THE EXECUTIVE ISSUE #32 April 2008

Implementing
Strategy

Management: Total Management Skills

 Management: Total Management Skills

Contents

Building your management credentials 2

There's a shortage of good managers 3

How to develop your 'Total Manager' Skills 4

Where do I begin? 5

Management workshops with cultural diversity 6

Management skills: a quick assessment 7-8

Telephone +32 2 543 21 20

Fax +32 2 543 24 00
E-mail info@mce.be
Website www.mce-ama.com
Rue de l’Aqueduc 118, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)
‘Learning by doing’
... really building your management credentials?

Inevitably, you are developing some of your management skills on

a learning-by-doing basis. And that’s good. With many things in
life, reading up on the rules will get you just so far. Your practical
development comes through intensive engagement in the activity
itself. Consider card games or a board game like Monopoly® and
think back to when you started. You may have begun with a quick
look at the rules but someone, a trusted friend or family member
perhaps, will have said something like, “... let’s play and I’ll show
you more as we go along”. Your real learning then came from play-
ing the game: making mistakes and learning from them, getting
advice from others and steadily improving your skills as you played
along. The reality is that this opportunity doesn’t often present
itself in real life. You don’t always find the wise counsel you need to
advise you, and let’s face it, in business, you cannot afford to make
mistakes – at least not too many!

Back in the real world

The world of business is not a
game and it’s infinitely more
complex than Monopoly. The
rules change from day-to-day
and new players enter without
necessarily announcing them-
selves. But added to that, it is
increasingly your ability to
master the ‘softer’ side of man-
agement that is going to make
the difference in your future
ability to be successful and to
get things done. Applying
enhanced networking and peo-
ple skills for example plays a
key role in what makes busi-
nesses more efficient today.
These skills also make your
own internal and external
business relationships more
effective. After all if you can get
people across the organization
to genuinely want to help you,
you will be much further ahead
in your ability to meet your
company’s goals and timing
plans.

Widen your Management Skills portfolio

Succeeding in today’s complex busi-
ness world necessitates building a
widened and changed portfolio of
management skills. Whereas, gener-
al business understanding and func-
tional expertise used to get you a
long way, now it is learning who to
influence, how to work better
together and how to manage stress
that can be just as important. On the
subject of Management,
Management Centre Europe (MCE)
has put together two sets of develop-
ment activities. Each set of pro-
grammes contains the knowledge
MONOPOLY® is a trademark of Hasbro, inc., for its real estate trading game and game equipment.
and skills you need to perform at a
high level and the interpersonal
skill-sets that can make that all
important difference to your career
path.
• Business Skills for Managers
without a Formal Business
Background. Learning the lan-
guage of business.
See www.mce-ama.com
• Total Management Skills
Identifying your management skill
gaps and personalize your develop-
ment needs. See page 4.
Featured Workshop
MCE’s workshop, 'Managing
and Leading People in an
International Environment' is for
new and middle managers dealing
with the complexities of communi-
cating, motivating and building a
high performance team in interna-
tional situations.
See www.mce-ama.com/176

2
 Management: Total Management Skills

Executive summary

There’s a Shortage
of Good Managers

… On the one hand, it’s never been more challenging

to learn the skills of management...
Do you have the
Right People? Clear lines of authority have all but
disappeared. We live in a matrix world
and you probably have more than two
18% bosses, one a functional head and the
other your local country manager. You
46% cannot hire directly because of the
mix of stakeholders, you have priori-
ties which conflict and timing plans
36% which cross over and stretch your
agenda to the limit. Added to that, the
social skills you needed used to be
Yes No Don’t Know limited to keeping the boss happy,
and information was handed out on a
‘need to know’ basis. Now you are
“Does your organization faced with complex interactions and
currently have the right information overload. What’s a man-
ager to do?
people in place to lead the
changes necessary to meet ... On the other hand, nearly half the
the challenges you face?” business executives interviewed by
Source: McKinsey Report, The organizational
challenges of global trends. Published:
December 2007
McKinsey admitted that they don’t
have the right management talent
on-board to meet the challenges they
currently face.
A total of 1,317 executives, 80% from
senior positions, admitted that they
are short of well trained managers
who are able to cope with the
demands of their businesses today
and in the future. No single organiza-
tional issue jumps out in the survey
but the broad challenge of moving
quickly and dealing with regional and
geographic diversity clearly preoccu-
pies many of the executives surveyed.
And 47% of those surveyed agree that
the number one global trend affecting
their company is the competition for
talent.

3 For more information and registration, please visit www.mce-ama.com

 Management: Total Management Xxxxx
Skills

How to develop your ‘Total Manager’ skills

Why Operational, Networking and People Skills are so important

There was a time when your func-

tional expertise was the major pre-
requisite when beginning a successful
management career. Your ability to get
results – your Operational Skills – came
next. It didn’t matter too much how
you achieved them as long as targets
were met or exceeded. Pretty much
everything else came under the head-
ing of ‘acquired experience’ which you
picked up, for better or worse, on the
job. With a deft hand and a little luck
(we all need that), you would gain
recognition for your work and over
time, be sought out for further promo-
tion in your company.

Dealing with Complexity

But now, there is just too much getting
in your way! Direct reporting lines have
faded away to be replaced by complex
matrix organizations where the balance
of power and authority is not always
clear. Manufacturing has been out-
sourced as have other activities, so
you’re surrounded by people working
‘on the same team’ who aren’t necessar-
ily ‘real’ employees. An increasing
amount of project work lands up on
your plate, which affects your ability to
follow through on important routine
procedures. And of course, people don’t
have assistants any more so there’s
more administration and then… there’s
E-mail! Piles of useless information, but
you still have to search through all the
mails to find the nuggets of informa-
tion that you do need.
It’s not what you do, it’s the way
that you do it
In companies today, you will not just be
judged on the results you achieve but
on how you get them. Management
basics such as the ability to set clear
priorities for your people and good time
management skills are still vital. But to
fully contribute to the business and to
succeed personally in this fast moving
world, your ability to influence others -
your Networking Skills - especially
those outside your management team,
may well be of more importance to you.
Then developing your People Skills is a In Search of the
necessary accomplishment, in particu- Total Manager
lar your ability to take even the least
experienced members of your team There are not many ‘Total Managers’
from being ‘told what to do’ to carrying out there. Most managers have a
out their responsibilities without your clear leaning towards their original
frequent intervention. major area of competence, but don’t
Only with this combination of let that stop you. To succeed in
Operational, Networking and People today’s multicultural society with an
skills are you fully equipped for per- increasing number of matrix organi-
sonal and business success in your zations and global competitors, it is
current and future career. You can more important than ever to strive
become a master in these ‘Total for total management excellence.
Manager’ skills by developing a greater
respect for what used to be called the Just take a few minutes to identify
softer business skills. With an increas- your competencies and your areas
ing number of mergers and alliances, a for development – it’s the first step
diverse workforce, a growing number of on your road to becoming the Total
potential cultural conflicts and the Manager.
complex world of digital media, even
simple acts of communication can lead
to grave misunderstandings. Add to
that our growing respect for sustain-
ability and the environment, and know
that familiarity with these softer skills
can even help make or break a corpo-
rate reputation.

4
 Management: Total Management Skills

Where do I begin?
One of life’s golden rules is treating
others as you like to be treated yourself.
And, just as you like to receive explana-
tions and not simply be told what to do,
it is your ability to inform, rationalize
and eventually persuade others to work
with you that can make the difference
in your ability to implement strategies
on budget and on time. For those of you
with excellent functional understand-
ing and a basic knowledge of manage-
ment, MCE has grouped together a
selection of workshops designed to
improve your ability to manage at a
higher level. Before considering just
which management development
workshops are right for you, why not
consider your current strengths and the
opportunities facing you. They are
grouped into three areas:
• Operational Skills
Your ability to get your job done and
achieve results
• People Skills
Managing people and developing your
team
• Network Skills
Influencing internal and external
stakeholders up, down and across the
organization

WHERE ARE YOUR STRENGTHS TODAY?

OPERATIONAL SKILLS
You are good at organizing, you persevere, get the job done, make the num-
bers and generally get results. Strength here could make you a solid opera-
tional manager.

PEOPLE SKILLS
You know how to get the best out of your own people and build a strong team.
Your people are cared for and well developed. You could be a good coach.

Featured Workshop
MCE’s workshop, ‘The Total
Manager’ improves your opera-
tional, people and Networking
management Skills. You work in
two sessions on a real-life business
project coached and advised by
MCE’s professional facilitator, a
former senior business leader.
The workshop is built around two
modules, but also includes virtual
events and virtual coaching from
your facilitator, who is an experi-
enced executive. Over 8 months
you will work on your business
project, applying the workshop
learning and benefiting from the
coaching and experiences of your
facilitator, as well as that of your
fellow participants.
See www.mce-ama.com/2249
NETWORK SKILLS
You have the ability to navigate the organization and deal successfully with
both internal and external stakeholders.
Maybe you are a better connector than manager?
YOUR GOAL - THE TOTAL MANAGER
... Becoming a versatile and well-balanced manager who can get the job done
with motivated people and is helped by supportive internal and external
relationships.
A Portfolio of Skills
To succeed in these often confusing standing of your current management
times means having a portfolio of skills skills portfolio, you can prepare and
at your disposal. Many of them are equip yourself with the best tools for
already present in your current behav- your future success. You will be able to
iours, abilities and scope of work, but it assess where you are today, how your
takes time and dedication to develop current skill gaps can be identified and
the skills you need for your further then, which development programmes
development – with the ultimate goal can best add to your talents. Adding
of becoming The Total Manager. this mix of management skills is critical
in rounding out your ability to manage
The following pages will make a differ- comfortably, get long-term results, act
ence in how successful you can be as a with authority and command the re-
manager. By getting a thorough under- spect of others.

5 For more information and registration, please visit www.mce-ama.com


Management Workshops with
Cultural Diversity
Do you profit more from a
workshop where everyone is
similar to you, or where there
is diversity in the group?
People tend to choose friends
who are similar to them; even
some companies have a
propensity to hire a certain
type of person with similar
characteristics to others in the
organization. Research today
shows clearly that greater
innovation, creativity and a
financial competitive advan-
tage is more likely to reward
those companies that acknowl-
edge diversity and get it work-
ing positively for them.
Diversity of all sorts is a major
asset in MCE’s international
approach to building skills and
competencies. At every MCE
workshop, you’re likely to meet
participants from five or more
countries. Not surprisingly, we also in-
clude segments on working in a multi-
cultural workplace in many of the man-
agement sessions we run, but not simply
considering the usual stereotypes.
Together, we examine:
• Ethnic Culture - with different national-
ities working towards one corporate
strategy, we consider your personal
competency at leading people with
different cultural backgrounds than
your own
• The impact of Corporate Culture is
easily underestimated. It is the number
one stumbling block in managing
alliance, and post-merger integration
efforts. Research indicates that more
than 70 % of M&A’s fail due to cultural
issues. To measure the all-important
The MCE Management Skills Assessment
Now, to bring this down to specific development programmes and workshops, you
can move on to the relevant sections of the management skills assessment on the
following pages. The next two pages help you find the right management develop-
ment programme for your needs.
Management: Total Management Skills
matter of corporate culture alignment,
MCE uses its proprietary Synthetron
method – more information:
www.mce-ama.com.
• Functional Cultures always have to be
taken into account. All too often, func-
tional silos build even behind closely
related areas of business such as
Marketing and Sales. So Marketing and
R&D functions might well find it even
more difficult than ever to understand
each other, e.g. in the new pharma
business context.
• Then we bring it back to you. We exam-
ine the competency of ‘bridging’ to the
Culture of the Individual. Getting this
right can have a huge, positive impact
on performance, especially when you
can capitalize on the advantages of
diversity.
Total Management Skills
and Innovation:
A Senior Management
Perspective
If you have groups or teams of managers
who are in the process of rounding out
their management skills, consider
selecting a theme such as Innovation.
This can be used it as the vehicle by
which to build in critical Operational,
People and Networking elements to your
business development. In this way, just
as companies such as Globul and
Carlsberg have discovered, you can
progress towards company goals while
developing key competencies that you
want to see embedded in the organiza-
tion. These are some examples of where
MCE has already made a difference:
Aligning your innovation teams
around the customer
In many organizations, Marketing &
Sales talk to the customer, while the
innovators are ‘locked up’ in a lab. We
help you bring the customer and the
brand promise to every person involved
in innovation. Broadening the innova-
tion horizon of your business.To
create breakthrough innovations, com-
panies have to look beyond their tradi-
tional boundaries - this is easier said
than done. We focus attention first on
‘where most money can be made’, then
broaden the innovation horizon through
creative brainstorming sessions and
logical business appraisal.
Wherever you are implementing change,
in the area of Innovation, moving from
selling products to services, or from a
Price to a Product Plus strategy, you
need to develop and monitor a contin-
ued alignment between your People,
your Processes and your Strategy. MCE
has the experience and the tools to help
you do just that. For more informa-
tion, contact Patrick Faniel, our
Director of Customer Specific
Solutions at +32 2 543 21 29 or
patrick.faniel@mce.be
6
 Management: Total Management Skills

Management SKILLS: A quick assessment…

On these two pages, choose what is critical in competency development for your work environment.
Then, match the competence to the corresponding workshop in the right column.

Operational Management Skills

Getting it all done without killing yourself in the process Workshop
Keeping your health and sanity with a tough travel schedule Working Internationally
Negotiating your commitments Negotiating Effectively
Managing your time and stress levels
Managing work-life balance
Time and Stress Management
Avoiding over-committing to too many projects – how to say no
Maintaining your personal values, principles and ethics
Becoming a more experienced manager Workshop
Increasing your attractiveness by thoroughly understanding your business and business strategy
Making smart decisions and solving problems
Know how your function contributes to the overall business Knowing Business
Beyond Your Function
Increasing your attractiveness by having a grasp of the big picture –
how the world works politically, economically, socially, technologically…
Managing your emotions under pressure
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Building effective relationships with individual people
Becoming a manager Workshop
Translating the business unit strategy into goals for your team
Linking individual goals to department goals
Planning and driving the work to achieve the goals
Structuring a department optimally
Creating processes to smooth information and work flow
First Line Managers’ Workshop
Managing chaos – everything going on at once
Prioritizing and getting others to prioritize
Making sure all your activities lead to the desired results
Managing the budgeting and planning cycle
Planning and managing effective meetings – stop wasting time
Negotiating KPIs and budgets
Negotiating Effectively
Negotiating resources you need to achieve your goals
Getting things done through projects see Project Management, p.44
Creating Business Value
Working in partnership with line managers if you are in a support function
through a Support Function
People Management Skills
Managing particularly challenging groups effectively Workshop
Managing dispersed/remote teams Leading International Remote Teams
Managing politics between headquarters and subsidiaries
Valuing and leveraging diversity in a team Working Internationally
Being culturally versatile – able to connect quickly to different cultures with different values
Selecting and managing alliance partners
Managing Alliances
Setting up effective agreements for partnerships
Selecting and managing sub-contractors, partners, vendors, consultants,
free-lancers, dealers and distributors Managing Outsourcing
Setting up effective outsourcing agreements
Organizing and managing client project teams
Managing Client Projects
Setting up effective service-level agreements with clients
Being effective as a team leader in executing the strategy Workshop
Aligning the people on your team to the strategy
Managing change
Getting your people to work the way you want without standing over them and micromanaging Developing Leadership
Communicating goals and expectations clearly
Managing for execution of the strategy

7 For more information and registration, please visit www.mce-ama.com

 Management: Total Management Skills

Getting things done through your direct reports Workshop

Being comfortable with being “in command” of others
Delegating - resisting the temptation to do it all yourself
Supporting people without taking over all their responsibilities and decisions
Staffing your team effectively
Managing performance on your team – appraisals and feedback
Managing dotted line reporting relationships
Giving feedback to your direct reports/peers/bosses/suppliers with tact and diplomacy Managing & Leading People in an
International Environment
Dealing with different ability levels – high, middle and low performers
Firing or reassigning people when necessary
Developing team members to take on more responsibility

Building a better relationship with your direct reports for more productive interactions

Maintaining an overall positive work environment on your team

Resolving conflict between team members Managing Conflict
Dealing with rivalries and personality clashes on the team Interpersonal Effectiveness
Network Management Skills
Presenting yourself and your ideas well Workshop
Being able to speak the language of senior managers
Presenting to senior management or board of director
Communicating in a crisis
Speaking to a large audience
Opening and running meetings
Communicating to Senior
Presenting unexpectedly in a meeting
Management and Key Stakeholders
Performance reporting
Delivering/explaining bad news responsibly
Advertising good news humbly
Introducing people, introducing yourself
Dealing with challenges to your communication without caving in or becoming defensive
Communicating change internally
Working Internationally
Communicating across language and cultural barriers
Making your business proposals interesting and attractive
Writing a business plan
Developing and Presenting
Defending a business idea (without getting defensive)
Business Plans
Negotiating commitment and resources for a business idea
Communicating your departmental plan
Preparing for and handling complex negotiations
Advanced Negotiation Skills
Negotiating in an international environment
Building a professional network - getting out there, getting the contacts, maintaining the contacts, Developing Personal Influence
leveraging the network for your current job and your future career and Impact
Getting things done without authority Workshop
Creating Business Value through
Influencing line and senior management from a staff function
a Support Function
Handling interdepartmental conflicts Managing Conflict
Negotiating collaboration from others Negotiating Effectively
Managing your boss(es) – keeping them informed, helping them succeed, how to disagree with your boss,
First Line Managers’ Workshop
how to deal with difficult bosses
Managing company “politics” and succeeding
Navigating a complex organization – matrix, hierarchy, network organization
Getting support from a support function (IT, HR, Marketing, etc.)
Getting support/resources from senior management Developing Personal Influence
Getting collaboration from peers and their departments and Impact
Dealing with internal competition from “rival” colleagues – how to know when you’re making enemies,
what to do about it
Getting attention, getting heard