Management Control

Goal – Setting

With new employees or for new projects or updates, it is important to schedule personal interviews to make sure each employee understands and to help them set and achieve realistic goals. Let them be a part of the decision process. It is good to let them know what is expected of them, but allow them a stake in the decisions about goals.

Delegation

When delegating projects and responsibilities to others, it is important to follow-up. You trust these individuals to do a good job, but it is also good to have scheduled briefings to make sure everything is working well. This is also a great time for more brain-storming and help when needed. It is important not to make this process intimidating, like you are looking over their shoulder – instead keep it informal. You may have contacts or resources that could help their plan run even smoother.

Follow up

And keep in touch with your staff

• Let them know you are human and work as hard as they do and even that you make mistakes sometimes.

• To gain first hand knowledge – if there is a problem or hardship, instead of hearing through other managers or complaints, you can see what is going on with staff directly.

• Keep the staff motivated. If you have a personal relationship with them and help them reach their goals, their personal investment will be more motivated.

• Use displays, illustrations and workbooks to remind them and motivate them. Make them exciting – not like a doctors office – and make a place available for their ideas and comments – get some of the staff involved with the decisions and implementation.

To implement this follow up process, I recommend goal review and interviews. The idea of a (once a year) employment review can be scary – it feels like judgment day. Instead try to schedule more frequent, less formal goal achievement reviews or informal interviews just to keep in touch. If your staff is so large that it is impossible to meet with everyone individually, make sure management of the departments are using similar techniques and letting you know when there are any problems. And you can implement this technique with the department heads.

In-Service Programs

In service programs or informal meetings are a great way to follow up with groups. Make them informal and fun as well as informative and motivating. Workshops can serve as a great way to educate and inspire staff members, as well as develop a personal relationship with them.

For ideas and information about how and why to hold an in-service program, please check my In-Service Booklet:

www.yodastrology.com/ED/inservice.html

Follow up an In-Service

It’s a good idea to follow up after an in-service or meeting. Asking individuals, surveys and idea drop boxes are good ways to follow up after a meeting - find out what the people thought about the meeting:

o Did they learn all they should ?
o Did they enjoy the meeting ?
o What was their favorite part ?
o What can we do next time to make it even better?

It’s also good to follow up with information and fun - create a display on a bulletin board or in a place the staff can easily see and be reminded. Don’t make it boring – make it colorful and exciting, but still informative. Leave a place for their comments or ideas.