Video Transcript: Introductions to Management

Hello, welcome to Business Management for every enterprise. My name is  Michael Greene. I'll be your professor for this course. The first unit that we're  going to discuss is introduction to management. Management is a critical  component to any organization. Management determines how the process is  run, how staffing is undertaken, and how do we project out and also get those  goals maintained. I have been in management for a long time. I first started out  after undergrad in the healthcare field, where labor is very intensive, healthcare  is very people driven, so the management of those people and those human  resources are very critical to the operation in healthcare. So I spent a lot of time  personally developing plans, implementing those plans, and watching those  plans come into fruition, executing those goals that we set out to accomplish,  and in the meantime, making sure that our people and our staff and the people  involved in our organization were set up with the best possible environment  succeeding so That is the most important part of management, in my opinion, is  allowing people to shine and do well through support from their management,  whether it's frontline staff, account managers, district managers, regional  managers, they all need support and in that is the management of resources  and being efficient and effective in your operations. So I'd like to dive into the  unit one introduction to management, and we can discuss and go through  accordingly. So we want to discuss, why are managers important? Managers  identify critical issues and form responses. That is one of the most critical  pieces. To being a manager, you need to be ahead of the ahead of the ball,  focused on what are our threats to not being able to function properly as an  organization, the critical issues that come up, we need to have a game plan on  how we're going to mitigate those critical issues and deter them and continue to  function as an operation as critical, as effective and efficient as we possibly can  Next, create and coordinate systems to accomplish those tasks. Now this is  going to go into the planning phase of management, where we understand what  the risks are in our particular industry, and then we're going to develop systems  to make sure that we one, mitigate those risks, and two, put our people and our  resources in the best position to accomplish the tasks and the organizational  goals that are set forth by upper management, the manager, employee  relationship drives loyalty. Now I know this first hand, because when I was a  manager, especially an account manager, young in my days as a manager, I  wanted to make sure that I was with my front line staff hands on, helping them  accomplish those goals, by being there to support them on the ground and  letting them know that, hey, anything that you do, I'm going to do it with you so  that you know that I've got your back right? So we want to make sure that we  this manager employee relationship, that it does drive loyalty, because loyalty  matters. So an organization, people inside an organization, they want to make  sure they want to feel appreciated. They want to feel like they are recognized for have for doing a good job. So we want to make sure that we continue to drive 

the loyalty piece in our relationships with our employees, because as we  continue to show them that we support them and that we've got their back, that  they will continue to go above and beyond in their performance, helping us  ultimately achieve our organizational goals, managers affect financial  performance. So us as managers, we need to be very efficient with our  resources. How do we allocate those man hours, materials, right different costs  that we need to make sure that we spread them out effectively, and that we are  using those resources to make sure that we are efficiently running our  operations and that we are mitigating the risk of any kind of threat that can come in from and deter us from meeting our goals. Who are managers and where do  they work? So managers. Coordinate and oversee work of other people. So  everybody needs in a corporate structure and organizational structure, they  need to have somebody that oversees, not necessarily to micromanage them,  right to but to make sure that the tasks and the goals are objectified and able to  be accomplished easily, right or systematically. So managers coordinate and  they oversee the work of the people, right? So they're going to give you a  systematic list. Maybe this is we do A, B, C, D, E, to get to goal, G, right? So we  got to make sure that we are overseeing that work effectively and efficiently, and that we are making sure that we are maximizing the value of our resources.  Line/ middle/ senior management, typically in an organization, there's a  hierarchy of management that flows from the top down, so senior management,  they have the ultimate goal and idea of how do they want to move the company  long term? So then they kind of feed that down to the middle management, who  then implements those plans to the front line staff, and then the middle  management oversees those detailed fundamental steps that the senior  management wants to have completed. So then the middle managers  implement those then they oversee the operation of the line managers who  manages the front line staff. So we've got to make sure that the flows are being  articulated well from top to bottom, so that on the ground level that the front line  staff is executing the operations efficiently. Managers work in organizations.  Managers develop the purpose. What is the purpose of our work? What are we  doing? What are we trying to define? What are we trying to accomplish? How  quickly can we get this done? Investing in people. People are our number one  resources. We have got to treat them with the dignity and respect that they  deserve, while giving them the support that they need to excel. Structure. We  spoke a little bit previously about the structure of management from the top  down hierarchy that will stay consistent in generally any organization that you  enter. Functions of management, the planning function is where we determine  and establish the strategies on how we're going to implement effectively the  operations to achieve our goals. And the planning stage is where we develop all  of the processes of all of the implementation of the organization, organizing,  what, how, who activities? What do they do? How do they do it? And who does 

them? This comes into a critical piece of allocating resources correctly, knowing  each individual employee's strengths and weaknesses, and then putting them in  place to be able to effectively and efficiently perform the tasks that they are  delegated. So organizing is a critical step, because you want to make sure that  you organize well, that you plan well, so that whenever it comes time to put  those plans and the organized and the organizing of those plans into action,  then we'll be able to be more efficient, more effective, have better output with  better cost controls, more efficiency, more communication, and then a better  overall product for the consumer. Controlling. Now, as a manager, this is one of  your biggest steps. Yes, planning, organizing, leading definitely are huge. But  then once we get these put in place, the controlling mechanism is where the  manager really has to be effective. They have to be able to monitor, evaluate  and then correct anything that's wrong. So managers need to do a good job of  keeping the line of communication open, especially if you're a middle manager  and you're overseeing the entire operation, you want to make sure that your line  of communication with the lower level or the front line management staff can  make sure that the communication window is open with them so they can  communicate problems to you effectively, and that you can help them determine  solutions that's best for the organization overall, so that we can continue To  maximize our output. Now roles of a manager, interpersonal, the figurehead and the leader. So you as a manager, are the figurehead and leader of your  organization. You're the one that is a spokesperson. You're the one that people  are going to come to when there's a problem, when there's an issue, somebody  needs to step up and take control of the situation. You're the leader. You need to make sure that you have control of the situation through the resources that you  have, and also open communication in developing that loyalty with your staff.  That way you can be an effective leader, and people will respond when there is  an issue or a problem to your leadership. So you've got to earn that sweat equity with your staff to know that you are going to be supported by them because you  supported them first. Informational, collect and share information. This is great.  This is great, right? So you want to make sure that the manager collects the  data. They know you know profit and loss statements, right? We all know that,  and we can talk to our managers about that. But also we want to know how, on  a micro level, how are each phase of the organization on a lower level, on a  ground level, how are they performing? We need to measure those metrics. We  need to be able to compare those metrics, month over month, year over year,  and then be able to turn that data into information that your employees can  consume, and if they can change their strategy to help with the shortfall in  operations or or help with efficiency or get better overall, if there's a problem,  correct it early before the problem gets out of control. So having the information, collecting it and then sharing it. Funnel it back down to your frontline staff is  critical now also the upper management staff. They senior management, they 

have a responsibility with shareholders. So as they collect and share  information, shareholders of an organization, they want to have their equity  maximized. So through this collecting and sharing information at the top,  funneling it down, maximizing those, maximizing the operation, then we'll be  able to maximize the shareholder equity through these steps, decisional. You  are a decision maker. You can't be hesitant to make a decision, but we have to  be thoughtful in our decision making, right? We don't want to be reactionary to a  problem. We want to be proactive to a problem, so that we aren't faced with a  huge dilemma when a problem arises that we already have a plan in place and  we can correctly, we can get it corrected quickly and not worry about, do we  have a plan or not? The plan is already in place. We can correct it quickly. Then  we'll get the ship righted and will continue with maximum efficiency. So as a  manager, we need to be an entrepreneur. We need to make sure that we are  taking ownership of what we do. We may not actually own the organization, but  we need to take control of that organization or the piece that we manage and  make it ours, so that we are personally invested, that we have a piece of  ourselves in the game and that we are committed to making it work and to be as effective as possible. A problem solver. You need to be able to be a quick  thinker. You need to be able to understand when problems arise, how to fix  them. Resource allocator, as we continue to move forward in operations,  efficiency, resource allocation is critical to making sure that we are being  efficient with our costs, maximizing profits and being smart with how we're  spending our money as a manager. negotiator. We are always in a negotiation,  not only with our customers, but also with our employees, our managers that are under us. We will always be in negotiation with them, because we want to make  sure that everything is fair for them, right? But we're getting what we want with  maximum efficiency and output, but then they're also getting valued and  recognized and compensated in the fact that they are feeling that they have a  personal stock into the organization and what they're doing. So that's a  negotiation with your employees, negotiation with your customers, you need to  make sure that they are getting the highest quality product that they can right at  the reasonable price, and through this negotiation, both parties can work out an  agreement. Now managers need to be technically sound and the operation or  the industry that they are performing in job specific knowledge and techniques. A middle manager needs to understand these specific knowledge and techniques  so that they can teach the line manager how they can more effectively operate  and. Then the line staff or the line manager can go back and tell the line staff,  this is how we do it more effectively, and then that way we're more efficient with  our time. Line managers are the same way. They need to make sure that they  are fundamentally sound, technically skilled, so they can make sure that they  are effective leaders as well. Now just being a being a natural human right,  having apathy and and being understanding of your employees that is so critical,

and being a strong manager, because you have to be able to relate well with  people. You have to be able to talk to them and communicate with them  effectively, let them know that they're heard, let them know that they're  understood. So the ability to work well with others and maintain a positive open  communication and relationship is critical with being a successful manager,  particularly in the middle manager role, because you are dealing with customers front and center, you're also dealing with line managers and line staff, so your  communication skills has got to be very strong. You've got to be able to be a  problem solver, and you've got to have interpersonal skills to where you can  relate to people on a personal level. Conceptually, we need to understand those  complex situations so that we can be prepared to implement plans, to change a  course of action to derive a new strategy, and then also with senior  management, they need to have the goal and the focus and the vision to  continue driving the company forward so that they'll be profitable and positioned  well moving forward in the future. Now, efficiency. You've heard me talk about  efficiency and effectiveness over and over in this video, efficiency and  effectiveness. So efficiency, you would think, okay, efficiency and effectiveness.  Efficiency and effectiveness go hand in hand. Yes, that's true, right? But they  don't mean the same thing. Efficiency is the maximization of output from the  minimum inputs. So we want to do more with less. Every manager is faced with  the same situation, do more with less. Do more with less. Squeeze out better  efficiency. Get more efficient. Get more efficient. That we can do that as  managers, as technology innovates and gets better, we're able to become more  efficient, more efficient. We also need to be looking for ways to fine tune our  operation so that we can continue to maximize efficiency with what we already  have. So utilizing our resources, optimizing them, and then making them more  efficient over time, as we create better, standardized practices, effectiveness  successfully achieving achieving organizational goals. So we want to be  effective through our efficiency. So efficiency and effectiveness do go hand in  hand. We are going the more efficient we are, the more effective our operation is going to be so we need to strive for efficiency, but at the same at the same time,  the more efficiency that we generate, the more effective our organization and  our management styles will become. This is all for video. Lesson one, I will look  forward to seeing you in the next video.