More and more managers are on the move. By the time they reach their late forties, general managers have assumed from three to nine managerial posts. All else being equal, a manager’s functional background, experience and special competencies will determine how that person takes charge, according to Dr. John J. Gabarro, professor of organizational behavior at the Harvard Business School, who carefully monitored the management experiences of 14 new executives over a three-year period.
Some managers make the transition in easy, sure strides; others falter and fail. Here are some touchstones for a safe voyage:
- Know your strengths and limitations. If you are moving into a new position within your company, one where your experience is clearly applicable, you are most likely to succeed. But if you are an outsider, or your experience is not directly related to the new post, then your taking charge is going to be much more difficult.
Gabarro challenges the myth of the jack-of-all trades supermanager who can jump into any troubled area and straighten it out overnight. New managers are not doomed, but they must recognize their knowledge gaps and compensate for them by doing extra research and by drawing on support and expertise from others.
- Know exactly what your new bosses expect of you. “Front-end work is essential,” cautions Gabarro. Anyone who takes on new responsibilities without a thorough understanding of what must be done is gliding on very thin ice. In every successful transition Gabarro examined, new managers made their mandates explicit: no gray areas, no assumptions, no mysteries.
Successful new managers never lose sight of their need for management support. Some differences with bosses are predictable, usually in matters of control and delegation, but new managers are advised to take the initiative in ironing away the wrinkles. Theyalso need to be careful about keeping their superiors informed, especially of changes, in the early stages of their tenure.
- Monitor your working relationships. Three of the four managers who failed in Gabarro’s study had poor rapport with key subordinates; all were unable to communicate effectively with their bosses. Rivalry, disagreement about performance goals, conflicts in managerial style—many things can break down the relationship. A common explanation is that new managers fail to spell out their expectations to subordinates. Let your people know what you have in mind.
General Electric tries to ease the taking-charge process by running assimilation meetings where new managers and their key subordinates talk about expectations and problems early on.
- Be patient. You are going to be walking the newcomer’s tightrope for longer than you probably anticipated. Gabarro’s executives moved through five carefully defined stages—taking hold, immersion, reshaping, consolidation and refinement. Each lasted up to six months, so the proof of their tenure took two years or more. Most of the new managers did not make any significant personnel, marketing or organizational moves until they had been in their jobs for a year. They spent their apprenticeships learning about the product, the people and the problems while making an effort to keep the business running at the same time.
Observation: Not unexpectedly, Gabarro highlights the importance of experience (”When a New Manager Takes Charge,” Harvard Business Review, May-June 1985). He acknowledges, however, that managers without optimal experience will always be moved into new jobs. The taking-charge process may be more difficult for them, but this very experience is essential to advancement into the upper levels of management.
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Making the Grade in a New Position
- Making the Plan: What's Realistic?
- The Right Message
- The Customized Business Plan
- How Will You Motivate Your Sellers?
- Targeting Your Audience
- Job Interviews and Offers
- A Colleague Seeks Advancement at Your Expense
- Create Heroes in Every Role: How to Solve the Shortage of Respect continue...
- Take and Keep the Lead (Continue..)
- A major Industrial and Economic problem: Absenteeism & Boredom
Posted by: arlene
Categories:
