ORGANISATIONS both private and public are undergoing rapid changes as advanced technology and new methods are being introduced. It is also becoming very competitive.
Things are no longer the same as they were before and never will be the same tomorrow. As managers, we must keep up with new changes and development and strive hard to ensure sustainability and above all to obtain success.
Thus, we need to be effective, to produce the intended results and efficient to get the results in the shortest time. We can attain efficiency by doing things optimally in the fastest way and by minimising the wastage of resources, be it manpower, money or materials.
Here are four strategies for organisations to survive in today's turbulent world.
First, an organisation needs an effective leader who is visionary, proactive, who knows where he is going and can lead others. He is must be someone who is always hungry for new ideas and brings about changes to achieve them.
Besides being a role model and he encourages others to commit themselves to achieving the organisation's vision and mission. Great leaders are ordinary people who do extra ordinary things.
Second, an organisation must provide a conducive working environment. This would include a culture that accepts constructive feedback from workers.
The culture should also create a sense of belonging. Managers need to show a caring attitude and make known to employees that they are part of the family. They appreciate, compliment, and recognise employees for their contributions and give them the credit when it is due.
Teamwork and cooperation are among employees are the most important keys for an effective organisation. It cannot be demanded; it must come voluntarily. Nothing can be achieved alone and there is no success without teamwork.
Success obtained through teamwork should be shared by all and not kept by one individual whether it comes in fame or money. It must be shared and this itself is a self-motivator for them to strive harder. Managers must stress that this success could not have been possible without their contributions.
This is a fact, acknowledge it and say so. Make employees feel important and future cooperation will not be a problem. Employees should not focus on other people's mistakes. Rather managers should coach them to success.
Third, managers should capitalise on the strengths of the employees, tap their potential and their talent, and choose the right people for the right job. Managers should focus on establishing long term strategies to move the organisation to the next level. The key to success is proper planning and preparation to set targets, strategies to achieve the organisation's vision.
Fourth, managers should review past strategies, both successful as well as non -successful ones to find out the reasons for success and failure. Corrective measures should be taken based on this review.
They should improve on the successes and to convert failures into successes in the future by analysing the reasons for the failure. The use of the old strategies may not work all the time.
Managers should always try out new strategies or add some new elements to the old successful ones. Managers should give every employee an opportunity to voice out their ideas and suggestions.
An inhouse competition will motivate them to come out with great ideas and do recognise them in either cash or kind.
There is no fixed style of management to achieve excellence. It all depends on the people and the environment they work in. Strategies set today may not be applicable tomorrow. Renew and change it whenever it is necessary.
A leader who has vision, confidence, and determination will find success. However, success today does not guarantee success tomorrow. Excellence must be achieved on the back of advances in technology and the current needs of the situation.
The writer is deputy dean, Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University