Excellence

 

Excellence is never an accident. It is achieved in an organization or an institution only as a result of unrelenting and vigorous insistence on the highest standards or performance. It requires an unswerving expectancy of quality from the staff and volunteers. It is what should be expected. When it is expected there is no other alternative for the employee to do anything less.

Excellence is contagious. It infects and affects everyone in the organization. It charts the direction of progress. It establishes the criteria for planning. It provides zest and vitality of the organization. Once achieved, excellence has talent for permitting every aspect of the life of the organization. When everyone is working towards excellence the entire organization focuses on it.

Excellence demands commitment and tenacious dedication from the leadership of the organization. Once it is accepted and expected, it must be nourished and continually reviewed and renewed. It is a never-ending process of learning and growing. It requires a spirit of motivation and boundless energy. It is always the result of a creative conceived and precisely planned effort. You cannot expect excellence some of the time and not the rest. When you settle for less that’s what you get.

Excellence inspires; it electrifies. It potentializes every phase of the organization’s life. It unleashes an impact which influences every program, every activity, every committee, and every staff person. To install it in an organization is difficult; to sustain it, even more so. It demands adaptability, imagination and vigor.  But most of all, it requires from leadership a constant state of self-discovery and discipline.

Excellence is an organization’s life-line. It is the most compelling answer to apathy and inertia. It energizes a stimulation and pulsing force. Once it becomes the expected standard of performance, it develops a fiercely driving and motivating philosophy of operation. It becomes the only way to do business. Many managers say they want excellence but few do what is needed to get that result. When employees see that you expect nothing less they have no other alternative but to strive for excellence also. You have to set the example for expecting excellence.

Excellence is a state of mind put onto action. It is a road map to success. When a climate of excellence exists, all things, staff work, volunteer leadership, finances, programs, come easier. Excellence in an organization is important because it is everything.

Excellence is you

Management By Delegation.

Do these scenarios sound familiar? You’re walking to your restaurant and an employee stops you to give a rundown of what’s happening; “Marry called off tonight so we have no hostess, our shipment was shorted the supplies you ordered, I’m going to clean out the stock room and after my break I’ll work on those files you asked me to do. The schedule will be done in a couple of days and,. by the way, the oven is not working right. Should I call the repairman?”

As you get farther into the restaurant, another employee stops you to give a rundown of his situation. This lasts another 5 minutes. Frustrating? You Bet. And you wonder. Why can’t these employees take more responsibility and not drop every detail of every project in your lap? Maybe it’s not them but you. Maybe you’re not delegating effectively. Here are some key points to remember.

Stress results, not details. Make it clear to your employees that you’re more concerned about the final outcome of all projects, rather than the day-to-day details that accompany them.

Don’t be sucked in by giving solutions to employees’ problems. When employees come to you with problems, they’re probably looking for you to solve them. Don’t! Teach them how to solve problems themselves. This, too, can be frustrating because it takes time. But in the long run, you’ll save yourself time and money.

Turn the question around. If an employee comes to you with a problem, ask him or her for possible solutions. If an employee comes to you with a question, ask for possible answers. This is key. When you do this you not only will create an employee who can get the job done, and not always bothering you, you will find out how this employee thinks and what leads them to their decisions.

Establish measurable and concrete objectives. With all employees, make your objectives clear and specific. Once this is done, employees will feel more comfortable acting on their own. Think of this plan as a road map and your employees will too.

Develop reporting systems. Get your feedback from reporting systems. The best way is to set up a pre determined time when the employee will meet with you. This way you can give all your attention and eliminate the bombardment when you walk in the door.

Give strict and realistic deadlines. If you don’t give clear deadlines, employees won’t feel accountable for the completion if their tasks. You can always ask the employee when you assign the job when they think they can have it accomplished. This way they are being accountable to themselves.

Keep a delegation log. When you delegate an assignment, jot it down. You’ll be able to monitor the progress, and discipline employees when necessary. Follow up is a key step. You can always ask the employee how the project is going and if you can offer any help. Giving advice or steering them in the right direction is all they may need to get started on the right track.

Recognize the talents and personalities of your employees. Being a good delegator is like being a good coach. You have to know what projects each employee can handle and what projects they can’t.

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Management Training: By The Book

Give Recognition To Your Employees

 

There’s no question that money is a big incentive to most of us. We struggle to get it, then, rush to spend it.

There are, however few people who are satisfied with money alone as a reward for their efforts. Most of us would like more than money from our jobs. A smart boss sees that we get it. Now don’t get me wrong, we all want to get paid well for the hard work we do, but we also want to be appreciated. A boss who thinks that money is the only way to motivate his employees will soon find out the hard way that it isn’t.

Can you imagine, for example, anyone who doesn’t like an occasional word of praise, thanks or appreciation for their hard work, no matter how much he or she gets paid for it? Or anyone who doesn’t like to know that what he or she does is really useful and worthwhile? Part of the satisfaction in doing anything well is having someone else appreciate it. It’s your job as a manager to be the one who does the appreciating.

We all like to be recognized as individuals, not merely as cogs in a big machine. Nobody thinks of himself or herself as just another worker. We think of ourselves as individuals, and we like to be treated as such. That includes being thanked individually for our particular contribution. When employees are recognized for their efforts a they are less willing to look for another job.

Most people would rather have these little extras, personal recognition, than a job which pays a bit more money. This includes even those people who think they are pretty hardheaded about a dollar.

When a boss gives these personal extras, we hate to lose them. It’s tough to leave a job where we are really appreciated. It takes quite a chunk of money to coax most people away, and often money alone isn’t enough. Most of the time an employee leaves a job because they are unhappy. If you pay a reasonable wage and treat them right you will minimized your turnover. By minimizing your turnover you reduce spending for your company.

This kind of pay, the intangible kind, doesn’t come in a weekly or monthly pay envelope. It comes from a boss. Skill and persistence in giving it is what makes some bosses far superior to others. In some way or another, a good boss tries to make every day a payday.

Take Action As A Manager

Quite a few people have difficulty making decisions. Those who do should avoid management responsibilities in their work. Taking action and making decisions is what a supervisor or manager should do. If you cannot face problems and take action then you will fail in your managerial role.

People who supervise others have to make tough decisions all the time, everyday. They might range from a small problem to something if vital importance. It might be mediating a dispute between employees or setting goals for your department. Each decision requires energy and effort on your part.

A common problem among new managers is to ignore a problem in hopes it will go away. It doesn’t go away by itself. As a manager you need to face the problem and take responsibility for deciding a course of action for a solution. Many new managers don’t make decisions because then they cannot be criticized for make a poor judgment. However a continuous lack of decision making will be notice by the company and damage your career more than if you do not take any action.

You will be criticized anyway, and for something far more serious, such as failing to produce results. You might be able to fool some people but you will not fool your boss. Sooner or later you will be viewed as an ineffective manager. Someone who cannot make decisions. You need to have the courage to make decisions even if they are the wrong ones. This is the only way you will learn to be a good manager and leader.

The art of management is to know how to avoid the two extremes. You might be delaying on a particular problem and then you try to avoid a snap decision. Knowing what to do can be a problem and only experience will help with that. However if action is needed immediately a decision needs to be made. Even if it is a poor decision, sometimes that’s better than no decision at all.

If it is an important decision, perhaps to spend a large sum of money, take time to think but don’t over analyze it. Consider all available options. If the decision is left up to you make the best decision you feel possible. If it’s something you would spend your money on then you will make the right decision.

If you have managers working under you then you want them to make decisions. After all that’s why they are in that position. The same goes for your boss. He expects you to make decisions. Your company wants an organization that moves instead of one that rests, for fear of making mistakes.

Remember: You live and die by the decisions you make or don’t make!