The idea of passive management is giving your employees the opportunity to do their job by setting goals. Giving your employees the opportunity to manage themselves not only increases productivity but boosts moral. So how can you make the transition from a firm semi-micromanaged style to a more passive approach?
As a manager you start each week or day with a list of tasks that need to be completed, have you made your staff aware of what lies ahead. Try starting each day by holding a meeting with your employees. Use this time to set a list of goals for the current day and the week ahead. Brief them on your vision for the end result but allow them the freedom to develop their own strategy for achieving that result. Encourage creativity and out of the box thinking when it comes to accomplishing the tasks. Clearly explain what the deadlines are and how the completion of one task may be related to the next. Develop reporting procedures so that you as a manager are informed of progress on a regular basis.
How this might work for your “team”. If you manage a relatively small group of people you may want to include all of them in your morning brief, however if your group is quite a bit larger and you have appointed supervisory roles beneath you then utilize them. Brief your supervisors who will in turn brief their teams. It seems like your morning might be taking up by quite a few meetings but once the process has been streamlined you will find that employees being fully aware of what is expected will become much more productive in their work day.
On a side note, it is very important that you understand the personalities and chemistry of your team. Choose a team leader that encourages full participation and understands that it is not their job to tell people what to do but to create an environment in which everyone is working together to achieve a common goal. A team leader needs to have the respect of their team. Be aware of troublesome personality conflicts. To many chiefs can be detrimental to this style of management. Understand your employees strong suits and try to group them so that the end result is a well rounded community.
Ok so your objectives have been expressed and it is now time to allow your team and supervisors to do their job. In order for this to work it is important you learn to keep a balance between micro-managing and totally unaware. Do not be afraid to stay involved, check in let them know that you are active in the process of management but that the days of consistently peering over their shoulders are in the past.
When to step in. There are several situations in which it becomes necessary to step in and take the reigns.
- When a team is just not meshing. Team A seems to be unable to agree on anything and has come to a standstill on a particular project. This may be handled by simply gathering the team and discussing how you envision them working together and what is expected or you may need to restructure your teams entirely. It is best handled on a case by case basis.
- Projects are not being completed on time. The goals are not being met in a timely manner. This can happen for a variety of reasons. Team chemistry and conflict. Perhaps you need to reevaluate your choice of team leader. Worst case, perhaps you need to re-evaluate your staff.
Near the end of each work day allow a few minutes to once again meet with your team or your supervisors and evaluate progress. go over what goals have been met and what goals have fallen behind. Keeping a firm handle on progress allows you as a manger to develop the following days strategy.
Rewarding your employees. Showing your employees that you appreciate what they are doing can do amazing things for overall moral. Bottom line is people like to feel like their hard work is being notice; that their work actually matters. I am talking about simple non-monetary rewards like allowing them some extra time for lunch to relax and revive. Letting them get out of the office a bit early and enjoy the beautiful day they have been starring at through the glass for the last seven hours. TELL them they are doing a good job and actually mean it. Hey take it a step further and take them out to lunch on you. Point is, if your employees are ahead of schedule, things are getting done and they are working towards a common goal show them that you appreciate it.
Gain their respect. All of the above will help you to start gaining the respect of your employees. Once they start respecting you for the right reasons, they will start to work harder for you.
The end result. You will start to realize a more organized, productive and satisfied work force. Don’t be surprised in people in the neighboring department start asking to be transferred.
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