for a successful coaching program. Ensure that your coach is skilled in coaching and has the necessary resources and time available. Set up a coaching schedule and provide training in coaching skills if needed.

Also, draw up coaching guidelines that explain the mutual rights and responsibilities of coaches and those being coached. Everyone should be clear about how the coaching program will work. Finally, do the work upfront to settle on measures of success for your program –and then evaluate how your program measured up to your objectives. With the right choice of coach and a well designed coaching environment, you can look forward to achieving your coaching goals.

Finding Your Business Management Style

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Business management combines an interesting mix of theory and practice, and it is a particularly relevant area for management and entrepreneurial types to take on board. Finding a business management style that suits your personality and the nature of your business is both important and worthy of time investment, as being self-aware and being able to identify strengths and weaknesses of various approaches will enable more effective personal development and ultimately more effective management. While many have their own individual business management styles, these are traditionally broadly categorized into three main classes of business management approaches.

Firstly, there is what has come to be known as the autocratic approach to management, which installs more trust in the leadership as opposed to the individual staff. This involves pulling rank and leaves employees in no doubt as to who the management is or what decisions are being made. Rather than engaging employees within the decision making process, this business management style typically concerns businesses that require direct, effective leadership to produce results, often under pressure of working in a tough environment. Upon hearing the term autocratic, many tend to visualize a dictatorial approach to management. While that is perhaps the case, it is seldom as strict as this and it is often a necessary management style, for example in the armed forces or in a high-paced trading environment, where there is no margin for deliberation and group consideration.

Alternatively, there is a business management style known as the democratic style, where employees are effectively engaged in consultation before decisions are made. While some consider this to be more motivating and more enjoyable to work under, it does nevertheless have its own disadvantages. Giving employees a say may undermine the authority of the management, and may ultimately cause inefficiencies in the decision making process. It is also time intensive, and perhaps not as effective in larger organizations with thousands of employees. While of course at a board room level this kind of decision making goes on everyday, it’s one that works most effectively in slower paced business where decisions can be fully deliberated and considered.

An alternative to those two business management styles, and the third main category is what’s known as the laissez fair management style. This is by definition a more hands-off approach to management, which puts the trust of running the business within the hands of employees themselves, and allows a greater degree of autonomy than would otherwise be the case. While this is strong in creative industries, some business people find that this style of management can lead to a fragmented approach to doing business that is less organized and ultimately less professional.

Whichever business management style you liken yourself to, there are advantages and disadvantages of that approach. What’s important is not that you recognize which of these categories you fall under, but rather that you’re aware of the improvements that can be made to make your management more effective and efficient while also improving the relationships you share with employees at all levels of the organization.

How Management Evolved

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Management has kept on redefining itself over the years. It has been on a continuously reinventing spree. There are not enough literatures available to throw light on evolution of management before 18th century. But it is assumed that, given the magnitude of earlier era’s construction and hugely spread kingdom, there must have been elements of planning, organizing and delegating authorities, all of which are essential elements of management. In fact, management from being a personalized solitary concept to the boardrooms of corporate houses has traveled long distance.

It all started with industrial revolution when businesses started growing in gargantuan proportions. Industrial revolution signaled the arrival of increased scale of operations, growing size and emergence of various elements within an organization. This also prompted recruitment of managers for day to day activities who can handle planning and controlling part on their own. With increasing global trade and requirements of efficient man power, management, which was merely an art of getting things done through people, started encompassing other aspects of business as well. Its functions were defined and new scientific aspects were added to management’s overall meaning. apart from existing factors like economies of scale, increased productivity and effective, efficient utilization of resources, technical aspects like quality control, cost accounting etc were also included in its broadening perspective. Later on eminent management thinkers like Henri Fayol, Elton Mayo, Chester Bernard, Peter Drucker added new elements of psychological and sociological approaches.

In the last century, the biggest contribution from management’s evolution point of view came from de facto humanization of management. From merely being a managing concept which was concerned with rationale side of mind, management started ingraining emotional intelligence as well. The concept of leadership gave itself a big push, working in collaboration with management. Human Resource which was just one of the production tools started being taken as the most important element of organization. More personalized relationships were started between the management and employees. In fact, with changing times, we can safely say that the evolution of management is still in process.

What is Management

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Historically, management has been always been considered as an art as well as a science. In the days of industrial revolution in Britain and 19th century it was more of an art. But since the dawn of 20th century many theories discussing scientific aspects of Management came out. Initially it was thought as Manage-Men-T (tactfully). Later on, it was defined as a process of getting things done through the people. Essentially managing men was at the core of management. With the passage of time, it started involving managing money, material and machinery as well. Several authors have defined management differently. However, with every new definition, new perspectives have kept on being added which reflects growing magnitude of Management.

Management is responsible for accomplishing organization’s missions and objectives effectively and efficiently through the judicious use of resources at its disposal. It is also responsible for development and execution of business’s policies and strategies. Primary motive of every business is to earn profit. Management is the tool it uses to maximize its profits, reward its stakeholders and producing the products and services for the customers. It works its way through the internal and external complexities, thus resulting into the greater welfare of the organizations.

Management has also been measured as a function of five different activities necessary for achieving organization’s objectives. These five functions include planning, organizing, directing, staffing and controlling. Theoretically these functions still hold true in the basic definition of management. But changing business scenarios coupled with globalization and liberalization has kept on adding new dimensions to the concept of management. In last century, business processes have changed a lot and this has triggered adopting customized management practices befitting to organizations. Now, Management has been segregated into various branches like, Human Resource Management, Strategic Management, Operations Management, Information Technology Management, Marketing Management and Financial Management. Each of these is specialized branch, focusing on separate things which eventually lead to management using its resources in more effective and efficient way.

Management has different meaning in different aspects of life. Some define it as managing people and some define it as managing stress. Stress management is totally different from what we call management because stress management requires a union of your body and soul whereas management requires learning and achieving mastery through various MBA courses by means of distance MBA or MBA India.

Principles of Management

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The three levels for being a high-quality manager are as follows: Technical Skill, Human Skill, and Conceptual Skill and the necessary functions of a manager are planning, organizing, directing and controlling.

Technical skill is the ability to process the technical side of a job or part of your work. Proficiency in the technical knowledge of your job and company is critical if your job requires you to be more "hands on" with your work. Many managers find themselves less educated on the technical side of the job than the rest of their employees and upon losing their managerial position they are forced to come to the reality that there are far more people educated in technical work than they are and slowly fall down the ladder. In order to not let this happen, you must stay up to date with the technical aspects of your job in order to assure your bosses and your company that you are the right person for the position.

Human skill is the power to communicate to your fellow co-workers. This is a skill that 99% of all companies look for in a manager because if you do not possess the ability to correspond with other employees then you will not work out in a manager position. You must be a "people person" in order to hold a job as a manager because on a daily basis you will be working with various other associates and you will need to know how to hold conversations and help your employees. Learning how to effectively communicate with people is a key principle of management that you will need in order to be successful in your position.

Conceptual skills involve the formulation of ideas and concepts. Managers that have great conceptual skills generally possess the power to create innovative ideas and deliver abstract theories. This form of management will give your company the edge it needs against its competitors if you can formulate groundbreaking concepts for your company that will push them ahead of the competition.

Managers also have duties no matter what their skill level is. These responsibilities include planning, organizing, directing and controlling. These functions are necessary when working as a manager in any level you are performing in. You might view your principles of management as the separate skill levels or the basic duties of a manager. Whichever you hold as the most important, you must also keep in account that a great manager will possess all of these skills and be a vital asset to their company.