Creating a successful company is time-consuming and a difficult process with many pitfalls. Vladimir Turman — Deputy Director General of SWC, Head of Public Relations and an international expert in mass communications, spoke about the principles of management in turquoise organizations.
Turquoise organizations and closed market companies
Closed-market companies — are the organizations where a directive management model has been introduced. They lack a feedback mechanism, although this is what helps build processes more effectively. Feedback is not always positive, but it is what shows what is working effectively in the company and what needs immediate improvement.
Lively, turquoise, companies, rather than the closed organizations, are dynamic and more competitive. Their employees get the job done efficiently and promptly, and their managers sleep well, trusting their cohesive and successful team.
«Turquoise companies — are not the kind of place where employees sit in a cozy chair and drink coffee all day long»
The goal of the head of an open company — is to create a team that functions as a single entity. There is a myth that employees of such organizations are not burdened with hard work. Of course, this is a big misconception: in large, competitive companies, the main goal of an enlightened manager — is the result. Despite the external freedom in such organizations, certain rules must be respected and followed by all members of the team. For example, managers shall always schedule meetings and important appointments at the same time, and most importantly, not to be late in coming. Avoiding tardiness — is an important principle of a living organization.
Employee commitment — is the key to success
An important informal rule — is to create a comfortable environment for all team members. So that they are interested not only in the result, but also in the process. There is also no need for unannounced meetings, and staff shall know the agenda before any meeting starts. Such attitudes within the company contribute to efficient work. Another rule to be followed by an organization manager — is to avoid distractions. For example, you should not answer telephone calls or messages during a meeting; such gestures convey a lack of respect for employees on a non-verbal level. A big management mistake — is the depreciating their team members through public criticism, which often happens in closed companies. An enlightened manager shall also motivate the employee, including financially, and set the rules for the team in a timely manner.
Toxic productivity and an unhealthy psychological climate
Let's address the issue of intrigue at work. It is bad for the organization to the maximum extent, if discussions on any issues take place in private rather than in formal meetings with the colleagues. Any gossip and hidden grievances ruin the company. It is unacceptable to speak ill of one's colleagues behind the scenes, let alone publicly. It's not a question of good manners, but of business survival. Business survives when employees see competition from the outside rather than from within, when they compete with other companies rather than with each other.
Toxic productivity — is a common but very unpleasant phenomenon where a person is professional in what it does, but totally unsustainable when it comes to building interpersonal relationships. For all its professional talents, such a person lacks developed empathy and interpersonal connectedness skills, emotional intelligence and simply good breeding. Such people create an unhealthy psychological climate around them, which leads to negative results for the entire business, even if they perform flawlessly in their work position.
For example, these employees may systematically spread rumours, discuss their colleagues and speak negatively about other employees' work. This creates a strained atmosphere in the team. We spend a large part of our lives at work. Subtract the time for sleeping, eating, travelling from the day, remains work — the place where we can achieve potential and demonstrate our best qualities. And sometimes find friends and even meet a life partner.
Preventing toxicity — is an important task that every manager faces. When it comes to managing a large, open system company, it is important to remember that each employee — is a unique individual. Everyone has different beliefs and a different world view, so the process of interpersonal interaction in a company requires special attention. The task of the manager — is to control the dissemination of negative information and eliminate the possibility of conflicts in the work process.
Corporate ostracism: What to do when gossip sidturbs work?
Sometimes people speak negatively about someone involuntarily — even on a non-verbal level. In large organizations, information travels at breakneck speed; one emotionally inadvertent phrase can cause quarrels, conflicts or internal discomfort for an employee. A good leader needs to spot people who are causing rumours in proper time and take action to stop the flow of negative information.
I would like to point out that negative emotions are not only transmitted through speech. The words we say out loud are only 8% of the information passed from person to person. It is known that 37% is communicated through intonation and its paraverbal characteristics such as volume, tempo, timbre, etc. 55% — are non-verbal media: facial expression, body position, gestures.
An employee who speaks out inappropriately behind a colleague's back should first be spoken to individually: management shall explain the rules of corporate ethics and issue a first warning. If the situation recurs afterwards, a physical meeting is held in which the situation is discussed publicly. If the first two methods prove ineffective, an employee who disregards the prohibition on negative rumours is expelled from the team.
By the way, when we talk about employees, we don't mean only subordinates. Employees — is everyone who works for the company. And the managers — are also company employees. It is the manager who shall have a clear understanding of the professional ethics and values of the company, because it is the person who manages a team or even an entire organization. And the requirements for it shall be appropriate.
Success to success: in a real team, everyone is inspired by everyone's achievements
Everyone is genetically driven to strive for self-development and success. Even if, due to some life circumstances, these aspirations for the best are temporarily muted, subconsciously everyone needs positive emotions and motivation to move forward. Therefore, one should be able to celebrate success — it is one of the most important management tools.. Noone shall go unnoticed within an organization. Attention from a manager encourages people to put in more effort. The manager shall notice the successes of its staff and, moreover, strive to make team members proud of each other's achievements and to share them.
Being a leader — is an art or a gift
It has long been established that no known competitive leader is a natural born leader. Running a company — is an art that needs to be learned. In turquoise organizations, the manager is required to be the highest expert in the area in which the company specializes. You have to work on self-improvement and respond to the demands of the times constantly. Can the first person continue its activities when its methods are not effective in the present? The search for new tools — is an important prerequisite for business development, you don't need to be able to predict the future to guess what will become of a company whose manager doesn't evolve with the times.
And lastly, being aware of the reason why people leave is significant for any manager. A vibrant company is identical to a family, where everyone shall respect each other's interests. Can a person voluntarily leave a family where it feels comfortable? It is therefore important for a manager to be aware of the reasons that encourage people to leave a place where they should be happy. It may be it's all about that the manager is unable to adapt to the changes that have taken place in the organization and needs to look for ways to solve the problem: find a professional coach, mentor and work with him/her on these issues.