13 Fatal Errors of Management

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13 Fatal Errors of Management

• Case Studies in Turfgrass Management
• TURF 436W

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Management

• the skill of attaining predetermined objectives
  with and through the voluntary cooperation and
  effort of others

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13 Fatal Errors

• Refuse to accept personal accountability
• Fail to develop people
• Try to control results instead of influencing
  thinking
• Join the wrong crowd
• Manage everyone the same way
• Forget the importance of profit

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13 Fatal Errors (contd)

• Concentrate on problems rather than objectives
• Be a buddy, not a boss
• Fail to set standards
• Fail to train your people
• Condone incompetence
• Recognize only top performers
• Try to manipulate people

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Refuse to accept personal accountability

• This sets the stage for asking the right
  questions
• What did I do wrong?
• What should I do to rectify this situation?
• What can I learn from this?

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Fail to develop people

• Managers who build dependency do so out of
  personal insecurity
• Managers who deny subordinates the experience of
  solving routine problems deny them the
  opportunities for growth

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Fail to develop people (contd)

• When confronted with a problem by a subordinate
• Look at the person
• Listen with your eyes, as well as your ears
• Advise and counsel

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Fail to develop people (contd)

• In promoting people to management positions
• Send them to a management seminar as a first step
  to acquire new knowledge
• Provide new responsibilities by degrees to coach
  them in the development of new skills (and assess
  their aptitude for management)

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Fail to develop people (contd)

• Character is one of the important qualities that
  must be developed long before one is old enough
  to enter the work force
• Characters
• Court jesters joke their way out of problems
  and leave the mess for others
• Bumblers make others look good
• Eccentrics march to a different drummer

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Try to control results instead of influence
thinking

• THOUGHTS create
• FEELINGS affect
• ACTIVITY rewarded/recognized
• HABITS generate
• RESULTS

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Try to control results instead of influence
thinking (contd)

• Questions people ask when confronted with a new
  challenge
• Can I succeed?
• Where is the value to me?
• (i.e., where is the self-esteem?)

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Join the wrong crowd

• Pronoun disease the tendency of some employees
  to use they instead of we
• Loyalty means that I share a common ideal with
  you, not that I agree with everything you say or
  that I believe you are always right

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Manage everyone the same way

• DONTS
• Play the role indicates you are not up to the
  task and need these trappings to feel capable
• Manage by staff meeting management is largely a
  one-to-one proposition

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Manage everyone the same way (contd)

• MANAGEMENT STYLES
• Autocratic manager draws on his strength rather
  than from the strength of others
• Bureaucratic manages by the book
• Democratic allows employees to participate in
  decision making
• Idiosyncratic adapts his management style to
  each employee

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Forget the importance of profit

• No enterprise can long survive without generating
  a surplus over its costs of operation
• Even nonprofit organizations must maintain this
  discipline

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Concentrate on problems rather than objectives

• Management is essentially a thinking, not a
  doing job
• When a person under your management fails to
  perform satisfactorily, do you ask
• Whats the reason for the lack of performance? or
• Whats wrong with this person?

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Be a buddy, not a boss

• You must be either a buddy or a boss successful
  hybrids do not exist
• While you can relax and have fun with an
  employee, its never entirely social its a
  professional, business relationship

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Be a buddy, not a boss (contd)

• You cant be responsible for people thats the
  job of a parent, not a manager
• You must be responsible to them by giving them
  the support they need to do their jobs
• They must be responsible to you, by giving you
  the performance you need

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Fail to set standards

• Standards encompass such things as ethics,
  morality, safety, and performance.
• Performance standards
• Quantity the amount of product or service
  produced
• Quality the errors or mistakes made the
  appearance or impressions given
• Timeliness meeting deadlines
• Cost living within the budget, with respect to
  men, money, and materials

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Fail to set standards (contd)

• Standards eliminate management pressures by
  eliminating personality from tough decision
  making.
• Standards serve as a covenant between an employee
  and his organization, based on understanding,
  good faith, and mutual commitment.

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Fail to train your people

• Managements role is to induce employees to
  consistently perform at PAR
• thus, the dual role of every manager is to
• Get people from entry level to PAR
• Maintain PAR, once attained

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Fail to train your people (contd)

• PARs elements
• Precedents guides for evaluating future
  behavior (e.g., job description, policies,
  objectives)
• Actions what employees do
• Results the consequences of actions

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Fail to train your people (contd)

• If the hiring manager did not make a mistake in
  selection, only 3 reasons remain for why a person
  does not do his job
• He doesnt know what the job is
• He doesnt know how to do the job
• Someone or something interferes with his desire
  or ability to do the job

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Fail to train your people (contd)

• Classroom training formula
• Uncover establish a need to learn
• Discover provide instruction
• Recover provide hands-on experience

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Condone incompetence

• Why?
• They feel the need to be loved and seek it on the
  job
• They hope the problem will disappear if they
  ignore it
• They lack the willingness or ability to confront
  others

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Condone incompetence (contd)

• Principles of effective confrontation
• Confront immediately
• Confront privately
• Be specific
• Use data
• Be clear
• Provide redirection
• Follow up

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Recognize only top performers

• The Personal Touch
• Break objectives into bite-size pieces
• Provide a support system to help each person
  achieve his or her objectives
• Provide personal and timely recognition for
  attaining objectives

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Try to manipulate people

• Traditional management motivational approaches
• Fear - the stick
• Rewards the carrot
• Belief building help the individual establish a
  belief in himself, his organization, and the
  products/services rendered