| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
Managing Yo-Yo Style
Does being managed by others smack more of "Survivor" than Stephen Covey for you? Could there BE any more management styles out there-have you gotten to experience all of them yet? And what kind of manager are you-or should you try to be? If you're reading this, you're probably familiar with too many types of management and leadership styles-more flavors than months, for the most part. On the leadership, not so much. I offer to you now an additional insight into a newly designated style that you will recognize, and may even find funny. Or not, depending on life at work. And speaking of life at work, what could be more fun than children's toys at work? How about just the thought of them? No, wait-how about BEING them? Before I go on, I must tell you I am at work on a book on management styles, because we definitely need more fun at work, but this type of "leadership" stands alone, and was recognized and developed by a colleague and myself, with one disclaimer only: No alcoholic beverages were consumed in the making of this theory! Now back to our theory, which shall be forever called The Yo-Yo Style of Management?-which by the way, does not involve cellos or classical music. It is purely and simply based upon that amazing device that delights and mystifies one and all-the yo-yo. Three Rules There are only three rules in The Yo-Yo Style of Management: 1. You are the Yo-Yo 2. You are the Finger 3. You are the String Let's look at these components: 1. You are the Yo-Yo-this means that you are the doer, the impacter, the thing that moves. It also means you are probably pretty low on the corporate food chain. In other words, you are done to. 2. You are the Finger-now here's where the power is! By mere pointing (either a true gesture or metaphorically), you control the yo-yo(s). All of them. Imagine the power of watching multiple yo-yos fly! You became an executive for precisely this purpose. Skill is a necessity-if you have it, great. If you don't, well, that's the String's failing. Of course, you can be the Finger at any level of the organization, as long as there are at least two levels "beneath" you. You know your place-and theirs. 3. You are the String-well, this means you are in middle (high or low middle, depending on how flat your organizational structure is) management, and you are conveying the Finger's commands. High, Low, Walk the Dog, Around the World! (That's for all you road warriors and commanders out there). You are a CONNECTOR, and hopefully a skilled one at that. You get things done, and MOVE those yo-yos, while making the Finger proud. On the other hand (or is it Finger?) lackluster Strings drop a lot of yo-yos. Be a STRONG String! Yo-Yoing your way to the simple life Now that this theory has been defined for you, could life BE any simpler? Because you can apply the Yo-Yo Style of Management? to personal life, too. In which case, it becomes more of a principle. (And if you want to have any type of relationship, you may want to go light on the Management.) Do you realize how simple your life at work will be now that you know this theory? Now that you know what you want, are you ready to put your best efforts into your current position, and then, and only then, determine what you must Yo-Yo for? You can even be all three-Yo-Yo, Finger, and String-all at the same time, with only one caveat: Keep in mind that to become a national champion, you must practice, practice, practice! And then, maybe, just maybe, you can BE the Finger. Can you feel it? You can? Good! It's as simple as Rocking the Baby. © JoAnne Scalise JoAnne Scalise has served in multiple levels of healthcare and business management at local and national corporate levels, and has gotten to play at all aspects of the yo-yo as a healthcare professional in both hospitals and national organizations. Her goal, as was that of a mentor, is "Work has to be at least 51% fun". Her collaborator on recognizing the Yo-Yo Style of Management? is a business leader and is also a healthcare professional committed to fun at work. JoAnne is currently at work on an information empire-with a majority focus on fun-that will first include a book examining management styles and offering strategies for your success-no matter the environment in which you swim. Think Stephen Covey meets Leona Helmsley meets Jacques Cousteau, and you'll be there. If you would like to be placed on a mailing list to learn when The Moody Manager? website is complete, please send an email to MoodyManager@msn.com and in the meantime, Grab Every Opportunity For Fun!?
MORE RESOURCES:
Management - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Christmas and Business Gifts for Your Clients and Employees! Tis' the season for business and corporate gift-giving! If you believe in the law of reciprocity, and if your business is the least bit successful you must; you know that giving back is not only the right thing to do, but it's very smart business as well. Let's look at some of the benefits and mechanics of Christmas and holiday gift-giving. Dont Hire Squirrels to be Your Top Dogs Bad hiring decisions cost organizations, both in dollars and lost opportunities. But getting the right people in the right places doing the right thing is not easy. Firing Someone Without Resentment Firing, sacking, letting go or terminating people is unpleasant. There are ways to minimise resentment, but why bother? Because most legal action and unpleasantness stems from dissatisfaction/resentment about the way things were handled - about how rather than what happened. Communicating with Offsite Workers How do you, or would you, communicate with employees who work offsite?Perhaps you have telecommuters reporting to you, or sales reps who work out of offices in other cities. How do you communicate with them?Let's start with the strategic issues: what do you want to accomplish by communicating with them? And, why would they want to communicate with you?Strategic means you'll probably want to deal with issues like productivity, accountability, and predictability. Managing After Downsizing So, you survived the downsizing. Your company did something that will probably show minimal, if any, return -- and will make your job as a manager a living hell. Business Knowledge Management In the last few years a lot has been written about Business Process Management, and about technologies supporting it such as BPMS, SOAP and Web Services. Most of these theories, tools and techniques refer to processes of a highly structured nature. Good Idea Generation - A Process It seems incongruous that good idea generation can be a process or that a process may lead to insight. However, if you examine the behaviour of people who regularly generate good ideas - such as creatives in advertising - you will find that common patterns of behaviour do emerge and it is possible to make insight more likely. Problem-Solving Success Tip: Look For Sponsors And Solution Owners Look for sponsors and solution owners rather than problem owners.Everyone participating in the situation owns the problem, like it or not-and nobody likes it. Leadership in Troubled Times Leadership in Troubled Times The first task of a leader is to keep hope alive. - Joe Batten Leading an organization can be challenging, even when times are good. Lets Flourish and Prosper! Some say that in business as in sex: if it is good, it's great and if it is bad it's still pretty good. This does not happen to be true. Setting Direction Within an Organization FINDING DIRECTION: An organization can't succeed without direction. Direction means having clear goals and guidelines; set goals and guidelines for staff to follow. Follow Up: It Makes A Difference A while back the headlight switch on our minivan quit working, so early one Saturday morning we took it to the neighborhood repair shop that has been mailing postcards to us the past three years. They said it would take 90 minutes to check things out. 3 Ingredients of Highly Profitable Organizational Change As waves of organizational change sweep across the business landscape, a huge question arises: What must a leader do to make sure change produces highly profitable results?To find out, I uncovered exactly what executives did who planned and implemented organizational change that produced $10-million - $1-billion in profit improvement.I discovered that highly profitable organizational change requires three key ingredients. Three Professional Services Resolutions for 2005 With client expectations higher than ever before, and the gradual industry recovery ahead, consulting firms will need to focus more than ever on carefully identifying and serving the right clients.Based on a recent interview with Brad Smith, VP of Research at Kennedy Information Inc. Can A Business Still Be Profitable When People Skills Are Absent? In our current world of rapid and amazing technological advances, many entrepreneurs have managed to dramatically limit the need for staff in highly profitable operations of all kinds.It is therefore tempting and believable to imagine that with every passing day, the need for people skills is diminishing. The Three-Dimensional Communication System Human communication is always three-dimensional. No spoken or written message is ever just words or rational thoughts. Marketing Miracle: Outsource Your Creative Services The current economy is causing most companies to tighten their belts. With limited staffing and a restricted budget, how do you continue to promote your business? The simple solution is the occasional or ongoing use of outside resources such as graphic designers, writers, webmasters, and other creative talent. Change or Die! To Change Your Organization, Hire a Business Coach It is a common business axiom - change or die. As a small or mid-sized business owner or a manager, there will be times you will need to make changes in your organization but may not be sure how to go about it. Building Trust in Your Business Relationships - 10 Steps There are some simple things you can do with your people to ensure that they start to trust you. As a letter from Mike Emmott of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK says, in April 2005's UK Management Today says:-"Our surveys show that only one in four employees trust senior management to look after their interests"Is that not appalling? How on earth can businesses develop, survive and above all hang onto their best people if they are seen to be untrustworthy?It's horrible. Creativity and Innovation Management: The Creative State Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
