You asked, Ken answers ...This item is filed under these categories:
Policies and Procedures Listening Responsiveness Know It All's
|  | Our manager reads a great deal about management and knows a lot about it, but he applies none of it. He is inaccessible, over-controlling, and a poor listener, and he often ignores company procedures. How can we get him to use more of what he knows? |
|  | A person can know all about surgery, but that does not make him or her a surgeon. By the same token, having a broad range of knowledge about management does not make a person a manager. There can be any number of reasons for your manager's failure to apply his managerial knowledge to the job. For example, management theory calls for managers to have a stronger backup style for more pressing situations, and your manager may believe that the current work situation calls for a more rigid style. Management theory also calls for managers to understand their employees as individuals and tailor their managerial style to their employees' needs, and perhaps your manager thinks that his current approach is the best fit for you and your associates. Or, perhaps he somehow believes that he is accessible, communicative, and responsive. If he is truly a student of management, he knows the importance of treating employees with respect and trust. That being the case, you and some of your associates should have no problem meeting with him to discuss ways that all of you can work more productively together. His reaction and response will tell you if he is truly knowledgeable about the field of management, or if he is simply one for the books. |
|
