The Future Manager

Technology has changed the role of a manager - by creating a situation where many managers do their own typing, their own diary management, their own meeting arrangements and so on - tasks which were once most often undertaken by a secretary or P.A.

Now we have the much-vaunted rise of AI, which might take over a number of the ‘real management’ tasks  - organising, controlling, decision-making and so on.

So, whither managers - or should that be wither managers.  What will be the role of the manager in the future?  I can’t say I know, but I suspect there will be meaningful changes.

Do As You Would Be Done By

Holding employees accountable for their behaviour and their work outcomes is important.  But it needs to exist in a supportive and trusting culture so that those employees are performing whilst being, and feeling, supported.  They need to be engaged with the organisation and its mission and feel that, when appropriate, their voice is heard.

If he/she expects employees to conduct themselves in a particular way, the manager must ensure their own conduct exemplifies such an approach and that they serve as a role model.

Any ‘rules’ must be simple and clear.  They should be explained in a format that allows feedback, part of an honest dialogue between manager and employees.

Employees are much more likely to respect and trust their manager when that manager demonstrates respect for, and trust in, the employees.  Trust and respect are mutual phenomena.

This largely equates to a culture of ‘do as you would be done by’.

If carried out in a clear and consistent manner, the manager and employees blend into a mutually respectful and engaged team.

The result is inevitably higher performance and productivity.

Evaluate Potential Tools

There are lots of tools available that purport to help you raise productivity.  These may be conceptual tools and models, mathematical models or software tools.

How many organisations that adopt one of these tools have done so on the basis of a rigorous, systematic evaluation or assessment?  How do they know they have selected an appropriate tool?

Firstly, of course, you should be clear about the problem you are trying to solve or the opportunity you are trying to seize.  You should retain a degree of flexibility  by thinking about your business as it is changing - and whether a particular model or tool fits you now snd forward into the future.

You should consider whether a proposed model or tool (especially a software tool) will integrate with your existing systems and toolset and whether the user interface will provide problems because of a clash with existing tools.

Think about how much help (and the cost of that help) will be needed to apply a model or tool - and whether some sort of trial is available.

Of course, you have to assess likely outcomes - but think about failure as well as success.  What is the worst case scenario of a failed project?  What are the various risks?

If you understand these factors, you can make a much more informed judgment of which model or tool to adopt and you are much more likely to be successful in that adoption.

Engage Your Employees

There is increasing evidence that high performance and productivity comes from workers who are engaged with the organisation …. aware of, and preferably sharing, its value set; aware of, and preferably invested in, its longer-term mission.

Engaged individuals are much more likely to contribute to formal and informal innovation processes, much more likely to be members of strong teams, much more likely to be error free.

This means that executives and managers must exhibit leadership practises that increase and support employee engagement - ensuring that employees themselves exhibit qualities of optimism, resilience, self-development, and flexibility.

Importantly, research is emerging which suggests that these effects are maintained over time - as long as employees continue to ne engaged, they continue to perform well.

You might think that this sounds trite and obvious ….but, if so, presumably you are doing all you can to increase and maintain employee engagement.  If not,, you have an under-performing team or organisation.