Bryan Parkes on why we need to junk old fashioned ways of managing and embrace new ideas.
“So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work.” So said management guru Peter Druker 50 years ago.
Much is being made of the new computer-enabled technology available to companies and individuals to improve efficiency and reduce costs. But in this digital age, are working practices fully supportive of the opportunities open to managers? Or is it very much business as usual with technology simply bolted onto an already exhausted and often stressed workforce?
It is becoming more evident that to be effective in this new era we need to look to more flexibility at the removal of impediments to people so they can do their work, as Druker also observed.
Various personnel surveys have found that employees are simply not engaged in their work, lack energy, direction and creativity, leading to an absence of discretionary effort. The blame for this lies less with the employee and more with management and outdated working methods.
In a poll of 5,000 staff the highly respected Chartered Management Institute established that the three most common management styles within UK workplaces were authoritarian (21%), bureaucratic (16%) and secretive (16%), with only 10% reporting that their bosses were accessible, and a frugal 7% feeling at all empowered.
Many organisations are overly structured and rely on bureaucratic centralised management, micro specialisation, precise company procedures and detailed job descriptions. There are often excessive meetings and too many reports which, combined with management by control, in many cases has the effect of stifling originality and motivation.
“Focusing on our people and working practices encourages commitment, delivering lower absenteeism, reduced turnover and less business disruption, which ultimately counts on the bottom line.”
Focusing on our people and working practices encourages commitment, delivering lower absenteeism, reduced turnover and less business disruption, which counts on the bottom line.
There has been exponential breakthroughs in technology with advances in broadband connectivity allied to small powerful computer devices to enable flexible communication and greatly enhanced data production for today’s construction enterprise. Laptops and smart phones are replacing fixed PCs and using wireless networks staff can be connected on the move.
Web 2.0 technologies – such as social networks, wikis, internal blogs and discussion boards fostering innovation & collaboration – are increasingly powerful tools of management. For example, networks or communities can be formed to share issues, identify and set up teams and support them at distance. Collaboration tools such as YouTube channels, video conferencing, webcams and shared electronic workplaces can make meetings more effective. This means less travel time to meetings, use of electronic documents, reducing paperwork and saving cost.
Modern businesses require a clear purpose and strategy but stated in meaningful terms. For example, what does the company vision and mission mean to each employee and why is their role is important? It is incumbent on leaders to set in place a culture of trust nurturing innovation, creativity and talent, encouraging connections and seizing opportunities with less micro management. The John Lewis Partnership, a large customer to this industry has very solid values, customer focus and sense of purpose, which is embedded in its supply chain.
So what should leaders be doing to make work work better?
Improving interaction with employees
This is a way of promoting the concept of “engagement”, described as the necessary blend of commitment, enthusiasm, skills and energy, giving rise to attachment and connection to their employee.
Engagement is more likely given the following: Do employees know what is expected of them at work? Do they have the means to do their best work every day? Is there sufficient flexibility regarding time and place working?
Have employees received recognition for their work? Is there someone they consider who is encouraging their development?
Empowering the workforce
One interesting idea is to consider how a work role can be redesigned in some way to take on board individual strengths or team skills and develop self motivation. This flies in the face of highlighting weaknesses in current appraisal methods.
Promoting flexible working
It is estimated that 3.7 million people work from home, 13% of the workforce. However, many flexible working arrangements are simply cosmetic and do not alter the concept of paying for time and attendance. Employers should move more toward setting objectives then rewarding results and giving people more freedom to manage their working patterns. Thus how it is done is transferred to the employee, supported by “work from anywhere” technology.
This can be applied to many traditionally office-based construction disciplines, reducing office requirements, saving commuting, but maintaining connections. The company and staff benefit from increased flexibility, more productivity and adds up to “doing more with less”.
Reshaping the office to promote modern management practices
There is much to be learned here from technology companies like Google and Apple. Costly office space needs may change as research shows that the average daily office occupancy is only in the order of 45%. Adopting multi-purpose office space is not new, but it can only be really effective where management creates the appropriate workplace environment and experiences. Simply introducing “hot desking” is unlikely to succeed.
Employing the portfolio worker who is engaged solely on a results based package
Closer to self employed and of interest to older workers moving into their third age, giving an option to losing valuable people not ready to retire but equally not devoting all of their time. This has some potential with project-based staff or ex senior staff retained on consultancy basis, for example technical experts or business relationship roles. Designing alternative employment packages to support individual needs over time is a feature of the modern enterprise.
Managing by outcomes
There is a need to pay more attention to positioning, engaging with and empowering their subordinates, identifying and building on strengths. New skills are needed to move away from managing by presence to managing by outcomes. Challenges include degree of contact, deciding workload and monitoring progress and results. Share company messages and insights and convert to meaningful action. Managing at a distance has its own learning curve. The modern breed of company uses a variety of Web 2.0 technologies from email, text, remote staff meeting sessions, blogs and social networks to inform and inspire employees.
Technology and economic considerations are making command and control management in traditional organisational structures less effective. It is more about changing underlying ideology and behaviour and less to do with prescriptive and often rigid formulae.
To take full advantage of the digital landscape we must focus on cultivating creativity, innovation and talent working in a more enlightened business model.
Bryan Parkes is a lecturer in construction management at Reading University and has more than 30 years’ experience with well-known UK contractors, 15 at senior operational level. Email [email protected]
