What can I learn from a Magnet??

I find it amusing sometimes that from what all things we can learn management; toys, towers, cartoons and now magnets.

In yet another lesson Prof. Mandi placed some very basic questions in front of the class. WHAT DOES A MAGNET DO??  Not a hard question to answer but the class took some time to arrive at the word which guided our discussion on management -ALIGNMENT.

A magnet has the power to align magnetic forces. Any material having metallic atoms will align itself according to the polarity of the magnet. In natural world, a magnet aligns natural forces. Similarly in a organization, Managers align human forces. Managers acts as magnets to align his/her employees according to the tasks and objectives. They synchronize both time and space. Here comes the management learning of the session - Management by Objectives. 

Management by Objective (MBO) is a process of defining objectives within a organization so that the management and employees agree and align themselves according to the objectives and understand what they have to do in order to achieve them. MBO works if the employees knows the objectives of the organization and knowing the objectives is usually the hardest thing to know for the employees.

The success of MBO lies in participative goal setting and decision making. The employees are encouraged to set the goals and the course of action themselves. There are more chances of success when the measurement and comparison of employee's actual performance is done with the standards set by them only. The Managers should implement a range of performance system to help the organization stay on the right track.He should focus on the results and the processes to achieve them. The MBO system makes sure that the aims and objectives of the organization and that of the employees are synchronized; when managers and employees work to achieve their plans, the plans of the organization are automatically achieved. This whole process gives a purpose to the employees and when provided with the methods, employees achieves their goals.

Managers can use MBO in any key area of management - marketing, HR, finance, CSR or operations. MBO can be divided into some steps as setting objectives,  organizing the group, motivation, measuring the performance and developing people. This process starts from the top corporate level and runs down to the lowest employee level. De-skill, Re-skill and Un-learn, Re-learn are the practices of modern management.

We conclude our knowledge sharing by putting a cartoon of Arbit Choudhary.

Happy learning!!!