If I could choose my one favourite management 'tool' it would be the G.R.O.W. coaching model as it can be used so well in so many situations and can make such a difference. I'm curious to know what others would pick!

Cattle prod, Bright light and Length of garden hose....

Jane,

Welcome to CCV.

Seriously and joking aside.

I'm not involved in the staff management side, however,
for personal management and keeping 'on-track' the old
trick of blocking out squares with tasks on a sheet of
paper works wonders for me.

From staff management in the past, not in this trade.

A.R.T method, Ask, Remind, Tell.

HTH

DaveA

A large stick and a box of chocolates.......

Seriously though, one of the best tools is M.B.W.A - Management By Walking About! Being seen, being available to openly discuss issues, and just generally finding out what's going on, rather than sitting in your office or at your desk can have a huge (positive) impact on morale and communications.

Instead of replying to that email, try going and having a discussion with the person to resolve the issue face to face. Yes, it's time consuming but the paybacks can be tremendous.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Dave 'A', your first answer made me laugh. Bright lights! I can visualise this working particularly well in formal audits!! Got to agree that the squares on a piece of paper have helped me many times too. So simple, so cheap and it works.

'MBWA' - I worked in a place years ago where the MD was excellent at this although is approach was rather different. We team managers used to dread his visits (here he comes..quick look down...he may walk past me..OMG he's stopping!!) He always used to (deliberately) ask simple questions like, 'so, how many calls have we answered so far today?' Embarrasingly he often caught us out. It felt very painful at the time but we learned very quickly and never made a mistake of not knowing something twice!

There is so much written about how to manage this and that, it's interesting to know what works for different people.

Hi Guys,

My thoughts on this --- I would go start with team-building & end with team-building ... it solves a lot of issues without any fuss whatsoever. Basic rule of TB is that you have to plan as a manager but act like a Leader ... People do not want to be managed ... they want to be led!

Cheers!

Kex

People do not want to be managed ... they want to be led!

I like that!

People do not want to be managed ... they want to be led!

I like that!

Me too. Even worse than managing rather than leading is 'micro managing'. This used to be one of my sins although I didn't realise I was doing it at the time or the effect it was having! Until someone micro managed me and I nearly went insane!

Hi Jane,

Im sure u have got the best responses from the rest. Well to me the list is endless, management by simple definition is so complex that you cannot have just one valued management tool.

To me the best ever was a pat on the back, making an employee feel valued for whatever smallest thing he/she might have done, writing a note of appreciation ( truly Jack Welch style ). Also not to forget , every employee has to have a purposeful momentum, we as managers have to ensure the ship they are on is turbo charged and knows where its heading. That would go a good long way to help managers and employees in a great way.

To summarize, if you go to incorporate the best tool and incorporate it ..it would never work.. The idea is to be flexible ie change with the changing environment.