What’s your main purpose in managing? After many years of deliberation, I believe it comes down to one main thing: the results or outcomes you achieve.
Many managers we meet put a lot of emphasis on the activity they and their teams carry out. This is all well and good, but what, exactly, are you hoping to achieve? Being very busy, but not achieving much, doesn’t help anyone.
So you need to prioritise and focus your energy and planning on results. Ask yourself, What is meant to be the result of the work done by my department? What differences should we be making, and how will we measure them?
If you keep your focus on the desired outcomes or objectives, you will know what needs your attention and how long you should be spending on it. Keep your team reminded of these so that they can prioritise their work effectively .
Focusing on results will help you plan for meetings, appraisals, communications,etc. Ask yourself, “What I want to happen as a result of this meeting? How can I ensure this actually happens?”
Be very clear and effective in the way you communicate, so everyone is singing from the same song-sheet and is aware of how these objectives will be measured.
Put the emphasis on results, not activity. Then you can effectively manage your priorities, your objectives and your results.
Thanks again
Sean
Sean McPheat
Managing Director
Updated on: 15 November, 2010
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