READING The One Minute Manager Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson Summary Pre
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READING The One Minute Manager Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson Summary Prepared by Charles C.Manz Charles C. Manz is a Professor of Management at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst He holds a doctorate in Organizational Behavior from Pennsylvania State University. His profes- sional publications and presentations concern topics such as self-leadership, vicarious learning self-managed work groups, leadership, power and control, and group processes. He is the author of the book The Art of Self-Leadership and coauthor of The Leadership Wisdom of Jesus The most distinguishing characteristic of The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson is its major philosophical theme: Good management does not take a lot of time. This dominant theme seems to be based on two underlying premises: (1) Quality of time spent with subordinates (as with one's children) is more important than quantity; and (2) in the end, people (subordinates) should really be managing themselves. The book is built around a story that provides an occasion for learning about effective management. The story centers on the quest of "a young man" to find an effective manager. In his search he finds all kinds of managers, but very few that he considers effective. According to the story, the young man finds primarily two kinds of managers. One type is a hard-nosed manager who is concerned with the bottom line (profit) and tends to be directive in style. With this type of manager, the young man believes, the organization tends to win at the expense of the subordinates. The other type of manager is one who is concerned more about the employees than about performance. This "nice" kind of manager seems to allow the employees to win at the expense of the organization. In contrast to these two types of managers, the book suggests, an effective manager (as seen through the eyes of the young man) is one who manages so that both the organization and the people involved benefit (win). The dilemma that the young man f aces is that the few managers who do seem to be effective will not share their secrets. That is only true until he meets the "One Minute Manager It turns out that this almost legendary manager is not only willing to share the secrets of his effectiveness but is so available that he is able to meet almost any time the young man wants to meet, except at the time of his weekly two-hour meeting with his subordinates. After an initial meeting with the one-minute manager, the young man is sent off to talk to his subordinates to learn, directly from those affected, the secrets of one-minute management. Thus the story Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. The One Minude Manager. La Jolla, CA: Blanchard-Johnson Publishers, 1981. 31Explanation / Answer
The concept of One Minute Manager emphasyzis on explaining goals, praising on performance and reprimanding work in one minute. According to this theory, management process does not take much time if done with proper planning and effective procedure. The quality of time spent with subordinates matter more than the quantity. And this also helps in each employee managing their performance themselves. One minute is adequate for a manager to discuss goals, reprimand employees and praise individuals if the process is done effeciently. One minute managers observe and guide their subordinates at every level and at all times. They are avalaible for any help required by the employees at all times. One minute goals focus on manager explaning the goals required to be achieved by the employees. They should be clear and short explaining the accurate goals desired by the management and organisation. A feedback has to be taken from the subordinates if they understood the goals explained in this short format. The one minute praising is done by manager when he checks the performance after the goal is achieved as well as during the process of a certain goal. The subordinates are told how their performance is helpful for the organization and hence boosts them to continue with their effeciency in doing the further jobs. One minute reprimands are when the manager tells the subordinates about the wrong they did in their performance and guiding them on measures to correct the wrongs and achieve the goals accordingly.
This one minute management approach is an effective way to get results from the employees and yeild results for the overall organizational growth. Effective management aims at the profitable position for the organization as well as the employees. Which means that a good manager should not focus on only achieving the organizational goals ignoring the interests of the employees. Long term organizational growth cannot be maintained through this approach. Not taking into consideration the interest of the employees can effect their performance negatively hence effecting the growth also. Hence one minute managers are an essential need for the organizational structure nowadays. By explaning goals, praising performance and reprimanding work in one minute the organization and employees will be in a win position.
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