Читать книгу Grow Your People, Grow Your Business - Karen Jett - Страница 7

Any good farmer will tell you that a plant’s health is dependent upon the soil in which it is planted. Farmers use a variety of techniques to build up the nutrient value of their soil.

They may add items such as compost or fertilizer to provide specific nutrients to the soil. After the season has ended, they may add other nutrients, such as lime, to adjust the soil’s chemistry. In addition, they often till under cover crops or dead plants from the previous season to decompose and return nutrients to the soil. And to further strengthen the soil, farmers routinely rotate crops.

Like farmers, managers need to build a strong substrate to produce abundant crops. They do this by building strong interrelationships based on trust and respect. The question is, with whom should you build these relationships?

The old paradigm of management was a pyramid in which a manager was sandwiched between his staff and his immediate supervisor, as the only people of concern. Today’s manager interacts with many different types of people in an average week, not just those two groups.

As we discussed in the previous chapter, a manager is not only responsible for his own job duties, but also the duties of his staff. This does NOT mean that a manager completes his staff ’s work for them. It means that the manager takes responsibility for ensuring that the staff is working effectively and efficiently.

As a manager, you also interact on a regular basis with your own supervisor. Do you know what your supervisor’s expectations are for you and your department? Because, let’s face it — if you don’t meet those expectations, or come darn close, your services may no longer be needed.

There’s a good chance that your supervisor’s expectations include you interacting successfully with other people inside and outside your company. To be truly effective, you must be able to work well with other departments. Your department is not an island, it is connected to many others in the company.

For example, to get supplies, you may need to work with the purchasing department. A good relationship with them ensures the vendor is paid promptly so that the next time you make a purchase, you are welcomed. If you purchase your own supplies, are you on good terms with the accounting department? If not, you run the risk of not getting reimbursed. Do you know the company policies and procedures from front to back? No? Then, it’s a great idea to forge a strong alliance with a member of the personnel department so you can quickly and easily get the answers that you need.

Are you starting to get the picture?

If you are starting to feel a bit overwhelmed, and perhaps alone in all this, don’t fret. Other managers are great internal resources. Networking successfully with other managers allows you to find support, as well as to learn from their successes and failures. Successful relationships involve both give and take, so don’t forget to give as well as receive advice! Good farmers understand that to continue getting bountiful crops from the soil, you must nourish the soil and keep it healthy.

Make sure that when you encounter other executives in the company you create good relationships with them. Be professional and polite. If you can assist them in some way, do it. This is just good business sense, but if you are looking for a more personal angle, here it is: You never know if one of them could be your boss someday, or could recommend you for a promotion.

But remember, your “soil” isn’t just the individuals inside your organization. You may also work with vendors, customers, regulators, or others outside your company. By forging strong, professional ties, you make your job easier to accomplish.

In one of my first office jobs, I was an accounts payable clerk. One of my responsibilities was to field collection calls. Unfortunately, the company I worked for was frequently cash poor. I learned early on that by forging a professional, yet personal, relationship with the collection agents, collection calls were easier to manage.

One call I fielded was particularly memorable. I was on the phone with Carol from a freight company for about 10 minutes. After I talked to her about this, that, and the other thing, she actually hung up without getting a firm commitment about my company’s next payment. Carol must have been too embarrassed to call back and ask about it, so I sent out a small payment as a token of good faith. Though it was smaller than what she would have negotiated, it helped to develop a strong bond in our professional relationship. It would have been much worse for her had I sent nothing.

This ability to create professional relationships based on trust and respect has made every position I ever held easier for me. When I was able to give, I did. In exchange, when I needed to receive, people were more willing to work with me.

As a manager, working with people inside and outside the company is about relationship building. Just as a farmer needs to build up the soil with rich nutrients to grow strong, abundant plants, a manager needs to build a firm base with strong, professional relationships to produce abundantly.

What have you done today to build strong relationships with those you interact with regularly? Are you remembering to fertilize the relationship by showing appreciation for good service? Are you providing value-added service to compost the relationship? Are you building professional relationships based on trust and respect that you can till under on a regular basis to make the soil more fertile?

Quick Tips to Grow Your People:

•Build strong professional relationships based on trust and respect.

•Be prepared to give as well as take.

•Seek out the key “go-to” people within your organization.

•Discover how you can become a key “go-to” person for others.

•Create strong bonds with everyone whom you regularly communicate with, both inside and outside your company.