Managing managers requires special efforts not only to establish common direction, but to eliminate misdirection.
Setting objectives is so important that some of the most effective managers I know have each of their subordinates write a “manger’s letter” twice a year. In this letter to his superior, each manager
- first defines the objectives of his superior’s job and of his own job as he sees them. He then sets down the performance standards that he believes are being applied to him.
- Next, he lists the things he must do to attain these goals—and the things within his own unit he considers the major obstacles. He lists the things his superior and the company do that help him and the things that hamper him.
- Finally, he outlines what he proposes to do during the next year to reach his goals. If his superior accepts this statement, the “manager’s letter” becomes the charter under which the manager operates.
Mutual understanding can never be attained by “communications down,” can never be created by talking. It can result only from “communications up.” It requires both the superior’s willingness to listen and a tool especially designed to make lower managers heard.
ACTION POINT: Write a management letter to your superior twice a year.
The Practice of Management
Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
* Source: The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker