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3.Everyone is cost conscious and cost efficient (as if they were "owners" of their area of
business).
4.Everyone has right competence for today's mission and task and develops their competence for tomorrow's needs.
5.Everyone possesses all relevant information for attaining their own objectives and contributing to those of company.
6.Everyone demonstrates excellent cooperation within their organization and with other groups and departments.
7.Everyone demonstrates a high change competence.
8.Everyone strives for excellent quality in all respects.
B. WE HAVE AN EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 1.Our company has clear, updated and documented mission statement, vision and strategies.
2.We have consistent goals at all levels and in all parts of company. The goals include: Business results, costs, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, competence and quality. We track them and support goals through our reward system.
3.We have rapid and efficient means of distributing and collecting information to and from all employees.
4.Participation, cooperation and a high degree of independence are corner stones of our management system.
5.We have a clear picture of our management quality, based on several sources.
C. WE HAVE EXCELLENT LEADERS AT ALL LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATION 1.We have defined general requirements of all our managers.
2.We appoint leaders of high quality and development potential, to all levels of organization.
3.We give new leaders a good introduction and start in their new management role.
4.We give all managers continuous development in leadership.
5.We create good opportunities for our managers to be highly motivated in their task.
6.We phase out leaders who are inadequate in their management jobs.
D. WE HAVE A MANAGEMENT POLICY THAT GUIDES US IN ALL ACTIVITIES CONCERNING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 1. The company's basic values are clearly expressed.
2. The policy gives our view of our employees.
3. The policy describes our principles for leading and managing company.
4. The policy describes how we work in order to always have excellent leaders in all positions.
5. The policy demonstrates that we focus on management quality.
6. The policy is well accepted by everybody and practical application is clear.
In evaluating your results it may be useful to know that very sucessful organizations tend to rate themselves at 4 level. Most other companies in 2,5-3,5 span. The external estimate from a benchmark study usually averages 1 point lower than internal self-assessment.
How to improve your Management Quality The prerequisites to obtain substantial and lasting improvements of management quality are top management determination, time and perseverance.
1. Benchmarking of management quality is a structured comparison with other leading organizations. This process identifies strengths and weaknesses and allows you to learn from best practices of others. It is an excellent starting point for decisions about ambition and priorities in continued improvement project(s). This is an ambitious approach, recommended if you believe that you are about to start a long-term development project.
2. A more traditional approach is to start such projects already identified or in plan (e.g. management policy, management review, and management development), but in such a manner that each project becomes a building block, that fits with other blocks. Some kind of architecture is necessary. The model for management quality, used for benchmarking, can be very useful as a master drawing. 3. If you don't wish to use an "architecture", but still desire quality assurance of ongoing or planned projects (in management area), relevant sections of management quality model may be used. A "consultant" (internal or external) who is independent in relation to project should carry out quality assurance.
Management Quality - what are first steps? Communication is key word in all stages of a project aimed at improving Management Quality. The key issue at start is involvement of top management. The self-assessment, made by top management is often an excellent way to show what is meant by management quality and potential for improvement. The result of self-assessment can be made starting point of a management meeting or seminar, with objective to reach an agreement if and how to proceed with benchmarking or other ways to improve management quality. There are other ways to make decision, but management committee (or corresponding group) must support decision - this is group which, as a next step, has to commit to future plans and actions. The strong conviction of CEO or head of Human Resource Management may not be sufficient to ensure a successful project. Middle Management The middle manager - manager of managers - is main implementer of Management Quality. She/he is responsible for identification of new management potential, development of those candidates, appointment of new managers, introduction and continuous development of managers, and, if necessary, phase-out of inadequate managers. The middle manager rarely receives any education or other support to fulfil these responsibilities. It may be your first priority to set up such education for middle managers.
About author: Harje Franzén
Senior consultant, author, teacher, speaker, helping organizations to improve management quality, mainly through benchmarking, design and implementation of programs for management policy, management resources and middle managers´ education.
I have worked with organizations of all sizes, from many different cultures, in most industries, and at all managerial levels
Contact me at info@inutsikt.se or learn more at web-site: http://forward.to/management_quality
Senior consultant, author, teacher, speaker, helping organizations to improve management quality, mainly through benchmarking, design and implementation of programs for management policy, management resources and middle managers´ education.
I have worked with organizations of all sizes, from many different cultures, in most industries, and at all managerial levels
Contact me at info@inutsikt.se or learn more at the web-site: http://forward.to/management_quality
