# General Business Category > Entrepreneurship and Business Management Forum >  Management style

## Dave A

An interesting question posed by Michael Wade here:

Manager A will carefully review all documents that have been prepared for signature by staff. "Happy" will be changed to "glad" and every nuance will be weighed before a signature is attached.

Manager B will glance over the documents and, unless something significant jumps out, will sign because he relies upon the staff having considered the details.

Each style has pros and cons. Which one most resembles yours?

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## Vincent

Manager B - I rely on the people to get it right and I trust their judgement. I can't do it all for them.

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## johnnygirl

i wouldn't choose either A or B. in my business the employees will sign it themselves. i am all for ownership & accountability at every level.

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## Dave A

For me, I'll check over a couple for someone new and mentor them a bit, but after a while they must get on with it or move on.

Like Johnnygirl above, I have our staff sign off on their own work.

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## akhanna18

to establish a sound business one have to have a good management skills . he should have conviction in their ideas and should have a control and hve to make a profitable stratergies.

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## Christob

If I may revive an old post !!!

I do feel that it all depends where the business and the specific staff member is, some will need coaching and some will not, the ideal is that they can do the work themselves and you dont have to check up on it.
What effect does it have on the culture in the organization (not using it in a buzz word sense) and also how will it affect the strategy of the business and also the brand image, placement in the competitive market sphere that you are in etc.

Doesn't matter how small or big you are it is all about perceptions and those are created through every single action, word, gesture basically every single thing that you employees do...

I agree with Dave that coaching and mentoring is the correct way and the employee should be able to do it by themselves. Regular browsing over and ensuring that they are not cutting corners that hurts all the hard work to create the right image, is just as important.

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## Alta Murray

Yeah, also believe in accountability, but then what works in life, also applies in business doesn't it? 

I love the 'get on with it, or move on' I guess that is pretty much my management style as well.  Don't suffer fools and I only ask once, not twice, once. I think that whatever style you choose, it should be workable, and you should stick to it.  Don't be lenient one day and strict the next, that confuses the work force  :Smile:  

I can only work with motivated, ambitious go-getters, so I think the key is to know yourself first, and then only appoint those that fit in with your vision and management style.  A little late in the day if your business is up and running, and you have to try and figure out your style on the hoof. Okay people please rewind a week, the bosstress made a mistake :Smile:  

I guess I am a tough boss to work for, but I also believe that part of my job description is to see to it that everyone should develop to their full potential, so I do push hard. I also don't believe in spoon-feeding, but do believe in letting people use their own initiative. If something does go wrong, then the buck stops with me, and I will take the flack. So they can sign off by all means, I will keep an eye on the project and make suggestions, but in the end accountability within the business is theirs, but as far as the clients go, it is mine.

With us if you make a mistake, you get mocked to death, and that goes for all of us, so we do have fun, learn and move on. But you don't make the same mistake twice....

Like JP -- he had to develop a salary & wages system for the local hospital's emergency, including Casual Wages.  He had ER on his mind, so casual wages came under the heading of Casualties in his system, and is now known as Casualty Pete.

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## Yvonne

A labor consultant once told me that each employee's "style" needed to be taken into  consideration, to what we expect in regard to accountability and responsibility,
and put it this way: 

If a person is a "cart horse", use him for that! don't expect anything else from him/her.

Don't expect a cart horse to be a "Race horse", and vice versa!

I have often had a chuckle remembering his words as so many instances of problems with staff have been testomony to the truth of that statement!

What type of "animal" is he/she?
What happened to me? I used to be a gentle teddy bear, and now I am a snarling, spitting, angry mountain lion! and strongly suspect that employers come from Mars, and employees come from Venus! 

Yvonne

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## Marq

> If a person is a "cart horse", use him for that! don't expect anything else from him/her.


mmmm.....A bit of a contradiction to your Teddy bear/Mountain Lion scenario?  :Big Grin: 

I have have seen staff move in both directions - Staff that I have had high expectations of become a disappoint and vice versa.

I believe a good manager is one that has both A & B traits and can understand how the individual staff members work. Some you can trust to get on with it while others need some help and coaching. The idea being to help those that cannot at the moment - get into into a position where they will get it right. If they cannot then the decision is to carry on helping and doing yourself/get someone else to do your part/change their functions/ask them to leave. The key at all times is to know their capabilities and adjust accordingly. The 'trust is a must'  scenario could lead to your downfall if you are not on the ball and rely on the staff to 'get on with it'.

Another key is to ensure that the systems and business processes are in place that will ensure a smooth running operation either way. This is an area that is usually not considered, has very little energy or money placed on it and is usually the main culprit not identified as the problem when the cart horse suddenly becomes a mountain goat.

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## Alta Murray

Hi Marq,

Yes, people can only be expected to function in their area of excellence, however that should have been taken care of during the interviewing process.  Trying to rectify mid-stride is way too late.  There are very good tests that can be done to determine where a person will function best, and if they then evolve within their area of excellence, it is a plus on all sides.

Boy, I can not agree with you more on work flow!! What is up with that, it is the stepchild of the business world and hence business re-engineering then becomes a must if I run a diagnostics on a company.  This is elementary stuff as far as I am concerned, bad work flow costs money duh!!  Oi-te-toi, if only people will realize that simplicity in your thinking will win the day for you every single time.  

But it is like Solomon said, not a direct quote, but God created us as simple beings, but we insist on making ourselves complicated. 

To re-cap: Test the person before you employ!! You will not marry blind or buy a car blindfolded, so what is up with this? If something is true, it will rest true in all areas of life, not just business, so if your workflow sucks, then you must be taking the longest congested possible route to your office in the mornings as well.  Just stand to reason :Smile:

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## Alta Murray

Oh Yvonne, thank you so much for your response.  I could just give out this huge deep belly laugh, and i just love your take on issues in general.

Now here is my input, valuable as it is :Smile:  If you are stuck with a cart horse whip the damn thing until it becomes a racehorse. Nothing like pain from behind to encourage speed. We don't owe them any loyalty nor compassion, they are from a different planet.

Angry mountain lion?  As a woman I sometimes feel a twinge of guilt for being assertive, a lady is not assertive, she is compliant,subservient and all the rest of the bull the world fed us, but I am getting better at it every day, so spit ahead Yvonne.

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## Marq

Thats right Alta. Obviously before one employs or marries you test the goods.........but
Sometimes the goods have a latent defectSometimes you did not buy the goods yourselfSometimes the goods just get sick and roll overSometimes your alchemy has a positive reaction in the test tube but curdles in the petry dish.

'Life is really simple but we just insist on making it complicated' - Confucius

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Alta Murray (18-Jul-08)

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## Dave A

This thread is coming along quite nicely. Thanks for reviving it, Christob.



> I have have seen staff move in both directions - Staff that I have had high expectations of become a disappoint and vice versa.


I have to agree. I've seen this so many times.



> Yes, people can only be expected to function in their area of excellence, however that should have been taken care of during the interviewing process.  Trying to rectify mid-stride is way too late.  There are very good tests that can be done to determine where a person will function best, and if they then evolve within their area of excellence, it is a plus on all sides.


Hmm. Tests might help make sure you don't put round pegs in square holes, but I'm not convinced it will spot the things that *really* go wrong.

If people are willing, and are pursuing something they are interested in, you can expect reasonable results. However, there is a whole host of things that can affect that, and often they are out of your control as an owner or manager.

One of the big ones is if problems develop in the person's personal life. I've seen so many potentially good people lose their way because they can't get on top of their "circumstances." It can be anything from getting a love interest, or a strained relationship, to something extreme like developing a destructive habit. Not easy to deal with even if you get to know about it. And the toll on work performance can be huge.

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## Alta Murray

Confucius -- oh no, plagarism!  Which came first Solomon or Confucius?  After so many many moons of research let me share this with you:

As humans we have a tendency to see only what we want to see, that which fits in with the holistic picture we carry within.  Let's leave the learned names by the wayside, but you have probably heard the buzz words like perception, filters, inner-tapes etc.

So the chap walks in for an interview, and what do you see?  Are you being objective, or are you fighting the inner-battle of honing in on the one thing that you like about this prospect, and mute out the rest?  I assure you it is a very human response. Objectivity is in all probability a human pipe dream, unless you are a psycho, but the rest of us suffer collectively from an attachment problem -- I like to call it the valcro phenomena. 

Funny how we respond to this, and we will willingly shut our eyes to things that are right in front of us. So what if I am a rugby freak and the oke just loves rugby as well, valcro!, and then he shows the same motivations, propelling force as I, valcro!,etc. It is a response we hardly notice or are aware of, but find it's expression in "I really like this person" ignoring the nervous twitch, the incessant foot tapping, all the other cues.

So yes very difficult to assess a human being in his/her full glory during one interview and a follow-up.  We are not Solomon or Confucius and people don't come with perspex skulls so we can see inside.  So what do we do?

I tend to opt for ( and no it is not fail proof) tenacity & determination in a person. What did this prospect NOT finish in his life?  What was left undone?  Having the test results in hand as well will at least will give you a bit of an edge as opposed to having nothing.

As business people we have something that becomes a bit over-developed, instinct.  Listen to that inner voice or inner alarm bells going off.  Interesting field of research that, and it has been scientifically proven that we have 'other' senses that we react to, and if you know the signs it becomes a potent force in business, not just for interviews.

Check next time you meet someone new -- it takes but a few seconds ( research indicates three, but I don't know the person who sat with the stopwatch) and you will have a reaction indicating like, dislike, distrust, trust etc.  Very hard to change those initial perceptions, and then ask yourself why?  

Loved your bulletin points!  But I have absolutely no answer if you did not buy the goods yourself.  We have all been there, so what one should do is to do your best with what you have.  My grandmother taught me : Work with what you've got, and she never ever allowed me to say : If only I had..... 

Hosed myself about the petry dish -- what a stunning way to convey something that covers so much terrain.  That phrase deserves to be coined along side the great ones!!
I tried it on every aspect of life -- and it works!!!! I shall stride forth into this weekend very satisfied, I am an impossible nerd who loves finding truths, and if I were you I would throw that one into every lull in conversation :Smile:  Off to press a thank you  on your post...

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Dave A (18-Jul-08)

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## Alta Murray

.... and if they then evolve Dave. If being the operative here.  But I can not agree with you more, there are so many variables that we can not control.  But that is okay too, imagine assuming responsibility for every worker's private life or demons?  If I feel the pinch of loss of control, I always imagine what the opposite would be like, and almost always walk away feeling relieved that I don't have control over those things.

What I find that works well, but remember the industry I am in, is to encourage non-verbally compartementalization( I have no idea if i spelled that correctly) but we all respond well to it.  Who would not want to forget about the mess you left behind at home or in your private life?  Surely it will feel good to have a sense of respect and appreciation at work, get a good old taste of success in at least some arena of your life?  If we see that someone is down, one of us will give some special praise for performance, and a whole host of little things, even handing the person a mug of java can make a day seem better if a person is down. But we don't indulge....

I hate the word circumstances, perhaps because if I ask someone How are you? and they respond with under the circumstances I begin to giggle.  But look, there are times that our private lives will impact on our professional ones, and that goes for every one,  and I am sure all of us will agree that to step up and support that person is a natural response.  However, I did note your " not getting on top of their circumstances" and that just wearies my soul.  

I can not for the life of me understand a person who has now lucked out in love, and carries that around like a banner!!  so what?  We have all been there, life is not a series of success spikes, we have all been hurt, so just get on with it!  And don't contaminate the work place for more than a week with whatever it is that is distracting you! A stiff upper lip is under-valued in modern society, but it is what is needed in the work place. 

After a week it should be Suck it up Nancy and do your work! Surely if you rock up for work and expect money at the end of the month, I am not going to pay you for watching your emotional pantomine.  

But it is only normal for us to feel this way -- I only ever signed up to run my business, never realizing at the outset that I will have to function as Human Resources as well, I really did not see that one coming, i thought that if I was doing my best in my area of excellence and did the financial management thingy, all would be well.  I never realized how many areas I would have to cover.  Now I can only appreciate how easy it is to program a system as opposed to humans.  

A shortcut that works for me is to get to understand a person's motivation, and work from there.  

Please challenge me on this if you guys think I am wrong, but I tend to view this pretty much like gardening.  You select the plants on the basis of where they will grow well in your garden, nobody plants a half-shade in full sun, and then we provide an environment that will provide optimal growth. Now what gardener will stand back if the garden fails to produce? The focus should remain on the garden.

In the end you can only provide the tools, it is up to the other person to bend down and pick it up, and no human being can be expected to control every variable that impacts on life. But do use what you have, and tests are a good starting point, I won't give an inch on that.

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## Dave A

Absolutely brilliant post, Alta. And can I ever relate to this...



> I only ever signed up to run my business, never realizing at the outset that I will have to function as Human Resources as well, I really did not see that one coming, i thought that if I was doing my best in my area of excellence and did the financial management thingy, all would be well.  I never realized how many areas I would have to cover.  Now I can only appreciate how easy it is to program a system as opposed to humans.


Yep. Me too. I wonder how many more business owners and managers feel the same way?

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## Christob

HI 
It looks to me like we are incorporating some performance management in with the management style and this is my hobby horse.  
I believe that each and every person inherently wants to do a good job and wants to be accepted and feel some accomplishment for their job.  This does not mean that they dont end up in the wrong job or that they dont go into a negative spiral at times but that is the base line.

On many occasions when talking to a "problem" employee" or a under performer I realize that this person does not understand what the expectations are - sure you have job description and a LOA etc. but they still dont understand what is expected.  

Quarterly or even monthly performance management is great but everyday guiding and coaching will help you build a team that knows exactly what is expected of them and they will execute every time, there will still be mistakes but atleast you can fix these.

Otherwise use the very simple, legally allowed, CCMA approved and union proof dismissal for poor work performance route!

Alta we all feel like you do about the people management, it is not just HR it is marriage councillor, fin consultant, family councillor etc. etc. etc.

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## Graeme

Right on!   After 14 years in HR and then 26 years in general management I could not say it better!

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## Alta Murray

Thank you, it is a reminder of what we *should* do, but sometimes I just feel that if you don't have a full comprehension of what is expected of you, you have a mouth, it is not just a pie hole, ask!

What we have now is a graph for everyone on the notice board, so you can see how you are performing, it seems to work well at this stage, but i have not had a change to study this long-term, and follow a trend on reactions. Just read studies on it, so I suspect whilst it will work well for some individuals, it might not work for others?

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