“Management Is What Happens When We Are Not There”.

In businesses or organizations, people are employed and tasked certain functions. Everyone joined is supposed to make his own contribution to the business or organization he is entitled to. Different functions of businesses/organizations are also supposed to be managed with people having different levels of technical and functional expertise with a certain level of guidance and direction of the people on top.

Major decisions and responsibilities are shared in the different hierarchies of an ideal business set up. The people on top will narrow the skill gap on bottom down with proper coaching and training and encouraged the people at the bottom to come to a point where they are able to decide by their own. This will help the top management have a great deal of time and space to think and lead the business forward.

Recently, I was surprised reading an article stating that it is the second level managers who propose and articulate the agendas for discussions, not the managers nor the high level managers and CEO’s. Even after the discussion, the role of the managers is giving assistance in case required.

At times however; mostly in the developing world, no decisions are made without the involvement and consent of the top management, even for the less impactful ones, let alone allowing proposition of meetings and articulation of agendas. This will leave the top management with a burden of responsibilities and tasks and at the same time discourages the ability of decision making of the people on the lower branches. Worse to that, they may even become puppets than being business leaders. Two medium heads are sometimes better than one big and gets even better when the number triples, quadruples, and so on.

For instance, in my home country, big projects are being undertaken with multinational and big international contractors most of which on a turnkey basis. Parallel to the projects, large-scale investment on developing the leadership both on corporate and functional levels needs to be done. On job learning and coaching is also basic to achieve the intended outcome of the projects’ objectives’ before hand over is made and operation is started. Otherwise, inefficiency and ineffectiveness will prevail.

If youngsters are given the chance and made to learn to decide on their own and promoted to medium levels and then to higher positions based on merit of the science, I believe, will catalyze the system and a miracle is for sure so soon. If not, it is not fair to expect the better.

Thanks for dropping by,