A Daily Dose of the
American Dream
"One Minute Success Stories"
by Alan C. Elliott
March 10
Managerial Freedom Scale
" The successful businessman is training an understudy if he is as wise as he is successful. " : Ray L. Smith
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Like most employees, managers want to make their boss happy. They don't want to step out of line, but often don't know where that line is drawn. Managers working under a cloud of anxiety will not perform as they should. They will often bother their boss with small picky details in order to save themselves from doing something wrong. Bosses need to free managers from this complication. William Oncken Jr., author of Managing Management Time, suggests a management freedom scale for bosses whose managers ask for too much advice. The five-point scale lists the managers' responsibility for making some decisions and bringing only the most important decisions to the boss. The five ways managers relate to their boss are:1. WAIT until being told. 2. ASK what to do. 3. Recommend, then ACT. 4. ACT, but advise at once. 5. ACT on your own, routine reporting only.
Option one should never be allowed. In ordinary situations, managers should not pester the boss by asking what to do. Managers are supposed to think for themselves. Managers should be told they must operate under method 3, 4, or 5. This frees the boss from unnecessary decisions and frees the manager to devise methods of leadership that work well with his or her personality.
CONSIDER THIS: If a person does not know what is expected, he cannot effectively make progress in an organization.
This story is adapted from A Daily Dose of the American Dream, by Alan Elliott, published by Rutledge Hill Press. The book contains 366 stories, one for each day of the year.
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Contents (c) Copyright Alan C. Elliott, 1988-2008