WHAT DO MANAGERS DO??

You could consider whether there are ‘best’ ways of managing.

Contingency theory says ‘it depends on the circumstances’.

General Management Functions Managing People-Specific

Functions

Planning Recruiting & Selecting

& Putting Plans in Action!
Organising Discipline & Grievance Handling
Keeping Order Health & Safety
Budgeting/ Financial Dismissals/Redundancies
Management/Allocating Resources
efficiently
Forecasting Knowledge of Employment Law/
knowledge of where to find out
Taking Responsibility (but also Contracts of Employment, Terms &
Delegating) Conditions
Policy & Procedure/Rule-making Conflict Handling
& Implement them
Reviewing Progress/ Monitoring/ Organising Training & Development
Reporting based on Organisational &
Individual needs
Networking/Attending Meetings Interviewing (various types)
Communicating Conducting Performance Appraisals
Upwards/downwards/laterally
Inside the organisation &
externally
Giving Information
Motivating & Encouraging, including Motivating - eg Providing
Team-Building Incentives, Encouraging Promotions
Inspiring/Leadership Inspiring
Supervising/ Directing Counselling
Observing and Reflecting Supporting/Being approachable &
accessible
Problem Solving Teamworking/Teambuilding
Controlling/ ‘ordering’
Empowering Organising CRB checks (Criminal
Records Bureau)
Keeping Productivity up Checking Migrant worker permits
Co-ordinating (but sometimes not very
well!)

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Decision-making
Setting Standards
Building the Business
Developing Strategy
Setting & meeting Objectives &
Targets
Collaborating
Mentoring
Evaluating
Designing Systems & structures
Innovating
Prioritising
Dealing with complaints – staff &
customers; meeting their needs &
wants
Getting feedback & acting on it
Providing an active role model
‘Getting your hands dirty’ if necessary
Organising, Chairing & Participating in
Meetings
Represent the organisation
Creativity/Entrepreneurship
Ethicality/Rationality
Taking risks

Ways in which Managers waste their own & other people’s

time. Or behave inappropriately?

Concentrating on the ‘wrong’ areas & poor priority setting? Eg

engaging in low level, ‘easy’ tasks – displacement activities;
putting things off.
Not meeting deadlines
Too interested in money & not in the staff
Worrying about what their managers think rather than managing
their own staff
‘Laissez-faire’ management1 or autocratic management/over-
managing, getting involved in too much operational detail, not
being flexible enough
Being disorganised
Setting unrealistic targets
Spending too much time in meetings/ poor chairing of meetings/
‘meetings for meetings’ sake’.
1

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 Under-resourcing/understaffing
Discrimination/Harassment (creating a poor working
environment & poor relationships). This may include
inappropriate use of e-mail ‘jokes’.
Favouritism
Bad language & swearing
Poor use of language in e-mails being misinterpreted.
Going on ‘useless’ courses.
Playing golf, coming in late, long lunches
Poor communication
Talking too much about things outside of work
Gossiping & Chatting
‘Flirting Around’
Delegate pointless tasks; ‘sit on their ass’ - & delegate!
Carrying ‘poor’ staff (avoid dealing with the issue)
‘Walking around’
‘Making people wait’
Spending money at the end of the financial year on unnecessary
things (although this may be driven by the organisational policy)
Speaking to others in their own language
Not listening to people’s ideas
Focusing on one part of the business, not the whole.

Some of these could be seen differently. Eg talking about things

outside of work may be good communication/motivation –
appropriately & at the right time. Playing golf may be seen as good
business networking.

‘Walking around’ – often managers are asked to ‘walk the job’ –

staying in their offices means a lack of contact, communication,
inspiration … may imply they are too scared to talk to their staff.

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