Supervision: Management Skills and Application - Essay Example

Supervision To become a successful manager a person has to engage himself in constant supervision of all activities within the organization, his subordinates as well as other publics of the organization and keep track of the challenges. The essential dimensions required to become a successful manager are as follows: Ability to achieve results: In order to achieve the desired results, a successful manager applies a variety of techniques. The first objective should be to set an achievable objective and make it known to the people he is managing so that everything is very clear from the very beginning. The manager should not only give orders but also try to work with his subordinates in order to understand their point of view and the nature of the work. This will also help in determining whether there is any time management problem or any other difficulties faced by his subordinates during their performance or not. Until the manager works with the people he manages he will not be able to judge the performances – negative or positive of his workers. In all situations he should take decisions in a totally unbiased way to solve problems irrespective of its complexity. This approach might seem difficult but would take him a long way in his career. He should also possess the capability to adapt himself to the changes. He should direct his subordinates and make budget adjustments in a manner in which the changing conditions and demands are met appropriately. In doing all this he should never forget his primary task – the responsibility to always keep the customers of his organization satisfied by providing the highest quality of products and services. Ability to lead people: Leadership qualities are of topmost importance for any manager to be successful. He should lead his team in such a manner that there is no misunderstanding and conflict within the group. Under his able leadership the primary goal of all the workers should be to work towards the common goal. The manager should have the capacity to recognize that if perfect leadership guides talented people, then nothing can come in the way of accomplishment of the goal. A manager can become a good leader only if he treats everyone equally. He should know the tact of getting the desired work done from an average worker and also possess the skill of praising good work. This will enhance the enthusiasm of the workers, which will result in better performances. He should know how to use words that provide constructive feedback without harming anyone’s self esteem. If a subordinate’s work is worth criticism, he should always speak to him personally instead of humiliating him in front of others. No matter how much he admires a particular subordinate, this fact should never come in the way of providing equal employment opportunities to all. To enhance his team’s performance he should capitalize on the diversity of talent. Hence his aim should be to inculcate leadership qualities that enable in lifting his team’s vision to a much higher height, taking his team’s performance towards a newer and better benchmark and building a better personality of his team members. Through this style of leadership which boasts of strict sense of conduct and responsibility, respect for everyone’s work, conformity to the organizational goal, innovativeness, originality, equality and trust, the manager is sure to take his as well as his team members careers to great heights. Skills in building relationships: Skilful communication is the key to success. According to Rue and Byars “In general, organizational communication systems are downward, upward, and lateral (horizontal)” (88). Successful managers are those who are able to communicate skillfully within the three above mentioned communication systems. Downward communication means the one that is directed towards his subordinates. Upward communication means the communication that he directs towards the people whom he reports to. Horizontal communication refers to his coordination amongst the various departments of his organization. The manager should not only excel in these but also should communicate openly and honestly outside his organization in order to foster his organization’s objectives. He should collaborate with others to achieve the set objectives. No collaboration takes place without proper communication. At the time of crisis too, he should possess the required communication skills to handle emotionally charged or controversial issues responsibly. No matter which system of communication a manager is engaged in, or what the situation is at the time of communication, the manager should always ensure that he gets feedback from the receivers to ensure that he has been successful in transmitting the information. Only when the information flows back and forth between the sender and receiver, it can be assumed that the communication has been successful. Not only verbal but also non-verbal communication like facial expressions, gestures etc. play a great role so a manager should be alert in sending the non verbal messages too because any negative non verbal communication will mar the success of his objectives. Ability to lead change: A successful manager should always move with the times. In management, change should be showcased by the manager in the form of innovations and quick recovery from setbacks. Keeping a positive attitude should be the main aim in all circumstances. It is important that an extraordinary manager should try to guide the organization during the traumas of critical change. The agenda of the manager is to strategically interact at many levels. To keep up with the rapid changes taking place all around, the manager should win all levels of people to join hands to accept the change and move further. The three common categories of change are – environmental, internal to the organization and technological. There may be chances of employee resistance but the manager should calmly try to deal with their apprehensions and reduce all the resistance. Rue and Byars rightly observed, “Just as there are many reasons employees resist change, there are also many approaches for reducing resistance to change”(445). The manager’s logical reasoning and trustful assurance of betterment will inspire others to get involved in the change process wholeheartedly. This will instill a positive flow of energy in the organization. The result will be, financial benefits, as there will be increase in efficiency, productivity, flexibility and profits. All this might help the manager in scaling newer heights in his profession. Therefore the managers should understand that the need of the hour is to make the new technologies and agendas work successfully with innovation in their strategy and working methodology without inviting any misunderstanding with the different publics of the organization he deals with. Works Cited Rue, L.W. and L.L.Byars. Management Skills and Application. (6th Ed.). USA: IRWIN, 1992. Read More