02 Managing Managers. 43pp.pdf

Maya Richmond, Executive Director, Animal Welfare Association

Jennifer Adams, Director – HR, Connecticut Humane Society

Dictionary Definition

Focus on Big Picture – mission, vision, innovation

Focus on creating long-term, strategic plans

Advancing the organization not necessarily the people

“Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science

of management says is possible.” – General Colin Powell

Dictionary definition

Oversees the day to day, focuses on the bottom line

Essential middleperson

Fight the fires

Motivates and develops their people

“Managing is getting paid for home runs that someone else

hits.” – Casey Stengel

What is the difference?

Working Supervisor

o Does the same work as the employee

o Mostly focuses on completing assigned work

o Some employee oversight

People leave managers not companies

Managers are your front line problem solvers

Good managers are hard to come by

How does workflow impact operations?

o Any inconsistencies?

o Limited resources?

o Under time constraints?

Dog and owner show up or do they call first?

Intake counseling or waiting list?

Documentation.

Behavior process (SAFER or other)?

Medical exam?

Space available?

Additional medical care?

Spay/Neuter?

Up for adoption?

Open, closed, private, municipal, etc.

What area of work exist?

Intake/Surrender

Adoption Counseling

ACO

Foster care

Vet & Medical Staff

Behavior staff

Accountant/Business Services

Transport staff

Facilities

Volunteer Coordinator

Spay/Neuter & Clinic

Receptionist/Scheduler

Data entry

Development Staff

Event Planners

Marketing/Media

Website

Humane Education Coordinators

Pet Therapy Coordinators

Human Resources

An organizational chart outlines reporting structures which should help streamline work. What is it about animal welfare that makes this untrue?

Work is not always easily departmentalized.

Resources are lean.

Demands are never ending.

Expectations aren’t always known.

People have personalities.

Conflicts arise.

High degree of interdependence.

Nothing comes in a neat tidy packages.

The intensity of interactions within an organization impact the performance of others.

There are 3 types

Pooled – Each area has completely separate functions, maybe be blind to how they depend on each other. o Example: financial controls, fee changes, etc.

Sequential – One department does something needed for the performance of then next. o Example: Processing a pet’s intake before adoption.

Reciprocal –Similar to sequential in that what one department does leads to the start of another’s work process but it is cyclical and many departments are in this cycle at all times. In this model a change in how one area operates can alter the workflow of many departments.

o Example: You change the time your medical staff arrive and don’t let

the surgery, adoption, care or other staff know.

For a manager, understanding interdependencies in their

area and among areas they interact with is critical.

o The level of interdependence is how departments should be shaped.

For example in pooled interdependency managers need

standardization in rules and operating procedures while in

the others there is the need for flexibility and constant

information sharing.

Managers must know the organization’s strategic vision.

Managers must know the organization’s long-range and

short-range goals.

Managers must put action plans together annual plans

based.

Managers must know their peer departments’ action plans.

The management team then must make things happen.

o Managers are the implementation specialists for the leadership.

Managers

Frontline Employees

Leadership

Managers

To achieve this your people must know where the boat is going, why

you are taking them there and what role they play on the boat.

Organizational alignment exists when the decisions

and actions of all organization members, from the

directors to the frontline staff, optimally support

achievement of the organization’s established goals

on a day-to-day, week-to-week, and year-to-year basis.

Such a focus eliminates the wasted time and energy

spent on non-value adding activities; activities that

do not directly serve the achievement of the

organization’s purpose for being.

Strategic planning:

o Aligns the staff under the leader.

o Everyone sees the ultimate direction.

All departments need to do annual plans:

o These take the large picture and puts the plan into the steps that

must happen to move the department (organization) forward.

o Then do action plans.

• Action plans put happen and when it must happen.

Keys to Success

Structure

Knowledge/Intuition

Employee Focus

Conduit for information sharing

Where are your managers

Push for change

Willing to deal with issues

Open to learning

Understanding of the business and the people

Fair and reasonable when dealing with people

Identify what you are looking for

o Technical skill sets

o Past experience

o Interpersonal skills

You can look at what talent you have inside the organization

o Review resumes for current employees

Setting Managers up for Success

Performance Assessment

FLSA/Wage and Hour Law

HR Hot Topics – FMLA, ADA, Sexual Harassment

Payroll and Time Card process and policy

OSHA/Workplace injuries

Understanding that employees are different

Step 1 - Coaching

Step 2 - Use of Performance Improvement Plans

Step 3 –Termination

Train Managers not to:

Be friends with their staff

Undermine the organization

Disregard employee issues

Micromanage

Information Sharing and Coaching

Public –

o Changes to policies/procedures

o Anything that affects the whole department

o Praise a job well done

Private

o Any and all performance feedback

o Information that relates to change for an employee or their work

Step one in a good management relationship

Simple

Give them as much information as often as possible

What do you share?

o Policy Changes

o New procedures

o Upcoming events

o Organizational changes

Coaching is…

"a process that enables learning and development to occur and thus performance

to improve. To be a successful a Coach requires a knowledge and understanding of

process as well as the variety of styles, skills and techniques that are appropriate to

the context in which the coaching takes place“ Eric Parsloe, The Manager as Coach

and Mentor (1999)

Manager Driven

Focuses on the employee becoming better

Fine tunes and develops skills

Define learning opportunities for them

Don’t solve their problems

Use of Feedback

"There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great

man is the man who makes every man feel great." --G.K. Chesterton

Qualification of the coach

Involvement of the coach

Clarity and goals

Autonomy of the coachee

What do your managers need to remember?

Change is a fact of life

Challenge the status quo – even the small stuff

Do regular reviews of processes and procedures

All management needs to be on the same page

Involve your “key” employees

Keep open lines of communication

Managers need to facilitate and enable change

Ask for input

Stay the course

People

o Explain how the change will effect them

o Give employees direction (lay out the plan)

o Create ownership

o Address employees who refuse to change

Past failed changes

Breakdown the silos – we are all dependent on each other

Emotion

Information sharing is key

Why Measuring is Important

Use results to manage the action, annual and strategic plans.

To be meaningful the goals you set must be:

Tangible and logical.

Anchored with realistic due dates.

Results oriented.

o Measurable

• Measurement, metric

• Baseline, trend

Monitoring outcomes and sharing them is basis of accountability!

Identify what to measure.

o What do you need to know and should track?

Adoptions, LOS, Donations, Clinic Usage, etc.

o Metrics can be done to track areas of interdependence.

What shows management overlap?

o Volunteer retention drops.

• How would you know?

• What could be some causes?

o Length of stay increases.

• Why?

• Medical issues, no adoption promotions, challenging intake mix?

o Workman’s Compensation claims increase?

• Which kinds?

• Can you do something about it and see if it makes a difference?

How does it work for us?

Set the Vision.

Discuss with the leadership.

Identify deficiencies and gaps.

Review last year’s goals and successes.

Ask:

o What do they need?

o How will they know it worked?

o When do they need to report back?

Communication to the staff.

o How it can work when you are very busy?

Communication across managers.

Remember to revisit the big picture, long-range goals to

bring about alignment.

Use information and doses of understood interdependence

to solve issues: