Financial Times

For a better 2004 take a look in the mirror
By Nilooka Dissanayake
It is time for New Year resolutions; for looking back and learning from our mistakes in the past year. Did our dreams for 2003 come true? If not, why not? Let us look at what contributed to our successes and failures. When we know, we can take action to ensure future success.

How did we fare as leaders in 2003? Our success as business leaders, big or small, as managers or supervisors finally boils down to how we acted. People judge us by our actions; not our thoughts. All the good intentions are useless if actions do not corroborate them and our words.

In taking a close and honest look at our behaviour, let us use a checklist in order not to miss important areas. I am borrowing the 7 S framework which is used in strategic management for analysing the organisation. As usual, I am using this tool in an unconventional manner.

The 7Ss stand for staff, style, skills, structure, systems, strategy and shared values. If you are head of a department, team, unit or association obviously only some of the aspects would be relevant to you. Now let us take each area and look back.

How did we treat our staff in the past year? Did we appreciate their good efforts? I am not just talking of money here. Did we praise them as necessary in the same way we corrected their mistakes? Recently, a friend of mine was given the responsibility of decorating her office for the festive season.

The office looked quite nice with the Christmas tree and the mistletoe. "Did your boss appreciate your efforts?" I asked. "He must have liked it," she replied. "He did not say anything.

If he does not like something he says so immediately." She was philosophical about this negative form of compliment. But, how many of our team members will go to that extent to get used to our management styles? Should we not reconsider how we appreciate others and their contributions? Remember, it is the little things that matter to people.

How well adapted are our management styles for the work that we do and the people we work with? How did we fare in this area in 2003? It is easy as a leader, especially a small business leader to say "I am too busy, I have too many things to worry about than sit and look at management styles and how it affects people around me." But do you realise that the success of your business, the productivity of your staff and their attitudes depend upon you management style? We discussed the X,Y & Z theories which can have a great impact upon our followers in a previous article. (Check out www.sundaytimes.lk archives for this article.) I believe this is the most important area for leaders.

Formal authority, the position you hold, your qualifications, training and experience come to nothing if you have a poor management style. Let us take a closer look at how we can improve our style for better impact in 2004. Skills help us achieve our objectives. Attitudes and knowledge count for nothing if we do not possess the skills necessary to put our plans into action.

Often, as leaders we focus too much on hard skills ignoring soft skills both in ourselves and in our team members. What skills do you need to develop as a leader to make 2004 more effective? Find out which areas hampered your progress in 2003.
Take a microscopic look at your skills portfolio and take action. The limitations of small business owners tend to limit the success of their businesses.

Have you reached this level yet? Is it time to either upgrade your skills or to appoint professional managers? One of the secrets of success of MAS Holdings, the diversified garment exporters, was the ability of entrepreneurs to appreciate the need for employing professionals.

For lack of such appreciation, many other Sri Lankan companies are limited in their capacity to expand. What do you want for your organisation? Think of this as you hold up the mirror. For me it is one great challenge to balance my knowledge of systems and structures in managing a small office with less than ten persons.
The control systems that I have recommended in the past for many large clients both in Sri Lanka and abroad do not hold water in a small set up. Use a small thread to tie a bundle of small threads effectively, recommends Ummagga Jatakaya, a Buddhist Jataka story. I try to adapt my knowledge and experience to suit the scale of my business.

As I look forward to 2004, with a view to improving the effectiveness of my business I am taking a zero based approach and questioning the need for everything. The alternative is to take an incremental approach and tweak things here and there. I prefer the former because it paves way for new break-throughs.

How about your business? What changes will you need to make in your systems and structures for a better 2004? There are still two more of the Seven S's (Strategy and Shared Values) to discuss. Let us make these the theme for the first article in 2004.

In the meanwhile, let us know what topics you like us to touch upon in the future. You can contact on ft@sundaytimes.wnl.lk or on 5-552524

We wish you a happy, productive and prosperous 2004!
The writer is the Managing Editor of Athwela Vyaparika Sangarawa (Athwela Business Journal), the only Sinhala management monthly targeting the small and medium enterprises and its English version, Small Business International magazine.

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