Motivation, Monitoring Measurement and Maturity are necessary to accomplish
any Mission
– Late Indian President. J. Abdul Kalam
There should be motivation, aim, target, plan, and adequate resources
to undertake any project /mission. A good old saying – What cannot be planned,
needs not to be done and what is planned needs to be monitored else it will go out
of control. What is to be monitored needs to be measured and evaluated for any deviation
and timely in-process correction. As a leader or manager, you should effectively
manage 5M (Men/women, Material, Machinery, Method, and Money). While dealing
with business partners, customers and vendors, and you seniors, you must exhibit
your missionary zeal, acumen, and maturity in your commination, thinking, and
actions. The evidence of your maturity is when you stop proving to others that
you are very intelligent and proficient. Let your actions and results speak for
your success. Immature behavior or half-backed decisions can cost you a lot and
you should be careful. One attains maturity through consistent effort to gain
knowledge and change in attitude. Maturity of a process or a person is a good
assurance to the customer to place repeat orders or a company to have an alliance.
If you are a mature person you must accept people as they are and not try
to change them to your liking. Some basic points aiding your success are given
in the following sections:
·
Machinery,
All machines, equipment, instruments, tools, and hardware must be in a serviceable
state at all times. Do plan and carry out preventive maintenance as that is
many times cheaper than breakdown repair or replacement.
·
Magnanimous.
A leader /manager needs to be magnanimous in forgiving others. It ensures happy
and efficient work culture to increase productivity and higher growth.
·
Make or Buy. One crucial decision is whether to make a product in-house and deliver it to the customer
or buy off-the-shelf or subcontract and deliver on time and at a better price.
Here come your innovative ideas and initiative to project you for value
addition to the product/service and help a company grow. You will be amply
rewarded for such contribution and progress further.
·
Manage 5Ms. As
a manager/team leader you should progressively improve your management of five
important components of managing projects/products – Men (includes women),
Material (hardware/, software), Money (sanctioned budget), Machinery
(Equipment, Tools, Instruments) and Method/process.
·
Manpower. The human workforce (men and women) is the most important asset of management.
HR Department main role is to look after their workforce. Today’s knowledge
workforce requires very tactful handling.
·
Manners.
Your personal behavior and conduct should be likable by all at the workplace, at
any public place, or even at home. It requires self-discipline and respect for the people around you. Your manners are reflected through your communication and
response to situations or people around you. Give special and kind consideration
when interacting with the opposite gender, since some of them may be very
sensitive.
·
Maturity. A
matured fruit is tasty while raw fruit is sour or bitter. Likewise, a mature
person draws respect from all. Maturity is the ability to think, speak and act
within the bounds of dignity. Shri. Adi Shankara defines – You have
maturity when to stop trying to change others and instead change yourself. You must understand that everyone is intelligent, and right
in one’s own perspective. Do respect all and be adaptive to change.
·
Maximize.
As a project manager/Team Leader, make your best effort to minimize/mitigate risk
and maximize output. This will enable you to deliver the project on time and
increase profit for the organization.
·
Means and Measures. There is a famous saying-“Cut your coat according to your
cloth.” Living within your means will avoid
any tension due to overspending or trying to copy others. You will have sound
sleep and happiness at home and better performance at the workplace. There is no
need to compete or copy others when you cannot afford that luxury. Plan your
budget and remain within that. Likewise, make optimum use of allotted resources
at your workplace and avoid cost overrun.
·
Mediate. In any organization some times, among some team members or business partners
there can be misunderstanding, /miss-conception. Any simmering dispute should
not be allowed to linger on as it will adversely impact your work environment.
As a leader/manager you should timely intervene and mediate and resolve the
issue. Remember the good old saying – “A
stitch in Time saves Nine”
·
Meditation.
After a lot of running around and passing through a lot of stress and strain,
meditation helps to sit calm, think deep, relax and rejuvenate. Remember meditation
is not an act to be performed but an effort to take body, mind, emotions, and
energies to a higher level of maturity. Meditation is not a visible act but
rather to be enjoyed with closed eyes and controlling thoughts/ mind. As you go
deep into it you will get total relaxation/rejuvenation. Some corporate houses
have opened meditation centers within their campus to create a healthy working
environment.
·
Methodical. Always
follow the Rules, Regulations, and Instructions of the organization and sincerely
implement the given task as per method/ process and operational instructions. If
you and your team follow the laid down method, you will be enhancing
productivity and quality. You will also save on resources.
·
Meticulous. You
must organize your work and do as per its priority. If you tend to start too
many tasks simultaneously with fewer resources, there will be a backlog and most
tasks will be shown as work-in-progress. Instead, plan well, act well and
deliver on time. Always plan meticulously and execute energetically.
·
Millstones. Milestones
planted along the road help us to know the status of our journey and control our
speed to reach the desired destination continues. Likewise, while planning any
project or job scheduling you must mark milestones on the chart to help your
team to monitor progress and meet deadlines. You may also mark milestones on
your career path.
·
Mind. The human mind acts as a bridge between body and soul. The human mind is very fertile, restless, and keeps flying up and down to satisfy its
desire. We are often reminded “Mind your own business”. It is quite difficult
but possible to control your mind and concentrate on your job at hand.
·
Mirror. It is true “mirror does not lie”. The mirror
shows you exactly what you are. Therefore whenever you are angry or sad, go and
look into the mirror and cheer up. A good leader should be like a mirror, total
transparency, and true.
·
Mission. You
must have a vision for at least three years ahead and set up your mission for
say 6-12 months and accomplish that with full vigor and sincerity. Determination
and concentration of energies are the keys to the success of any mission.
·
Mistakes. A person
who is active in any job can make a mistake. To commit a mistake is not bad but
to repeat the same mistake is bad. One must learn lessons from past mistakes of own
and those of others. Learning from mistakes and continuously improving your
skills and processes are the hallmark of success.
·
Misunderstanding. The main cause of conflict among people is often misunderstanding.
If you ensure transparency/ openness
within the team, there will be no misunderstanding, You should be clear to say what you mean and
mean what you say. Maintain clear and
frank communication with no ambiguity and there will be peace and tranquillity
at all places.
·
Misconception.
It happens when instructions are not
given clearly and that leads to own interpretation of instruction by the team
members. This leads to blame game for .delays, rework, and poor quality. Finally, it leads to customer dissatisfaction and loss of repeat orders.
·
Mitigate. Whenever there is some dispute or conflict among team
members try to resolve amicably. The best option is to arrive at a win-win situation for all. However, if contesting
members are inflexible, try to mitigate any negative effect on team
performance.
·
Money. Indeed, “money
makes the mere go”. To undertake any work/project you need adequate funds
(money) before the start date. You should have a good plan for getting the required
funds and a plan for spending those in an economical way.
·
Monitoring. It
is important to regularly monitor the progress of your team and the processes so that your team keeps the project on track and
delivers on time and as per customer requirement/ expectations.
·
Moments. Enjoy
every moment of your life with your family members and particularly with
children, grandchildren, and grandparents.
While you are away at your workplace,
they all eagerly wait for your arrival. Therefore don’t hang on in the workplace
after duty hours. Start back on time and reach on expected time every day.
·
Morale and Motivation. You must stay motivated in your job and cheer up your team
members to keep the project/task on track. High morale is important to
ensure good productivity and success. During a difficult phase of any mission/project,
your leadership counts to show your grit, calmness, and high morale. A leader
always presents encouraging posture to cheer up the team and boost their
morale.
·
Move First. If you are expecting a telephone call from
someone, don’t stand upon the ceremony, keep
waiting and getting worked up. Instead,
just pick up your phone and ring or give a miss call. Always make the first move
so that imitative remains with you
·
Multi-Tasking. Multi-tasking
is necessary to showcase your multi-skills and optimal use of available
resources. However, the number of tasks undertaken will depend on the time and effort
available. You must bite as much you can chew else you get overloaded and go
under stress.
·
Must. While deciding priorities of your work
you may follow the simple principle of MSC (Must
do, Should do, Could do). Do not delay the “must do” task. You may have to
readjust our resources.
To
read more you may refer to my book/ebook “
A2Z 26 steps for assured Success”. available on www.amazon.com or www. amazon.in
God
bless all.
Brig
( Retd) Dr. Sarbjit Singh, Former Exec Director,
Apeejay College of Engineering and Hony Advisor School of Engineering and Technology,
Apeejay Stya University,Sohna , Gurgaon, Haryana, India 122103— Contact:drsarbjit@gmail.com
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