Learn to become a Small Business Master Manager By Eric Sutherland, Business Process Analyst Introduction ● The Director Role ● The Producer Role ● The Co-ordinator Role ● The Monitor Role ● The Mentor Role ● The Facilitator Role ● The Innovator Role ● The Broker Role ● Integration and the Road to Mastery Introduction: The book [1] is based on a “Competency Framework” with its evolution in Chapter 1 and with eight roles that a Manager should be doing day-to-day and these are explained in the following chapters. Each role is assigned three competencies and each of these taken through a five step process with Assessment, Learning, Analysis, Practice and Application. The Hard Part: Is honesty and self-analysis and ensuring that doing and action have the right portion with 35% each and 10% for the first three steps.
Roles and Competencies The Director Role: Taking Initiative, Goal Setting and Delegating Effectively. Taking Initiative – spotting an opportunity and selling it to the Client or Business Partner or Supplier. Goal Setting – agreeing with the Client, Business Partner and Supplier on who is doing what and agreeing on the form of measurement. Delegating Effectively – reaching agreement on the handover with the Client, Business Partner and Supplier. The Producer Role: Personal Productivity and Motivation, Motivating Others, Time and Stress Management. Personal Productivity and Motivation – do your own and the Clients tasks and obtaining motivation from the attraction of working and running your own business. Motivating Others – rests with agreeing tasks with Business Partners and Suppliers for the Clients benefit. Time and Stress Management – the number one competency being Time Management and Stress Management through regular exercise with walking and running.
The Co-ordinator Role: Planning, Organising and Controlling. Planning – together with Time Management helps to make decisions on what will be done first and by who and in agreement with related parties. Organising – with the Client defining what’s wanted, agreeing with Business Partners and Suppliers who does what. Controlling – output to Client and input from Business Partners and Suppliers. The Monitor Role: Reducing Information Overload, Analysing Information with Critical Thinking and Presenting Information by Writing Effectively. Reducing Information Overload – this requires control and focus to stay on track. Analysing Information with Critical Thinking – extracting what is needed to complete the task or project or to point out what is missing and therefore required. Presenting Information by Writing Effectively – uses the two steps above as inputs to produce the output for completing this competency.
The Mentor Role: Understanding Yourself and Others, Interpersonal Communications and Developing sub-ordinates. Understanding Yourself and Others – this might be the hardest and need a range of people to give you feedback, still interaction with others will help you understand Yourself and Others. Requires the direct approach and asking for feedback and giving it depends on the values of the relationship with the Client or Business Partners or Suppliers. Interpersonal Communications – with the Client or Business Partners or Suppliers helps maintain the relationships and keep communications channels open. Developing sub-ordinates – will be developing better relationships with sub-ordinates at the Client and/or Business Partners and/or Suppliers. The Facilitator Role: Team Building, Participative Decision Making and Conflict Management. Team Building – with the Client or Business Partners or Suppliers helps to improve the relationships and keep communication channels open. Participative Decision Making – in the one-person business this is the only way forward and helps you operate in the Virtual Team with the Client or Business Partners or Suppliers.
Conflict Management – another hard one, that requires thought and personal control to keep relationships running smoothly and prevent loosing work. The Innovator Role: Living with Change, Creative Thinking and Managing Change. Living with Change – this is driven by global changes in technology, economics and politics. Creative Thinking – is turning problems upside down and thinking outside the box to find solutions to the changes required. Managing Change – requires good Project Management [2] and working in partnership with the Client or Business Partners or Suppliers. The Broker Role: Building and Maintaining a Power Base, Negotiating Agreement and Commitment and Presenting Ideas with Effective Oral Presentations. Building and Maintaining a Power Base – produce a Power / Dependency analysis chart with the Owner/Manager in the middle and dependencies all around with the Client, Business Partners, Suppliers, National/Local Government and related business bodies (i.e. industry regulators). Then decide on the type of power being Personal Power, Expert Power, Opportunity Power and Information Power to be used to influence and improve your Power Base.
Negotiating Agreement and Commitment – use dependencies above to match the type of Project and its deliverables. Presenting Ideas with Effective Oral Presentations – this comes with practice and study of good presenters. Integration and the Road to Mastery: Learn about Yourself, Develop a Change Strategy and Implement the Change Strategy. Learn about Yourself – do a self-assessment against all the competencies, locate a university or local college course covering this subject and/or read books. Develop a Change Strategy – use a journal to track areas for improvement, identify role models to study and read their books. Implement the Change Strategy – use an Excel or other Spreadsheet to record the change and any observations. [1] http://www.amazon.co.uk/Becoming-Master-Manager-Competency-Framework/dp/047136178X For any questions e-mail Eric on biznetworker@gmail.com Or Skype Id: eric.sutherland1 for a chat