Managing people, either in the corporate world or
elsewhere has always been an uphill task. Organizing a team of heterogeneous
people with diverse temperaments and capabilities under a single roof and with
a single objective or goal- that of getting the best out of them and attaining
the set objective of the organization- has either created autocratic managers
who set despotic rules for their employees, or managers who become too
democratic to attain any objective at all. However, this would no longer be a
real big problem as Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson’s The One Minute Manager has a ready answer to all those who want to
effectively mange their employees. The book comprising only a hundred odd pages
looks like one of those childhood fairy tales, that engrosses you completely in
its interesting web of interrelations and consequently asks you to read till
the last page. 'Dynamite comes in small packages', the authors believe. One has
to read the book, The One Minute Manager
to believe in this more than ever. The writers amazingly pack in three most
valuable and effective lessons in management, which, they believe, will help a
manager boost profits and productivity immediately through increase in employee
morale and job satisfaction.
The first and foremost aspect of the infallible
team management the book pleads for is setting up one-minute goals. These
involve frequent and brief meetings between the manager and the employees in
which immediate goals are set in mutual agreement, recorded in black and white
and later assessed and reassessed to ensure that productivity is occurring.
These meetings are so brief that writers call them one-minute meetings, this is
not to underscore that practically these meetings may take more than some sixty
seconds. What is important is that the goals are set frequently and assessed
and reassessed as immediately as possible. The main purpose of one minute goal
setting is to confirm that responsibilities of each worker is understood,
understanding that confusion leads to inefficiency and discouragement.
The second lesson to one minute managing is
one-minute praisings. Here, the writers believe the manager should be open with
people about their performance. When one sees someone doing something right, praise
him or her immediately. One ought to be honest enough in telling the employee
involved specifically what was it that you liked and praised. At the same time,
while praising, allow the employee to "feel" how good you feel
regarding their importance to the organization, and finish by shaking hands-
even a gentle pat on the shoulder would do. The purpose is to make the employee
understand that you value his/her being part of the organization and that you
really like the particular act of the employee.
Further, the manager should be strict enough to
warn if a wrong is done by the employee. This is the last quality of an
effective manager. The foremost aspect of this is to reprimand immediately and
specifically. This is part of being honest in approach towards your team and,
consequently this facilitates an understanding of responsibilities and how to
complete them correctly. Once the warning is complete, one should not forget to
shake hands with the employee and remind the person that he or she is vital and
it was simply a specific performance that you did not like. This way, these
one-minute reprimands consist of the warning and the reassurance, both being evenly
important. Leaving the later part out might end up in others attributing
mistakes to the same person and may also harm the employee’s self-confidence,
which is not the main objective involved here.
All in all, the book is a plain read written in a
deceptively simple style and language and emphasizes crucial aspects of
managing throughout. The message is clear, and implementing the ideas is
straightforward and laid out in the book itself. This whole hog makes it simple
to utilize the knowledge and techniques that the one-minute manager style
offers. These factors make The One Minute
Manager an affectively valuable tool for developing true management skills.
Ever since the first edition came out in 1982, the book has been acting as a
practical business guide for managers who want to get the most from their
employees. For any person who is currently a human resource manager striving to
get the most from people, or who is planning to become one in the near future, The One Minute Manager is an indispensable
success tool. A factual Bible for effective and infallible management.
