Avoiding the 2 Pitfalls of Management: Control and Voice

All managers must avoid 2 deadly pitfalls or risk being redundant:

1. Control - Too little control or too much control is a problem.

Too little control would mean not having rules, but most often we see rules not followed and management never do much about it. For example, many companies have rules on working hours, but ask yourself how many management actually work to ensure that people come to work punctually? Many people have got used to being late, and the common excuse is they work late, so they can come late for work.

Many don't know that this is causing some issues in teamwork, e.g. if some people are not here by 8.30 am, how am I going to get certain things done without them?

So as a manager, make sure that you set the rules of the game.

A good rules of the game is Values. Values like honesty and 'Go Extra Mile' must be laid down and followed by all staff.

2. Losing Their Voice: It's easy for people to lose their voice after working in the company.

Initially new employees are out-spoken but after a while they got sucked into the system and dare not speak their minds. In fact many employees only dare to speak out only after they tendered their resignation.

We know that it is very important for employees to speak their minds, otherwise what's the use of having them? Only with views aired can we then improve.

** If everyone has the same opinion, it means that either everyone is not thinking (just 'Yes men') or everyone is redundant!

As a manager, you must provide the avenue for people to speak out. I suggest having a WIFLE session, which is simply "What I Feel Like Expressing" sessions. Another way is to follow what Li Shi Min, the greatest emperor of the mightily Tang Dynasty in China did 1,400 years ago. Li Shi Min actually got every official of "Rank 5 & above" to submit a critique of the government's policies. What ultimately emerged is a very strong government that is in tune with the people and created the "Golden Age of China".

By Andy Ng, Chief Trainer at Asia Trainers, details at here

Comments

The Secret Under the Mattress: Why would a 79-year Man Bet So Big on 4D?

It was 2007 when we discovered his secret. While moving my father’s mattress, we found them: heaps and heaps of Singapore Pools 4D tickets. They were stacked in layers, a paper trail of lost hopes. What shocked us most wasn’t just the volume, but the stakes. He wasn’t betting a few dollars for fun. He was punting hundreds of dollars per draw—nearly ten times a month. At the time, my siblings and I were furious. Our father was a 79-year-old retiree. We wondered, with a mix of anger and confusion, why a man at his stage of life would need to win such "big money." What was he going to do with the money? We saw it as a reckless habit, a sign of poor judgment in his final years. Some of us would say, "If I were to give him money to buy 4D, why don't I use the money and buy 4D myself? At least I have better discipline". It has taken me two decades, and the experience of raising my own three grown-up children, to finally see the truth that was hidden under that matt...

Have You Found Your Sun Yi and Teresa Teng?

I n the long, unfolding history of the Chinese-language music scene, "The Moon Represents My Heart" 月亮代表我的心 stands as an unsurpassable milestone. Yet, the journey of this globally renowned masterpiece, a song that would eventually captivate the world, was fraught with setbacks: it was once dismissed as "trash" by its own creator and tossed into a wastebasket, later suppressed by official policy as a "banned song ," and initially failed to gain any traction when performed by two different singers. The dramatic turnaround in this song’s fate is not merely a musical legend; it offers a profound life lesson: the greatest stroke of luck in life is not about how perfect you are, but about encountering the "right people", those who truly understand you, support you, and help you realize your potential, at exactly the right moment. I. The First "Right Person": A "Talent Scout" Who Recognizes Your Worth In the early 1970s, composer T...

How to Use Zoom Cloud Meetings Effectively

(Read also How to Secure Your Zoom meeting ) Other than Zoom Cloud Meeting, you can use other video conferencing platforms like Google Hangouts, Skype and WeChat Video Conference. Zoom is the most popular because it is free and is easy to use, especially on the phone . Here's how you can use Zoom effectively: Use a laptop, not your phone or tablet, especially when you are hosting a meeting. On a laptop, you can see everything: the PowerPoint screen that you are sharing, video of all participants and the group chats. You can easily type on a laptop and this is useful when you are translating or doing detailed explanations. The host of the zoom meeting should mute everyone at the settings and only unmute them when they speak. Participants can indicate that they want to speak by raising their hands before speaking Use earpiece or headsets or wireless earbuds so that you have a better concentration of the voices in the meeting and not be d...

Business and Money Tips

Search This Blog