Means- vs.

goal-oriented

A means-oriented culture places importance on how work gets done. The

focus is on the way people do work and an emphasis on avoiding risk. On the
opposite end of the spectrum, a goal-oriented culture identifies with what work
gets done. There is a strong focus on achieving an end result. Of the six
dimensions, this dimension correlates most strongly with organizational
effectiveness; organizations with goal-oriented cultures are more effective
than those with means-oriented cultures.

Internally vs. externally driven

Employees within an internally-driven culture see themselves as experts; they

feel they know what is best for the client and customer and act accordingly. As
Steve Jobs put it, “A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you
show it to them.” On the other side, employees working in an externally-
driven culture are very customer-oriented and will do whatever the customer
wants. Their mantra might be, “the customer is always right” and their favorite
metric customer satisfaction.

Easygoing vs. strict work discipline

Work discipline refers to the amount of structure and control. In

an easygoing culture, the approach to work is informal, loose, unpredictable,
and these characteristics facilitate a high level of innovation. But you better
like surprises and be willing to improvise and adapt! In a strict culture, there is
a fair amount of planning, which leads to efficiency and productivity. People
take punctuality seriously and delegate work with detailed instructions.

Local vs. professional

In a local organizational culture, employees identify with their boss and their
teammates. This type of environment risks having a low level of diversity,
since there are social pressures to act, look, and talk in a certain way.
However, these defined norms allow for a great amount of predictability. In a
company with a professional culture, employees identify with their profession
or the content of the work.

Open vs. closed system

In an open system, newcomers are welcomed easily. People are inclusive and
take the approach that anyone will fit in well with the organization. A closed
system is more exclusive, where newcomers have to prove themselves. Open
cultures have managers and leaders who are approachable, and thus tend to
see higher employee satisfaction.

Employee- vs. work-centered

In a culture with an employee-centered management philosophy, leaders take

responsibility for the happiness, well-being, and satisfaction of their
 employees. This is true even if it is at the expense of productivity. In a work-
centered culture, a focus on high task performance can come at the expense
of employees. In this environment, there is a low level of empathy for personal
problems.

As you read through this list, you can probably pretty easily pick out which
type of culture you prefer and which is not a fit for you. Most of the time, our
preferences and our company’s cultures are more moderate and fit
somewhere in the middle of the polar extremes described in this article.

It is important to keep in mind that these dimensions of organizational culture

are neither good nor bad. However, either end of the spectrum on the extreme
side can cause dysfunction; for example, when an organization’s goals are
inappropriate for the culture or when a group of individuals do not integrate
well with their environment.

7 common management issues

1. Employees need to know what the stakes are, what the game is and how it’s played. This is
often difficult for a new mid-level manager who has never quite understood herself. As a new
manager or with a new manager reporting to you, remember that your company can support
managers by having a clear vision and communicating it well and often. The CEO should be able to
tell a great story about how the company came to be, what it stands for, where it wants to go, and
what it honestly values. HR should help new employees understand why this company exists and
what it strives for.
 Does everyone in your organization understand the company business goals, it’s unique selling
position, brand promise(s), operating environment, and marketplace realities?

2. Employees need to understand how they can make the biggest contribution to the vision. All
employees do not need to agree with the vision, but they should be able to align their work with the
institution’s goals. Performance evaluations should be conducted with an eye towards contributing to
those goals. As a manager, you may have to bring the vision down from thirty-thousand feet to a
 more targeted level. Let your staff know how their work fits into the larger picture for your
organization and for your consumer, client, or other audience.

3. Employees need a reason to care about contributing. A paycheck is not a reason to care. People
do have a need to belong and to feel like they matter. Does your employee’s contribution matter? Do
you care about his contribution? Do you understand how he wants to be rewarded or what will make
him feel productive? Are you as a manager engaged in your work? How good are your
communication skills in terms of inspiring and thanking?

4. Managers need to create a positive environment that fosters the traits you want employees to
display. You may need to experiment a bit here. Some teams will have different needs. For example
a team that is largely C’s will feel rewarded by challenges, but not necessarily personal recognition
while an S team may value a structure that supports work-life balance.

5. Employees don’t want to feel set up for failure. Do you know what feels like failure to your
employees? Do they have the resources they need to fully contribute? Are you second-guessing
them or getting in their way? Do the rules of the game change so often that an employee might be
playing by old rules? How do you as a manager deal with failure? Do employees know what your
reaction to their failure will be? Will you punish or help them learn?

6. Employees see bad behavior and poor performance going unnoticed or unchallenged.
Nothing demotivates like watching a team member goof off while others strive for excellence. Do
employees say or think “What are they going to do? Fire me?” because no one has witnessed a
reprimand, let alone a dismissal? Is there a clear understanding of what constitutes appropriate
behavior and excellent performance? Are you as a manager modeling both?

7. Employees feel ignored and/or unappreciated. Do you understand what type of attention is
beneficial to offer each of your employees or teams? Do you understand what each employee needs
to feel appreciated or is she basing her behaviors on her own preferences?

If you’re a manager, how well do you do? Have you gone through a 360 review? If you train
managers, how are you measuring your success? If you’re a leader, how are you providing your
managers with a clear understanding of your vision so they can align their resources with it and
execute the appropriate tactics?

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

1. Planning

Planning is looking ahead. According to Henri Fayol, drawing up a good plan

of action is the hardest of the five functions of management. This requires
an active participation of the entire organization. With respect to time and
implementation, planning must be linked to and coordinated on different
levels. Planning must take the organization’s available resources and
flexibility of personnel into consideration as this will guarantee continuity.
2. Organizing

An organization can only function well if it is well-organized. This means that

there must be sufficient capital, staff and raw materials so that the
organization can run smoothly and that it can build a good working
structure. The organizational structure with a good division of functions and
tasks is of crucial importance. When the number of functions increases, the
organization will expand both horizontally and vertically. This requires a
different type of leadership. Organizing is an important function of the five
functions of management.

3. Commanding

When given orders and clear working instructions, employees will know
exactly what is required of them. Return from all employees will be
optimized if they are given concrete instructions with respect to the activities
that must be carried out by them. Successful managers have integrity,
communicate clearly and base their decisions on regular audits. They are
capable of motivating a team and encouraging employees to take initiative.

4. Coordinating

When all activities are harmonized, the organization will function better.
Positive influencing of employees behaviour is important in this. Coordination
therefore aims at stimulating motivation and discipline within the group
dynamics. This requires clear communication and good leadership. Only
through positive employee behaviour management can the intended
objectives be achieved.

5. Controlling

By verifying whether everything is going according to plan, the organization

knows exactly whether the activities are carried out in conformity with the
plan.
 Control takes place in a four-step process:

1. Establish performance standards based on organizational objectives

2. Measure and report on actual performance
3. Compare results with performance and standards
4. Take corrective or preventive measures as needed

1. Authoritarian management styles

Managers who are high in conscientiousness and possibly low in
agreeablenesstend to prefer authoritarian management styles. These
managers tend to be industrious, orderly, candid, and less trusting.

 Command and control management styles rely on strict hierarchy.

Management orders, employees obey. Disobedient employees are
punished.

 Fear uncertainty and doubt. Managers who use this tactic keep their
subordinates in a consistent state of fear. They use fear, guilt and
shame to scare their team into compliance.

 Micromanagers use their power to control every detail. Employees

are forced into a rigid structure that conforms to management’s
preconceived ideas.

2. Extroverted management styles

Managers who are high in agreeableness and possibly high in
extraversion far more likely to prefer these management styles. These
managers are typically softhearted, understanding, compassionate
and considerate.

 Charismatic managers (e.g. Elon musk, Steve Jobs) who rely on the
strength of their charisma and personality to command subordinates.
 Transformational styles are based on a mutual give-and-take
relationship or managers and employees support each other.

 Transactional styles use positive rewards such as incentives,

bonuses and stock options to motivate employees to improve
performance. These styles are less effective with socially conscious
employees who are looking to make an impact at work.

 Servant leadership. These managers see themselves as supporters

and cheerleaders. They use their leadership skills and power to
support coworkers, choosing to serve others first before their agenda.

 Complex adaptive. This style is based on the idea that everyone in

the company is a leader. Organizations with a flat organizational
structure like Zappos prefer this method of management. Employees
are expected to influence, persuade and motivate each other.

3. Political management styles

Managers who are high in conscientiousness and low in
agreeableness prefer this management style. Managers who are
competitive, outspoken, headstrong, calculating or manipulative may
find this style to be ideal.

 Mushroom managers maintain authority, power and control by

controlling the flow of information. The less their team knows the
better. This puts managers in a position to accept the rewards for a
job well done or throw a teammate under the bus when something
goes wrong.

 Campaigners rely on office politics to gain and retain power.

Managers focusing on office politics are typically far less interested in
profit, productivity or performance, choosing to focus their time and
attention on climbing the corporate ladder. These managers seek to
retain subordinates who further their political goals.
 4. Administrative management styles
These managers are high in conscientiousness, particularly the subset
of orderliness. They’re focused on the way things should be above all
else, choosing to focus on rules and process over preference and
intuition.

 Process-driven managers follow a predetermined process, choosing

to enforce each step of the process to maximize results. These
managers are typically interested in optimizing the process and less
interested in their subordinates or their ideas.

 Rule-driven managers follow the rules explicitly. They rigidly conform

to any predetermined rule, even in situations where a predefined rule
doesn’t make sense.

5. Democratic management styles

These managers are high in openness, have a great degree of
intellectual curiosity, preferring a diversity of ideas. They’re
imaginative, open to the feedback and ideas from their team. They’re
more than willing to experiment, preferring to try something new to
achieve results.

 Participatory managers do their best to gain input and feedback from

their coworkers and subordinates. These managers are more
influential because they give their coworkers the chance to buy in to
their ideas and have their say.

 Consensus managers, like their participative counterparts, prefer the

decision by committee approach. Group think and codependent
decision-making can be problematic for this management style.

6. Laissez-faire management styles

 These managers are high in agreeableness, with a high degree of
trust in others. Easy for them to trust their team and their
subordinates, relying on them to perform at a high level without
consistent involvement.

 Cowboys like the Results-Only-Work-Environment (ROWE)

movement, focus exclusively on results. They inspire, motivate and
support their team but prefer a hands-off approach. This approach is
popular in sales and marketing departments.

 Seagulls are managers who are completely hands-off choosing only

to get involved when something goes wrong.

 Trust but verify. These managers trust their team to self direct,
checking in periodically to verify results, provide helpful direction and
offer constructive feedback.

7. Cultural management
Culture and social conditioning play a powerful role in management.
Often times these roles will supersede personality and preferences of
an individual manager.
Here’s a notable example.

 Paternalistic management styles, particularly with organizations in

East Asian countries, have a low power distance culture. These
organizations require that subordinates accept and expect power to be
distributed unequally (and unfairly). Subordinates in these
organizations are expected to conform to cultural norms and an
established hierarchy. Employees are expected to accept their place
in the hierarchy.

This is a lot to take in, isn’t it? What about your employees? Which
management style will work best for them?
1. Achieving a Stretch Goal
The organization you’re managing is responsible for something — whether it’s
performing a business process, supporting some other organization, developing a new
product, or getting new customers. There are goals associated with your objectives, and
if your organization is aggressive then those goals require more than the typical amount
of effort. It’s going to take some careful planning for you to figure out how to apply your
organization’s people and resources to achieve an aggressive goal. You’re going to have
to motivate people, remove roadblocks from their path, and focus them on the things
that are most important. It’s a stretch goal, but you can achieve it — maybe even surpass
it.
2. Bringing Out the Best in Your Employees
All employees have good days and bad days. Some of the causes are out of your control.
But it’s important that you take steps to make as many days as possible “good
days.” Here are some of the things that you can do:
 Treat every employee with respect. If you have praise for the employee, give the praise in
front of coworkers. If you have criticism for the employee, give it in private. For all but the
worst underperforming employees, make sure that the praise happens much more often
than the criticism.
 Help employees align their personal goals with their work goals. Talk with each employee
about his or her personal goals: what they want to get out of life, where they want their
 career to go. To the extent possible, use this information to help you allocate work
assignments.
 Provide a work environment that is appropriate for the work and conducive to employee
well-being. A comfortable work environment makes your employees more productive.
 Encourage employee communication and cooperation. For example, in one of my
management jobs, I held a monthly lunch for my employees. During the lunch I updated
them on any company news I’d heard, and I had some of the employees describe their recent
work and some of their challenges. We also had a series of awards.
But these were not your typical awards. Each award was given by the previous award
recipient to someone who exemplified the spirit of the particular award. There was a
“Gumby” award (a Gumby character) given to the most flexible employee, and other awards
for things like putting the team ahead of yourself, most creative outside-the-box idea, and
unluckiest employee. Employees sometimes even created their own one-time awards when
something special or unusual happened. Over time the number of awards grew, and the
interchange of enthusiasm and ideas made the organization a happy and fun place to work.
3. Dealing with Underperforming Employees
Not all of your employees will do their best. Some will have personal issues that interfere
with their work. Technically it’s not your problem, but in reality any issue that
contributes to an underperforming employee is your problem. You’ll help employees
cope with personal issues, you’ll provide motivation and counsel, maybe steer them to
appropriate resources inside or outside your company. You’ll “carry” your
underperforming employees to a point, and then beyond that point you’ll have to ease
them out of your organization. You’ll be humane, but you have to balance the needs of
the organization with the needs of the employees.
4. Dealing with Outstanding Employees
Some of your employees obviously outperform the others. That’s good news for your
organization, but it presents its own set of challenges. Outstanding employees need
special treatment. You want them to keep doing an exceptional job but that usually
means that you’ll have to pay them special attention. They need recognition for their
talents and efforts. They need encouragement, training and guidance. And above all they
need to know that they have a career path in your company, even if that career path
takes them out of your organization.
You’ll be tempted to hold on to your outstanding employees and keep them from being
promoted out of your organization. You shouldn’t do that. When an employee star
outgrows your organization, the best thing for your company is to make sure that the
employee finds a home in another part of your company where he or she can continue to
contribute. And ultimately, you’ll be rewarded for your good deed of helping the
employee achieve his or her potential. Your reputation as a “team player” and good
manager will grow, and your own career will be enhanced.

5. Hiring the Right People

No matter how happy your employees are, you’ll get occasional turnover. And if your
organization is successful then you’ll often find that your budget and headcount will
grow as you are assigned more and more responsibility. Either way, you’ll need to hire.
Hiring is easy, but hiring the right person is extremely difficult.
The trick in hiring is to get an understanding of how an employee will actually perform
the work — not just how the employee does in interviews. Interviews are seldom a good
predictor of work and work habits, so going beyond the interview is crucial.
I’ve sometimes used unconventional interviewing techniques. I’ve done the traditional
interview, but then I’ve tried some things that gave me a better feel for how the
interviewee will perform in an actual work situation. For example, for some
programmer positions, I had the prospective employee spend some time with his/her
future coworkers, going through a task that the current employee was doing. Getting
feedback from the current employee (who had a vested interest in finding someone who
would carry a part of the workload) made a big difference in our choice for some
potential new hires. And the process also increased our acceptance rate for job offers,
since the job applicants had a better feel for the environment into which they were being
hired.

6. Responding to a Crisis
No matter how much planning you do, things will go wrong. An employee will get sick at
a critical time. A weather disaster will hit your facility and disrupt your plans. A crime
will be committed — maybe a theft or even something that harms an employee.
Planning is a part of managing, but perhaps more important is a manager’s ability to
change plans on the fly in response to changing conditions. When a crisis hits, you have
to be able to deal with it — calmly, quietly and without being overwhelmed by stress.

7. Continuous Improvement
No matter how good your organization gets, it can do better. There’s always some type
of improvement that can be made: a change in a process, a better working environment,
better employee motivation, more focus on the essentials. If you ever get to the point
where you honestly have no idea how to improve things further, then you should either
(a) seek outside advice, or (b) look for another job. There’s always a better way, and you
have to keep looking for it.
Conclusion
Management is complicated. It requires skill and motivation. But most of all it requires
commitment — the commitment needed to rise to these seven challenges.
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