Trisensical approach to effective people management !

"Whenever there is a hard job to be done I assign it to a lazy man; he is sure to find an easy way of doing it." Though it may sound little funny, the above quote has a lot of wisdom in it for it imbibes the basic rule of delegation & formula to succeed with people, which is "Play by their strengths".

I can't help but again quote Thirukural in which I read one of the best definitions yet, about delegation of work "இதனை இதனால் இவன் முடிப்பான் என்றாய்ந்து அதனை அவன் கண் விடல்" which means "Identify who is the best to complete this work, understand how we will complete and then delegate the work to him". I cannot believe a poet can be so knowledged and wise in management aspects too, that too 2000 years back.... (Indian civilization and literature ki jai ho!)

While it is easy to write the meaning for this couplet, its difficult to reproduce the sweetness and wisdom of this quote for you should know the language to appreciate the former and people management experience for the later. One of the significant, (personal yet professional) milestones in any one's carrer is to successfully manage a team and earn the respect from the team members. Once a person has crossed this stage in his career then you will see him as a very confident individual.

As always once a person is confident it is very diffcult for him to identify as to when he will transcend the border between confidence and over confidence. Once he has tresspassed into over confidence zone (knowingly or unknowingly) he will start proposing his own theories like am going to do it now. :)

"Managing & developing people is like mining gold. You need to dig & process tonnes of dust and sand to get an ounce of gold". I am highlighting here 3 senses which needs to be monitored and nurtured that i have always used while managing a team or more importantly in understanding an individual's state of aspirations irrespective of whether he is your colleague or a subordinate.

All animals have 5 senses and we human beings have (or supposed to) 6 senses and the sixth sense as you all agree is a misnomer for its not so "common". The 4 senses which i am highlighting are in addition to the above 6 and is as follows:

7th Sense: Money. Most often we find that this replaces our sixth sense. Irrespective of all said and done this takes precedence and this sense is compromised only when we have the other 3 senses which i am going to highlight below overpower the 7th sense. We all work for money and am not sure why it should be difficult for us to accept the practical side of life. But am also a believer "That nothing significant gets accomplished when mind works for money".

All of us want to retain good talent within the team instead of losing them to the competition. Very often we find that just money does not excite the best minds. How often we have heard "People work for People" and what makes few managers so special that they evoke a sense of loyalty in all their team members despite high paying jobs are available in plenty for these talented employees. While it is easy to say that i feel very comfortable working with him because of many reasons (blah blah), I am generalizing and giving a structured thought in the following lines. (No, I am not going to bore you with leadership qualities or communication, motivation etc.)

1. Sense of belonging: This is the first sense i want to emphasize which we have to look out in a potential employee during interview. It will be very evident in few of them and we can decide that they are or would be "Culturally fit" when we recruit them. But a smart manager would always be evaluating this sense in his team members. What can potentially reduce the sense of belonging in an employee? It could be many things and i want to list a few:

- Unfavorable image of the company in the market.

- Excessive inter/intra department politics. This really puts off apolitical characters.

- Cultural issues like Internal adminstration / executives don't stand up to the highest values like there may be evident levels of corruption, misuse of office resources etc.

- The sense of belonging may rest with the organization but not with the manager. But such cases mostly end up quitting the organization since they are driven away by the managers.

A smart manager would always count the number of employees who have quit and rejoined the organization which just highlights that their sense of belonging has got them back. On the other hand an employee's sense of belonging can be more with the manager than the organization. Then the organization should be concerned about the manager's sense of belonging for if he leaves, he would take his team away.

Sense of belonging is essentially which brings the passion to play at work from an individual. If this sense is missing at the desired level then 7th sense could take over anytime and alternatively this can effectively manage the 7th sense if its available in right quantities. I have to put in a word of caution that spending 20 years in an organization does not essentially mean that Sense of belonging is high, for heavier particles tend to settle down at the bottom and would not move much. :)

2. Sense of purpose: Every individual has to be oriented and given a sense of purpose. Often managers don't rise the level of thinking among employees and don't show them the big picture. Hence employees most often cannot relate their KPI with the overall picture. A smart manager would be very good at doing this and would inculcate a voluntary goal directed behavior among this team. There is always a debate as to how stretchable the goals one should keep and then they end up quantifying that 20% more or 30% more. But importantly "Always tell them what to do and not how to do". When employees are free to approach the delivery process in the way they think the best then the sense of purpose gets imbibed in them.

3. Sense of Achivement: Here comes the most important part, as an individual we need a sense of achievement which makes us feel better and improves our self confidence. If a manager cannot ensure that his team derives a sense of achievement then he can be pretty sure that he will lose his team.

Goaling has to factor this in. Else the manager can keep telling "Doing it right is no excuse for getting it done in time :)".

The secret of being the most loved manager and building a loyal talent base is the result of managing the Sense of belonging, Sense of purpose and Sense of achievement in an individual and within a team.

Even if we are good as a manager with the above skills it is important that we develop our team members to understand this aspect and factor them in day today team management. Lets remember "Leaders create leaders and not followers".

This is my "Trisensical approach to effective people management", for a guy who is good at this can thrive as a "Successful Benevolent dictator" in his own corporate fiefdom.

What say?

Happy reading!