Manageability

Peter Drucker once described the management task as "to make people capable of joint performance, to make their strengths effective and their weaknesses irrelevant". Even though Drucker's observation was made many years ago, it is still the essence of management responsibility. However the speed and dynamic nature of business has radically increased the scale of the challenge.

Integrating a management team of diverse disciplines and personalities, and dealing with the day-to-day business pressures, is a big task. Pulling the whole mix into a slick, responsive, unified entity that could be almost joystick driven is an even bigger one. It is enormously difficult to achieve and sustain without a supporting structure. Manageability provides that structure.

In reality the management style of a business is determined by a number of elements. These elements are part of what we all do every day. The difference is a matter of degree; how precise we are and how and when the elements connect. This precision and connectedness defines and determines management. Some of the elements create the structure, they include how the business plans, the nature of operational communications, the quality and relevance of its data, the nature of operational review, and the availability of management time. Other elements are more mechanical, they determine how the structure is worked. These include the way the operational facts are determined and used, how decisions are made, how autonomy and accountability are maintained and reinforced, how visibility and control are practiced, and the perceived performance standards.

The combination of all of these elements establishes the management mindset and habits. For the mindset to change, and for that change to stick, the nature and interaction of these elements must be altered. Businesses with a high level of manageability control the elements while those with a low level of manageability are controlled by them.

Manageability is achieved by looking at the management process in the same way that you would look at any other process. You start with why the process exists and then work back from there. You ensure that each stage is clearly defined, it is set up to be as efficient as possible and there is no ambiguity in the handover between the stages. You automate as much of the control as possible and ensure alarms are raised when anything goes wrong. You establish a clear, objective perspective so that continuous improvement happens naturally.

When the management process is defined, and that definition is anchored and supported by a structure, the business improves its manageability. The nature of the elements, and the way they interact, is clear. The resulting system of management is robust on one hand but, on the other, can be quickly revised and changed as the need arises. Each manager is clear on both what they need to achieve and how they are actually performing. The flow of critical information around the company, objectives down and reality back up, is continuous. Problems are forced to the surface at the earliest point and they are clearly defined from the start. Managers have more time available and have less need to be reactive.

The management process becomes an entity in its own right that supports the managers but, at the same time, is independent of them to a large extent. This brings much more objectivity and sustainability into the equation. It addresses the task identified by Drucker in that it provides the control and certainty the business needs while giving the individual managers the space and support to deliver to their potential.