Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Think Big Dream High,E39 – Those Who Advocate Complexity Are Not Efficient



Productivity And Efficiency

1.The productivity and efficiency of an organization be it government or private sector is dependent to a large extent on the performance and achievement of the Middle Management group. These group of people are reckoned as the  backbone of an organization. The higher the initiative, innovative  and creativity of employees in this category, the higher, the more successful, effective and profitable will be the organization.The same goes otherwise. The downfall of an organization  is to a large extent due to the low level of productivity, efficiency, imagination, initiative, innovation and creativity of every level of employees, especially in the Middle Management group of the organization.

2.It has become the norm for a boss at the Middle Management group to be assertive and conceited. More so if they have high qualifications the likes of MBAs, ACCAs or PhDs and with titles like Sir or Dato’. They not only want to look smart and shrewd but they are making it difficult for others to relate to them. The more egoistic they are, the more difficult for others to understand them.

3.Others are always at fault. A simple thing becomes complex. A small issue becomes big and is exaggerated. They speak in a sophisticated manner of language, difficult to comprehend. They babble a lot but its more for their own ears and understanding only. People are laughing behind their backs. When writing they used a difficult language to convey the message. People do not really appreciate and understand what they wrote. During meetings, they are the only ones talking. Other people’s ideas and suggestions are not encouraged, not taken heed of  and most of the time ignored. The employees felt that things are becoming more complex, complicated especially those things that affected them most. The employees perceived them as play acting smart and not creative either. Just a show off.    

Reality in Life

1.As the boss, they are the ones that created the awkward working environment. Though the employees may be wary and scared, they are actually  disrespectful of him. The working culture has stiffened. The environment at the workplace becomes routine, no excitement, no initiative. Nobody looks forward coming to the office anymore. All employees and workers are doing their routine work. Report for work at 8 am in the morning and go back at 5 pm. The 8 to 5 work culture has been their practiced. No motivation to work extra hours. No effort made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the working culture.

2.As the boss, they spent most of the time in the office. Seldom if ever, they interact with the employees. They are very comfortable with such work routine. Not only employees and staff become non innovative, even they themselves are non creative and innovative as well. They are only creative on matters relating to their hobbies only. If its golf, then golf will be their topic of conversation and research. If its fishing, then fishing will be the topic for the day. They continued non stop to talk about golf or fishing to whomever they meet.

3.As a boss, they might have gone back later than other employees. Routinely they probably left the office at about 9 pm. However, there is nothing new that they introduced to increase the productivity of the organization. Looks like they have some similarities with the Korean or Japanese Executives. For the Korean or Japanese Executives, they will only head for home at about 11 pm in the evening. If they go back earlier than 8 pm, their wives will be worried for fear their husbands have fallen out of favor with their bosses. In reality even though they go back late, they are not practicing the working culture of the Koreans or Japanese. They spent more time browsing the web and doing research on their hobbies or sometimes making preparations for the next day’s meeting just to impress their top boss. They spent more time on their personal grooming. They work hard to attract their own boss’s attention but they do not put in the effort to increase the productivity and effectiveness of the organization nor do they try to improve the working environment and the morale of the staff.

4.They are also adopting the attitude of, “why should we be different than the others. If the boss says so, just follow what the boss says. We’ve done our best and the rest is up to him”. They are not focusing on their work. They work hard just to impress and be in the good books of the boss.

5.They are trying their best to defer or avoid making decision. If possible they want other parties to make the decision on their behalf. They consult too many parties to arrive at a simple and straight forward decision. They are avoiding and reluctant to take the risk and responsibility. They are too scared  that should their decision be wrong then the blame will be on them. They want the blame to be shared with other parties or put the blame entirely on others.

Tips

1.People respect us not because of our education, title, status or position. People respect us not because we look smart, difficult to be close and relate to, very calculative, difficult to make an appointment, look snobbish, deceiving or complex.

2.People respect us because of our intelligence, smartness, trustworthiness, speedy action in problems solving, effectiveness in resolving complex issues, willingness  to listen to complaints and grievances, politeness and mindful of our manners when greeting people giving them our full attention.

3.People respect us because we are decisive, quick to react but with painstaking move. People respect us because we are meticulous, impartial and rational in our judgements. People respect us because we are smart, able to break down complicated issues into simple, understandable and easy to implement solutions.

4.People respect us because we created an environment that encourages positive changes, encourages new and creative ideas. People respect us when we acknowledged  the new and innovative improvements  to the existing system. People respect us when we assimilate ourselves in brainstorming, team-working and activities that encourages creativity.

5.People respect us because we are appreciative of every comments made and feedback from the organization’s stakeholders. Our stakeholders are the employees, bosses, shareholders, clients, customers and of course the general public. People respect us when we are ever willing to offer assistance, lend support, give motivation, provide leadership, coaching, sharing of experiences or guidance to the stakeholders whenever required. We are part of the team. We are open, accountable and transparent in our work as well as towards the organization’s stakeholders.

6.People respect us when we are efficient and timely in achieving our KPI. People respect us because we are simple, approachable, friendly and humble but firm in our decisions and actions. People respect us when we do not advocate complexity, difficulties, impossibilities and impediments.

7.It looks as though too many things need to be done in order to be a good, respectable and smart boss or manager. But all of these qualities are achievable. All of these qualities will automatically be part of us once we are efficient, sincere and honest in our work. All of these qualities will be part and parcel of our management style, work attitude and working culture. To ensure this we should always be positive, think big dream high and have a strong heart.
   


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