Mastering Management
A Four-Step Process That Really Works
Tim Woodman is the founder and
managing director of two companies,
Woodman Coaching and Management
Learning & Coaching. Tim is a graduate
in engineering, has a masters in
business administration, and is a
qualified business coach. As a trainer
and coach, he has been helping
managers to manage well for over
16 years, besides being a practicing
manager for over 35 years. Outside
work, Tim has regularly achieved great
success representing the Great British
triathlon age group team.
Business Expert Press 978-1-63157-800-7 (2017)
www.businessexpertpress.com
Abstract: How do managers add value? Why do they
get paid? What should managers be doing?
The problem is most managers cannot answer these
questions well because whatever they say, the next ques-
tion is does production stop when you are not there?
which leaves them scratching their heads.
In answering the fundamental questions of how do
managers add value and what should they be doing, this
article draws on my experience of managing, working
with, training, and educating many thousands of managers
and many years researching and studying the subject. By
exploring the hidden realities that exist for managers and
by bringing a common-sense approach to the subject, we
will show managers how to make the answers common
practice as well.
It is hoped that this article will help managers gain
clarity about their role as managers and how they can
achieve results for their employers that justifies their pay.
Keywords: Management, managers of today, managing,
managing in the 21st century, managing people, man-
aging tasks, mastering management, principles of
managing.
The art and science of managing people is a complex
mix of background frameworks and processes allied to
an understanding of how to get people to do the things
that you want them to do and understanding how your
choice of behavior will influence this outcome. In this
article, we will explore what managing in the twenty-
first century entails by thinking through the challenges
that face managers in getting things done through other
people. We will explore what managing in the twenty-
first century really means, which will leave you with the
practical and pragmatic four-step process to manage-
ment. In the process we will uncover the real day-to-day
issues that managers face and give you insight into how
you can meet these challenges.
The four-step process is this:
understanding my role and responsibility
managing myself and others
Expert Insights
1
 Mastering Management
leading to motivate
managing performance
Lets first explore the process that most
management books will share with you.
The kaizen model of
is well known and well established and as
a dynamic framework adheres to the KISS
principle of Keep It Simple Stupid. There
are, however, a couple of drawbacks to this
model. The first real day-to-day difficulty is
this.
Even though we know that to have a
plan is logical and, is argued by many, as
the first step in developing any business ac-
tivity, our natural instinct is to get on with
the activity and not plan. Our instincts are
that the plan is worthless, a notion that can
be supported by this well-known saying:
No plan ever survives the first contact
with the enemy
Because of this, our instincts are that once
the plan has been written, it is worthless.
Because what happens next, rarely, if ever,
matches the plan. So why bother making a
plan? So heres another saying for you:
The plan is worthless, planning is invaluable
So if we look at the kaizen model, it is
circular and it does lead us back to the plan
section, which supports that planning is
an invaluable statement, i.e., by looking at
what happened and then by replanning you
will gain the benefit of regular planning.
The more planning you do, all of it will help
2 Business Expert Press 978-1-63157-800-7 (2017)
www.businessexpertpress.com
you focus on forthcoming activity that may
be further down the line than you would
naturally anticipate by doing activity alone.
Lets look at the next in the sequence in
the model, DO. This implies that manag-
ers do and for the uninitiated, your natural
instinct is to do technical tasks rather than
managerial tasks. For many managers the
justification for this is that my staff will re-
spect me more if I get my hands dirty and do
the tasks that they do. We also hear people
say that leading by example is a good char-
acteristic to have. However, being a good
manager and getting results is about all the
things we are now going to talk about which
will gain you the respect of your staff.
The third part of the model is, Check.
I like this because for a lot of managers,
this is the part that is done poorly, if at all.
There is a great management saying:
You wont get what you expect, you will
get what you inspect
And I would add to this by saying so
therefore be careful what you inspect.
For example, in the management of sales
people, it is relatively common practice to
measure the number of calls made over the
phone or face-to-face. By measuring just
these things, first, its very easy to manipu-
late the numbers, second, we have no idea
about the quality of the calls made, which
in my opinion, is the most important part.
The other elements of checking include
how you might do it and how often you
might check. Some managers end up be-
ing accused of micro-managing and others
of not showing any interest in a persons
workthe two ends of the scale.
The final part of the model is Act. I suggest
it should read manage because what if that
outcome was positive, e.g., the individual
was doing a good job? The implication of the
word act is you have to take remedial action.
Step one
Understanding your role and responsibility.
The basic question for all managers is
this:
Expert Insights
 Mastering Management
How do you add value to your organ-
isation and therefore justify the salary the
organisation pays you?
Most managers response to this ques-
tion is that they ensure production targets
are met and that if they werent around
people would not be as productive. Our re-
sponse to this is,
so what happens when you go to meetings,
go on training courses, or go on holiday?
At this point, many managers look per-
plexed and lost for an answer. Because,
of course, production doesnt stop when
the manager is away, although people are
naturally inclined to slow their pace if the
person in authority, who doesnt manage
very well and hasnt set up an environment
where staff maintain their commitment to
achieving goals or targets, is away.
So what is your role and responsibility
and how do you add value as a manager? To
put it simply, getting your staff to be more
efficient and more effective is the real
reason why youre paid and how you add
value to the business. Think of it this way:
Decide the mission, look after your people
To put this into context, your task as a
first-line manager is to take the goals and
targets agreed with your line manager and
to achieve them in the first place and then
to develop your staff so that output capabil-
ity is improved.
So how can we look after our people
so that their productivity capability is im-
proved? The answer to this question is not
a simple one. The starting point of course
is to ensure that every person in your team
has clarity about their goals for the day and
for that week. And, if appropriate, over a
longer term.
The development of individuals skills
and capabilities should also now be looked
at. When all is said and done, the individu-
als doing the work are the experts at the
tasks that they have to accomplish. How
do you help them to become better experts
is how you add value. We can take a les-
son from the sports arena here. The British
Business Expert Press 978-1-63157-800-7 (2017)
www.businessexpertpress.com
track cycling team over the past decade
have become expert at marginal gains.
They take a particular situation and break
it down into its component parts. They
then look at each of those parts and find
ways to improve them, even though it may
only be a marginal improvement. All these
improvements, though, add up to signifi-
cant and world-beating results. The same
can be said of business and the skills and
processes and techniques that we employ
to produce business results.
So by focusing on small improvements
the individual will be able to generate over-
all large improvements. The key to this is
the following:
Identify the area to be worked on.
Come up with ideas on how it can be
improved.
Try one of the ideas.
Use the experience to learn whether the
idea can be further improved or discarded.
Repeat as appropriate.
Most managers find the above illuminat-
ing and the place to formalize this is in the
appraisals. For most managers, they dont
view the appraisal process as anything
more than a paperwork exercise for HR.
It is in fact the best place to map out with
your staff member the areas that you can
work on in the following year. The process
of identifying small changes and improve-
ments is a daily activity that can be carried
out, while also in the process of produc-
tion. Your staff member will only get better.
One day at a time, which means that they
should have something to work on every
day. Im sure you now are starting to real-
ize that managing people and looking after
them is a time-consuming activity. Your or-
ganization pays you to add value, you add
value by facilitating the skills and process
improvements of your staff.
Here is another saying that holds true:
the managers job is not to solve problems,
but to facilitate problem-solving!
Expert Insights
3