By Walter Abrigo, Managing Director at Santex
Aligned with the old concept of Continuous Improvement, among the most common managerial skills, are some aptitudes that should be put into play every time you try to achieve an objective through the work of others. For example:
- Plan
- Implement
- Evaluate
- Learn (reformulate, adapt, standardize)
Although this cycle holds much truth, today’s reality presents important differences when compared to the past. Some examples of those differences include:
- What previously took months actually can take just hours or days.
- Steps that were previously consecutive are now overlapping.
- The amount of affective variables are of a superior class than in the past.
- The idea of this article is to present 12 tools that will help us better record and follow the significant variables in the development of these skills, so as to alleviate day-to-day burdens.
A. Tools that will help us PLAN:
A Compass
So we don’t begin any activity without clearly knowing where we want to go or what we aim to validate. And to ensure that said activity is aligned with our mission.
Scissors
To make processes easier and to cut out or eliminate any step that does not add value. This allows us to question and eliminate tasks that don’t make sense.
Dice
To remind us that sometimes our plans are affected by random events that we cannot control nor prevent, reiterating that adaptability in the face of uncertainty is a critical skill.
B. Tools that help us IMPLEMENT
Blinders
These allow us to see straight ahead and not to the side (toward other difficulties) so we direct all our energy toward the result. This enables to reach extreme deadlines more efficiently.
A Stationary Bike
So we achieve maximum agility in day-to-day management, from having short, effective follow-up meetings that add value to establishing high-impact policies in record time.
Earphones
To amplify all that we hear, enabling us to listen empathetically to our daily conversations, especially those involving disagreements. Searching to understand before being understood can reveal key information for overcoming differences.
C. Tools that help us EVALUATE
A Clock
So we don’t finalize any critical activity or validation of proposals without having measurements, without having a quantitative result that permits us to compare, analyze, and discuss facts rather than perceptions or interpretations.
A Filter
To help us in the judgments we make every day. To help us separate intentions from the people who committed a certain action and to make visible our own negative contributions before finding fault in others.
A Magnifying Glass
So we may see beyond the surface and find relationships between variables that may be hard to detect with the naked eye. So we may find those little variables that have a big impact on the end result.
D. Tools that help us LEARN
An Hourglass
To know that the integral development of a person takes time. It is sacred land and improvements may be incremental. Not everything improves at once. It’s like a plant: you have to plant the seed and tend to it before you can cultivate its fruits.
An Alarm
That sounds every time:
- Before tying processes to people (collaborators, clients, providers, bosses, colleagues, activists, our families, etc.).
- Instead of being hard-headed toward problems and nice to people, we act in the reverse.
A Gong
To remind us that patience is the mother of all virtues and that an error is the path to learning. To capitalize on a mistake develops greater character and more sustainable companies.
About the Author – Walter Abrigo is a Managing Director at Santex. In addition to his large academic career, he possess market expertise in several organizational processes such as management control, change and strategy, recruiting and staffing as well as performance and engagement.
