Effective Business Management Means Giving Instructions, Not Orders

Managers who order their employees around reveal a core insecurity. They fear that they won’t be respected if they empower others or even that they will be unable to achieve their goals without utilizing maximum force. The truth is that any business is a cooperative effort, no matter what the management structure, no matter what the product or service being sold. Managers guide the actions of others, but they must also empower others as they do so.

Managers who give orders state, “Have it on my desk tomorrow morning,” or “Schedule Jim for the first shift.” They tell others what to do in no uncertain terms, leaving no room for argument. Many consider this forthright and productive and with certain employees, it could be, but there is a better way. Managers who give instructions offer their goals and enable others to decide how to achieve them. They say,

• “I’d like to see productivity on this line improve by ten units per hour. Do whatever you have to do.”
• “I’d like a recommendation on how to improve sales in this department.”
• “Please review customer satisfaction reports and get back to me with your analysis.”

Good managers tell others what needs to be accomplished, but empower them to contribute to the creative problem solving. This often means more work for the employee, but it also means more job satisfaction. These employees don’t feel like cogs in someone else’s machine, they feel like important parts of the company. They are, in fact, important, because their wise managers know that “two heads are better than one” when it comes to problem solving. Good managers give instructions, not orders—this is one of the essential (but little known) truths of business today.

Additional Business Training.com Resources

Tags: effective business management, effective business management for you, effective business management today, find effective business management, get effective business management, list effective business management, what is effective business management