Module: Managing People

Section One: Individual Activity (Initial reactions)
The Learning Loops:
The primary method of managing people was to understand how people respond to changes. The learning loops provided a good insight into the same. I understood that the response to mismatch between intention and outcome was to search for another strategy, which would then satisfy the governing variables, in case, the new action strategy was used in order to satisfy the existing governing variable. I realized that since the change was in the action only, not in the governing variable itself therefore it was called single-loop learning. Going further in to the concept it was easy to relate that in case the governing variable and the action strategy change, then they constitute double-loop learning. I saw Double-loop learning as a more effective way of making informed decisions.

I think I can sum this very interesting concept as, "Single-loop learning rests in an ability to detect and correct error in relation to a given set of working norms. Double-loop learning involves on being able to take a "double look" at the situation by questioning the relevance of working norms."

Argyris and Schön model of a theory of action:It was interesting to note that Argyris and Schön have said, that people seldom reveal their assumptions about each other, especially about motives. When they act on their assumptions, their motives are very often misunderstood.

The common result is the mutual self-fulfilling prophecy: ‘Every person's assumptions are maintained by the other's behavior and support the person's own behavior.’ I will use this concept for better understanding of the people in my organisation.

“Organizational Learning” Argyris and Schön’s influential monograph proposed that a learning organisation is one that is permanently changing its interpretation of the environment. In doing so, the organization learns new things and forgets old ones. Drawing on their background as action theorists, Argyris and Schön show how these interpretations are gained and how they are connected to different Organizational behaviours. They distinguish between three types of learning, rooting them in an understanding of organisational agency that targets growth and effectiveness:
• Single-loop learning: This is adjustment learning, referring to the rational use of one’s own means and instruments to adapt to environmental requirements, given a set of organisational goals, strategies and behaviours. It targets an improvement of the “theory in use” of an organisation using a simple action outcome feedback and follows the heuristic, “maximise gains and minimise loss”.
• Double-loop learning: This is turnover learning with respect to the meta-level of goals, strategies, and behaviours of an organisation, and aims to adapt them to environmental requirements. The learning process includes un-learning of redundant knowledge to clear space for new behaviours. Furthermore, cooperation, including assumption and benefit sharing with collaborators, is seen as a vehicle for learning.
• Deutero learning: This is meta-level learning of the highest order where the organisation reflects on its own identity. Here, the learning process itself is the object of learning (”to learn how to learn”). The organisation’s norms and values are subject to critique and change.

Edgar Schein
Culture surrounds us all, and we need to understand how it is created, embedded, developed, manipulated, managed, and changed. To understand the culture is to understand your organization. He approaches this issue through his three levels. He argues that the pattern of basic underlying assumptions can function as a cognitive defence mechanism for individuals and the group, as a result culture change is difficult, time consuming and anxiety provoking. Cultures are deep seated, pervasive and complex and it can be extremely difficult to bring the assumptions to the surface. He uses the classic three step approach to discuss change - unfreezing, cognitive restructuring and refreezing. He has a lot to say about leadership and culture. The key issue for leaders is that they must become marginal in their own culture to a sufficient degree to recognise what may be its maladaptive assumptions and to learn some new ways of thinking themselves as a prelude to unfreezing and changing their organization.
Culture is customs and rights and the organizations 'own way', its norms, values, behaviour patterns, rituals, traditions and implies structural stability and Patterning and integration.
It arises from shared history and adaptation and change are not possible without making changes that affect the culture. It is not always rational, more often not. For large organizations there are issues around the development of subcultures and the integration of newcomers.

T.V.Rao: The Power of 360 Degree FeedbackIn the changed business scenario where organizations are required to compete globally, benchmarks have become global. Organizational survival and excellence require not only meeting but setting global standards. Speed of change becomes a critical variable. Organizations have had to react fast, learn from their experiences and aim towards achieving world class excellence through constant learning and renewal. 360 degree has been found to be one such facilitator of change at the individual level. The concept of 360 degree feedback, is a performance management system, linking 360 degree feedback with performance management and finally pay strategies. The concept encourages more indigenous innovations and enhances learning through mutual sharing.


Conscious competence learning model
The Learning begins at stage 1 - 'unconscious incompetence', and ends at stage 4 - 'unconscious competence', having passed through stage 2 - 'conscious incompetence' and - 3 'conscious competence'. The conscious competence model explains the process and stages of learning a new skill (or behavior, ability, technique, etc.) It most commonly known as the 'conscious competence learning model', sometimes 'conscious competence ladder' or 'conscious competence matrix', although other descriptions are used, including terminology relating to 'conscious skilled' and 'conscious unskilled'
Suggested fifth stage of conscious competence model
As with many simple and effective models, attempts have been made to add to the conscious competence model, notably a fifth stage normally represented as: 'Conscious competence of unconscious competence', which describes a person's ability to recognize and develop unconscious incompetence in others.

ERG Theory of Clayton P. AlderferIn a reaction to Maslow's famous Hierarchy of Needs, Alderfer distinguishes three categories of human needs that influence worker’s behavior; existence, relatedness and growth. These ERG Theory categories are:

- Existence Needs: physiological and safety needs (such as hunger, thirst and sex) (Maslow's first two levels)
- Relatedness Needs: social and external esteem (involvement with family, friends, co-workers and employers) (Maslow's third and fourth levels)
- Growth Needs: internal esteem and self actualization (desires to be creative, productive and to complete meaningful tasks) (Maslow's fourth and fifth levels)

Contrarily to Maslow's idea that access to the higher levels of his pyramid required satisfaction in the lower level needs, according to Alderfer the three ERG areas are not stepped in any way. ERG Theory recognizes that the order of importance of the three Categories may vary for each individual. Managers must recognize that an employee has multiple needs to satisfy simultaneously. According to the ERG theory, focusing exclusively on one need at a time will not effectively motivate. In addition, the ERG theory acknowledges that if a higher level need remains unfulfilled, the person may regress to lower level needs that appear easier to satisfy. This is known as the frustration-regression principle. This frustration-regression principle impacts workplace motivation. For example, if growth opportunities are not provided to employees, they may regress to relatedness needs, and socialize more with co-workers. If management can recognize these conditions early, steps can be taken to satisfy the frustrated needs until the subordinate is able to pursue growth again.
Performance and Reward Management

Performance management is concerned with measuring individuals' effectiveness in their roles, understanding their aspirations and determining which development actions would be most appropriate. Reward management is about understanding individuals' motivating factors, and determining the level of pay, bonus and other rewards they receive. In some organisations the links between the two are strong and explicit, while in others they are kept deliberately separate. Work in these areas can be prompted by evidence of employee dissatisfaction, such as high turnover or poor morale, or by the desire to drive a change in some aspect of employees' behaviour.


Performance Appraisal:
I understood the steps involved in the performance appraisal. We do not have formal face-to-face appraisals in our country. I think I can introduce this concept of fixing a goal at the start of the year and then doing an appraisal with my subordinates every quarter. This would help us both in mutual understanding of work expectations and performance.



Section Two: Interesting points from Group Activity

Sharing our Performance appraisals:
I think one of the most stimulating discussions we had in this module was how performance appraisals were done in different parts of the world. We shared our experiences from U.K., Zambia, Tanzania, India and Canada. Appraisals were used meaningfully in some countries as U.K. and Canada to improve the performance and give annual pay hikes but in others as India, Zambia and Tanzania they were used more like a tool to keep subordinates under check.

Breaking up of the Term One Group:
The Second term timetable and the new optional subjects split our MBA group into several small groups across different modules. It also brought in new people from other MSc. Modules to the MBA module. The compact homogenous group of 23 that we had in MBA was at times mixed into a bigger group of 68 students. Also at other times, we were four MBA students in a group of 32 students.
Most people in MBA miss the camaraderie and bonding which had been developed in the first term. I think the attachment to and rapport of small compact MBA group, which existed in term one, was the reason for some excellent group work and group discussions.

Quinn and the conflicting values model:
We discussed at length the competing/conflicting values model of Quinn. We all rated ourselves on the chart and I found myself between internal process model(being a bureaucrat) and open ended model (being a painter)
We discussed at length the competing/conflicting values model of Quinn and more we studied the more variations of this model were available for examination.

Another variation of this model was in identifying the type of person the manager was. He could be an Anchor, Analyst or he could be a Networker or Pioneer.
Learning from Chinese friends:
During the module, we had visitors from the Chinese Administrative School attending lectures with us. Interacting with them exposed us to the teaching methods being employed by their institute to teach the Chinese civil servants. I was especially impressed with the focus in their teaching on the ‘Rule of Law’ while administering the people.

Section Three: Research
The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge
I went to the Internet to learn about this book by Senge. I found that Senge's main thesis is that for an organization was that the organisation has to become a Learning organization, and it must embrace the following five disciplines:

1) Building Shared Vision so that the organization may build a common commitment to long-term results and achievement.
2) Mental models are a technique that can be used to foster creativity as well as readiness and openness to change and the unexpected.
3) Team Learning is needed so that the learning is passed on from the individuals to teams (i.e. the organization as a whole).
4) Personal Mastery is the individual's motivation to learn and become better (hence the term Mastery).
5) The fifth discipline is that of Systems Thinking which allows to see a holistic systemic view of the organization as a function of its environment.
Learning Organisations by: Andre Wierdsma, Joop Swieringa

I looked up for this book on organizational learning and found that, this book gives concrete concepts and examples of organizations that are learning to learn that how can an organization continue to develop. The book was a practical book on the principles of the learning organization. I hope that this book will serve as a good guide to the knowledge management matters in my daily work.
A humorous look at how Mangers fine tune their ‘people skills’

Ten Commandments for Managing People:This is one piece of paper, which will be on my table all the time. I think this is the biggest lesson I learnt on managing people in this module. (From Accenture-‘The Smart people’)
Ten Commandments for managing people.
1. Don’t get into a rut thinking there is only one right way to do a job.
2. Don’t expect everyone to be the same. Do not look for clones of yourself because it can only limit the organization’s -- and your -- growth potential.
3. Don’t give a lot of criticism.
4. Don’t isolate yourself.
5. Don’t wait until the project is completed to give your feedback.
6. Don’t expect your staff to perform poorly.
7. Don’t forget to tell staff members about your expectations, priorities and deadlines.
8. Don’t do performance appraisals only once a year.
9. Don’t be an autocratic leader.
10. Don’t push people to their limits. Don’t expect them to function well over a long period without ample resources.

A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice
by Michael Armstrong

This is another book by Armstrong, which I read. He has discussed several new aspects of HRM in his book like; the significance of the Psychological contract, Scenario planning, Talent management processes, the sequential and empirical approach to formulating HR strategy. I was unaware of several of these concepts.

Learning and Development by Rosemary Harrison

Reading the book I realized that Rosemary was the chief examiner for the CIPD and this book was used as standard textbook for CIPD professional qualification. Rosemary in her book provides clear framework for understanding how HRD professionals can formulate and implement a learning and development strategy, identify learning needs, gain top management commitment to an organisational programme of training and development. She discusses at length on how to, manage and develop a training function, and design, deliver and evaluate learning events. I think it must be included in the MBA training course at IDD also.
Competency-Based Human Resource Management by David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell

Traditionally, human resources departments and organizations have existed to fill jobs and manage the people who do jobs. Authors David D. Dubois and William J. Rothwell suggest a different approach: recruiting and managing competencies instead. The distinction is important, the authors say, because thinking of an organization as an aggregation of jobs makes it difficult to change quickly in response to new opportunities and threats. Much of what the authors suggest is plausible; some of it is even persuasive. They present a strong business case for taking the competency-based approach to HRM. Driven by six macro-economic, technology& business trends, the competency needs of most organizations are discussed in the book.
Section Four: Ideas on Managing People for follow up

‘Call me Annie and not Ma’am!’
This was my first interaction with my module coordinator. I liked the British way of addressing people by first names instead of ‘Sir’, ‘Madam’, ‘Mister’ and ‘Ms’ as we do in our country. This offers a degree of personalization and takes away the shallow formality. This is an idea I would want to try in my organisation.


Balancing the Scorecards
I would like to explore further the new approach to strategic management which was developed in the early 1990's by Drs. Robert Kaplan and David Norton a system they named as 'balanced scorecard'. I understand that it recognises some of the weaknesses and vagueness of previous management approaches and provides a clear prescription as to what companies should measure in order to 'balance' the financial perspective.

We don’t use this method in our organisation.I would like to incorporate in my organisation what the balanced scorecard suggests that we may view the organization from four perspectives,
1. The Learning and Growth Perspective
2. The Business Process Perspective
3. The Customer Perspective
4. The Financial Perspective
I would like to spread these benefits of using the balanced scorecard within my organisation:
1. It helps the whole organization to focus on the few key things needed to create breakthrough performance.
2. It helps to integrate corporate programs as; quality re-engineering, and customer service initiatives.
3. It helps to break down strategic measures to local levels so that unit managers, operators, and employees can see what's required at their level to roll into excellent performance overall.
‘Hoshin Planning’I had read about the Japanese planning scheme called ‘Hoshin Planning.’ It was fascinating to know that the balanced scorecard has strong similarities to Hoshin Planning or ‘Hoshin Kanri’, the organization-wide strategic planning system used widely in Japanese companies. Both seek breakthrough performance, alignment, and integrated targets for all levels. The balanced scorecard suggests which specific areas should be measured for a balanced picture, but this is not contradictory to Hoshin Planning. However, there was an important difference also. The balanced scorecard method seems to be more of a one-way street -- the executive team creates the strategy, and it cascades down from there. But, the Japanese emphasize "catch ball", the process of give and take between levels that helps to define strategy in Japanese companies.

Section Five: Activities Undertaken
I attempted to synthesize learning from the ‘Understanding Organisations’ and ‘Managing People’ modules.

Complex situations

Gareth Morgan offered on such bridge between the two modules. He has used the concept of metaphor and analyzed its role in understanding organization and management. It was obvious that effective managers and professionals in all professions have to become skilled in the art of "reading" the situations they are attempting to organize or manage. I am able to appreciate that they are aware that new insights often arise as we approach situations from "new angles" and that a wide and varied reading can create a wide and varied range of possibilities. Using a metaphor, managers are like the cricket captains trying to read the pitch before the start of the match. Their reading determines the performance of the team (organisation) on that day. My synthesis of Morgan’s analysis of organisations and managers is that managers make up the organisation and their collective ability is the ability of the organisation.

While understanding the metaphors of Morgan it dawned upon me that, ‘Metaphor always creates distortions. If we take the metaphor; ‘The man is a Lion’. He is brave, strong and ferocious. But he is not covered inn fur and does not have four legs, sharp teeth, and a tail!’


I tried to synthesize the learning from the ‘Leadership’ and ‘Managing People’ modules.

• Some managers (but not all) are leaders
• Some leaders (but not all) are good managers
• A manager gets work done through the efforts of other people includes planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling
• A leader creates and realizes a vision communicates that vision and moves the organization toward that vision
This is what my final synthesis of the two is:
‘Management is about coping with complexity
Leadership is about coping with change’

I found relationship between three modules on ‘Managing People’, ‘Understanding Organisations’ and ‘Leadership.’

It was important to synthesise the learning across the three modules of Managing People, Understanding Organisations and Leadership. It was simply clear that at the bottom of all the actions are people and they are the most important part of the organization.

Learning about different Stages of Managing people in an organisation

After this extremely stimulating discussion on personnel management, I thought of what was happening in our organisation and I had this insight learning about the whole process of recruitment. (which I actually never realized was happening all the time.)
1. The first step involved searching for the suitable person for the job
2. The next step was recruiting that person by offering suitable remuneration
3. After the person was recruited, he was trained for the assignment.
4. The last part was the crucial part. This involved retaining the selected, suitable and trained person on the job.
Working overtime synthesizing Quinn, McBer and Lucas:
I working on Saturday was big fun. The whole IDD belonged to the MBA group. We were into the groups discussing the competencies of these three theorists. What came out was that probable all began in their jobs in the more bureaucratic and inward modes, but as they grew in organisations, interaction, planning, coordinating across different organisations required a different kind of competency. We all probably began to move towards an outward and flexible way of working. One more we discussed in the groups was that none of the models discuss about ‘keeping the Boss happy.’ We found that in our jobs the relations with the boss mattered a lot and that having good relations was important and helped at times. Most models are silent on this aspect of work area competency.

Discussing the present job and dream job:
This was another marathon discussion on the content of the present job. We also discussed what a dream job would be. We all focused on money being the most important aspect of the job, but we were told to imagine that we have tons of money and it does not matter in the equation. It was like an economist telling ‘assume there is a perfect market.’ However, there is no perfect market and thus there is no dream job without monetary considerations. We all are struck with the drudgery and misery of our present job striving to make both ends meet and dreaming about a job where we will not have to worry about money. It came out in the discussion that we all would go for the dream job after retirement. It just struck to me that if the present job is not a dream job, and we have to wait until sixty years of age (retirement) to complete the present job. Then I think the present job is the dream job, because will be doing it for the best part of our lives.

Reward Management: A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice by Michael Armstrong, Helen Murlis
I found the book to be comprehensive and highly practical in its approach. The book revealed that reward management is about performance – of individuals, teams and the whole organization. The book gave me insights into the performance management processes and various approaches to paying for performance, skill and competence. I think some of the processes can be adopted in my organisation.


PESTEL Analysis

PESTEL stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environment
and Legislative. A strategic planning technique, that provides a useful framework for analyzing the environmental pressures on a team or an organisation. A PESTEL Analysis is useful for groups who have become too inward-looking. They may be in danger of forgetting the power and effect of external pressures for change because they are focused on internal pressure.
( Rogers, J (1999) Facilitating Groups Management, Futures: London )


In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the factors that might in turn affect a number of vital variables that are likely to influence the organization’s supply and demand levels and its costs. The “radical and ongoing changes occurring in society create an uncertain environment and have an impact on the function of the whole organization” (Tsiakkiros, 2002). A number of checklists have been developed as ways of cataloguing the vast number of possible issues that might affect an industry. A PEST analysis is one of them that is merely a framework that categorizes environmental influences as political, economic, social and technological forces. Sometimes two additional factors, environmental and legal, will be added to make a PESTEL analysis, but these themes can easily be subsumed in the others. The analysis examines the impact of each of these factors (and their interplay with each other) on the business. The results can then be used to take advantage of opportunities and to make contingency plans for threats when preparing business and strategic plans
Kotler (1998) claims that PEST analysis is a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations. The headings of PEST are a framework for reviewing a situation, and can in addition to SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces models, be applied by companies to review a strategic directions, including marketing proposition. The use of PEST analysis can be seen effective for business and strategic planning, marketing planning, business and product development and research reports. PEST also ensures that company’s performance is aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting business environment (Porter, 1985).
PEST analysis looks at the external business environment and is an appropriate strategic tool for understanding the “big picture” of the environment in which business operates, enabling to take the advantage of the opportunities and minimize the threats faced by company’s business activities. When strategic planning is done correctly, it provides a solid plan for your company to grow into the future.

With a PEST analysis, the company can see a longer horizon of time, and be able to clarify strategic opportunities and threats that the company faces. By looking to the outside environment to see the potential forces of change looming on the horizon, firms can take the strategic planning process out of the arena of today and into the horizon of tomorrow.PEST is not a set of rigid compartments into which ideas need to be sorted. It is better thought of as a set of hooks that can be used to fish for important facts. Once the factors have been “fished out”, it does not matter which hook they were attached to. When it comes to writing up the analysis, there is no need to mention the PEST labels at all
Kotler, P. (1998) Marketing Management – Analysis, Planning, Implementation, and Control, 9th Edition, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.
Porter, M. (1985) Competitive Advantage, New York: Free Press.
Tsiakkiros A (2002) “Strategic planning and education: The case of Cyprus”, The International Journal of Educational Management Bradford, 2002

The Cultural Factor in Managing people: Fons Trompenaars
Fons Trompenaars
Undertook research to identify and model the source of national cultural differences alongside corporate culture. He also identifies a number of dimensions in which cultures can differ.

Universalism v pluralism (rules and procedures or relationships)
Individualism v communitarianism (me or the group)
Specific v diffuse (superficial or deep relationships, are bits of life kept apart or brought together)
Neutrality v affectivity (conceals or show emotions)
Inner directed v outer directed (the environment around)
Achieved status v Ascribed status (from who you are or what you do)
Sequential time v synchronic time (one after another or all at once)


Every organisation has its own unique culture even though they may not have consciously tried to create it. Rather it will have been probably created unconsciously, based on the values of the top management or the founders or core people who build and/or direct that organisation. Over time individuals (particularly the organisation's leaders) attempt to change the culture of their organisations to fit their own preferences or changing marketplace conditions. This culture then influences the decision-making processes, it affects styles of management and what everyone determines as success.
When an organisation is created it becomes its own world and its culture becomes the foundation on which the organisation will exist in the world. People's actions in organisations are not always 'their own' but are largely influenced by the socialisation processes of the specific culture to which they belong. Organisational culture is often referred to in the same breath as organisational change - and you will often see the process of developing a new culture or changing the existing one linked into the transition curve. "Organizational culture is the key to organizational excellence... and the function of leadership is the creation and management of culture." Edgar Schein Organizational Culture and Leadership
Interpreting and understanding organisational culture is an important activity for managers and consultants because it affects strategic development, productivity and learning at all levels. Cultural assumptions can both enable and constrain what organisations are able to do. The job of the consultant is often to provide a method and a structure for organisations to be able to surface the most relevant cultural assumptions. Those that will assist change and those that will hinder the process
Organisational theorists began to apply the term culture to corporate/work situations over the past 20 years. Initially the term was used to describe the leadership practices and later in the 80's management gurus defined culture in terms of symbols, slogans, heroes, rites, and rituals etc. These may be elements of culture- but they are not the heart of culture.

What is culture?
"The way we do things around here" is a common sense definition of culture. But it over simplifies the concept and misses powerful underlying concepts and processes. It’s better to regard culture as referring to the shared assumptions, beliefs, values and norms, actions as well as artifacts and language patterns.
It is an acquired body of knowledge about how to behave and shared meanings and symbols which facilitate everyone's interpretation and understanding of how to act within an organisation.
Culture is the unique whole, the heart and soul, which determines how a group of people will behave. Cultures are collective beliefs that in turn shape behavior.
They can include:
Cognitive frameworks, Shared meanings and perceptions, Behavioral codes, Values, stories, heroes & heroines, Symbols & rituals. A key role for culture is to differentiate the organisation from others and provide sense of identity for its members. Cultures do not have to be logical or consistent, in fact they seldom are and can appear quite haphazard and chaotic to the outsider. Can also have subgroups with different cultures and with varying agendas. A strong culture is one that is internally consistent, is widely shared, and makes it clear what it expects and how it wishes people to behave.

Organisational Cultures
Schein argues that culture has three levels -• artifacts - espoused values •- basic underlying assumptions. He argues that culture is the outcome of the shared experiences arising from an organisation's attempts to resolve fundamental problems of adapting to the external world and achieving internal integration and consistency. This constructs a collective pool of knowledge that determines what is appropriate behaviour, directs understanding and gives guidance on how to resolve problems.
Gareth Morgan (1986) describes culture as shared meaning, shared understanding and shared sense making. He argues that culture must be understood as "an active, living phenomenon through which people create and recreate their worlds".
Both stress that culture is a dynamic, evolving process, not at all static. Their views also imply that key individuals have a crucial role to play in shaping and refining the culture.
Other writers see an organisation's structure as determining its culture. i.e. certain structures create certain types of culture, as reflected in Charles Handy's work. He outlines a simple framework for categorising cultures.

Cross cultural models Geert Hofstede
There have been some recent models created to attempt to study and classify cultural diversity in relational to organisational needs. One model, based on the work of Geert Hofstede classifies cultures based on where they fall on a five item continuum. Hofstede likens culture to a 'collective programming' of the minds of one group that differentiates them from other groups. He believes this programming derives from one’s social culture. He puts a different slant on culture, as Hofstede talks of it as 'software of the mind'. Culture is "the collective mental programming of the people in an environment". Criticism of his views arises as he suggests less of a role for individuals in developing culture, instead they are seen as rather passive - simply the recipients of culture and his views appear to ignore diversity within national cultures. It depends how inclined you are to individualism, remember Hofstede is European and most other writers/theorists are American.
The legacy of different social contexts is important.

1. Individual vs. Collective Orientation
2. Power-Distance Orientation
3. Uncertainty-Avoidance Orientation
4. Dominant-Values Orientation
5. Short-Term vs. Long-Term Orientation

Result Oriented Management by Jan Schouten and Wim van Beers
The Result Oriented Management system - or: "Resultaatgericht Management" (RGM) as it is called in Dutch - aims to achieve maximum results based on clear and measurable agreements made upfront. RGM is primarily a management style based on the thought that people will work with more enthusiasm and fun if:
• they clearly know what is expected of them,
• are involved in establishing these expectations,
• are allowed to determine themselves how they are going to meet these expectations,
• And obtain feedback about their performance.
In Result Oriented Management, the manager sets goals and determines priorities and makes resources available that are needed: time, money and capacity. The employee provides his time, knowledge and abilities and indicates under which conditions he can deliver the required results. In doing so, he takes the personal responsibility for achieving those results. Result Oriented Management is a management system that works with so called Result Oriented Agreements. All parties have the same expectations about their targets and can approach each other on results. All agreements must always be 'SMART': Specific, Measurable, Accepted, Relevant and Traceable. Within the borders of the agreements that are made, the employees are free to determine how they want to achieve their targets. RGM helps to translate corporate goals to divisional and individual goals.
The Fifth Discipline: Peter Senge (Learning Organisations)
Senge has some wonderful thoughts about organisations being learning organisations. He calls these the five disciplines.

Systems Thinking (the integrative [fifth] discipline that fuses the other 4 into a coherent body of theory and practice)

Personal Mastery (people should approach life and work "as an artist would approach a work of art")

Mental Models (deeply ingrained assumptions or mental images "that influence how we understand the world and how we take action")

Building Shared Vision (when there is a genuine vision "people excel and learn, not because they are told to, but because they want to")

Team Learning (team members engaging in true dialogue with their assumptions suspended)

All these 5 disciplines must be employed in a never-ending quest to expand the capacity of the organization to create its future. Learning Organizations are those that are able to move past mere survival learning to engage in generative learning - "learning that enhances are capacity to create”

Honey and Mumford Learning Styles
Learning Styles were developed by Peter Honey and Alan Mumford, based upon the work of Kolb, and they identified four distinct learning styles or preferences: Activist, Theorist; Pragmatist and Reflector.
Activist: Activists are those people who learn by doing. Activists need to get their hands dirty, to dive in with both feet first. Have an open-minded approach to learning, involving themselves fully and without bias in new experiences
Theorist: These learners like to understand the theory behind the actions. They need models, concepts and facts in order to engage in the learning process. Prefer to analyse and synthesize, drawing new information into a systematic and logical 'theory'
Pragmatist: These people need to be able to see how to put the learning into practice in the real world. Abstract concepts and games are of limited use unless they can see a way to put the ideas into action in their lives. Experimenters, trying out new ideas, theories and techniques to see if they work.
Reflector: These people learn by observing and thinking about what happened. They may avoid leaping in and prefer to watch from the sidelines. Prefer to stand back and view experiences from a number of different perspectives, collecting data and taking the time to work towards an appropriate conclusion

Robert Gagné: Taxonomy of learning.
Gagné work has been particularly influential in the design of instructional materials (particularly for military personnel) and as such, his theory has been classified as an instructional theory. Gagné theory is based upon an Information Processing model and described several factors that influence learning and as such are called the Conditions of Learning.

There are three elements in Gagné's theory: a taxonomy; internal and external factors necessary to achieve learning and nine events of instruction.

The taxonomy learning comprises five categories:
1. Verbal Information
2. Intellectual Skill
3. Cognitive Strategy
4. Attitude
5. Motor Skill
Intellectual Skill can be further sub-divided into:
• Stimulus recognition
• Response generation
• Procedure following
• Use of terminology
• Discrimination
• Concrete and Defined concepts
• Rules
Different internal and external conditions are necessary for each type of learning. For example, for verbal information to be learned there must be a chance to practice in different situations and environments. For cognitive strategies to be learned there must be the opportunity to practice new solutions to problems.

Experiential learning model.

Professor Phil Race offers an alternative experiential learning model.
There are four processes and rather than progressing through a cycle, they interact with one another like ripples in a pond.
If there is a starting point it is "wanting" to learn
Wanting: Although we do learn without wanting to, for example phobias are learnt behaviour, effective learning usually requires motivation and the desire to learn.
Doing:
Experiential learning is all about learning by doing. Therefore if you are to learn effectively then you need to actually do something, ride a bike, switch on a computer, whatever it is that you are hoping to learn.
Digesting
Effective learning needs time for reflection and thinking. People who are good at learning ask themselves questions like: "How did that go?" "What worked" "What didn't" "How could I do that better next time?"
Digesting like the physiological process requires quiet relaxed time. You wouldn't digest a heavy meal by rushing around. Perhaps you need to think about learning in the same way.
Feedback
Integral to effective learning is feedback. We all like to know how well we are doing. Research indicates that one of the most enjoyable aspects of learning is getting feedback from friends and colleagues.

Sensory Acuity and NLP
Sensory acuity (seeing, hearing, feeling (physically and emotionally), smelling and tasting) is a critical piece of NLP and life. It is important to be aware of Feedback/information that indicates the extent to which a person is:
• On or off target in achieving the outcomes.
• Awareness about, other people’s actions and reactions to certain situations/ stimuli.
• The person’s reaction to certain situations/stimuli.
When observing other people, we will want to notice:
• Words they use (predicates).
• Eye movements (eye accessing cues).
• Changes in skin colour/tone.
• Breathing.
• Voice quality.
• Posture/gestures.
• Changes in energy - many people with kinesthetic as a preferred representational system or who are visually impaired are very attuned to changes in energy. We all have the ability to do this. We just have not taken the time to practice the skill.

Reward management
Pay is an important feature of human resource management - after all, it is the main reason why people work. It is a sensitive and controversial area that has been extensively debated at both practical and theoretical levels. In the US the term 'compensation' is used to encompass everything received by an employed individual in return for work. For example, Milcovich et al (2001: pp.6) state that, "Employees may see compensation as a return in exchange between their employer and themselves, as an entitlement for being an employee of the company, or as a reward for a job well done" (original emphases). The reward or compensation people receive for their contribution to an organisation includes monetary and non-monetary components.
Remuneration does not simply compensate employees for their efforts - it also has an impact on the recruitment and retention of talented people. The term 'reward management' covers both the strategy and the practice of pay systems. The effectiveness of an organization’s performance and reward management can have a major impact on not only morale and productivity but also its ability to attract and retain staff. Many companies have found that far from complementing the stated aims of the business, their performance and reward systems were actually driving counter-productive behaviour.
Reward management is about understanding individuals' motivating factors, and determining the level of pay, bonus and other rewards they receive. In some organisations, the links between the two are strong and explicit, while in others they are kept deliberately separate. Work in these areas can be prompted by evidence of employee dissatisfaction, such as high turnover or poor morale, or by the desire to drive a change in some aspect of employees' behaviour.


Adult Learning Theory
1. Speck (1996) notes that the following important points of adult learning theory should be considered when professional development activities are designed for educators:
2. "Adults will commit to learning when the goals and objectives are considered realistic and important to them. Application in the 'real world' is important and relevant to the adult learner's personal and professional needs.
3. Adults want to be the origin of their own learning and will resist learning activities they believe are an attack on their competence. Thus, professional development needs to give participants some control over the what, who, how, why, when, and where of their learning.
4. Adult learners need to see that the professional development learning and their day-to-day activities are related and relevant.
5. Adult learners need direct, concrete experiences in which they apply the learning in real work.
6. Adult learning has ego involved. Professional development must be structured to provide support from peers and to reduce the fear of judgment during learning.
7. Adults need to receive feedback on how they are doing and the results of their efforts. Opportunities must be built into professional development activities that allow the learner to practice the learning and receive structured, helpful feedback.
8. Adults need to participate in small-group activities during the learning to move them beyond understanding to application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Small-group activities provide an opportunity to share, reflect, and generalize their learning experiences.
9. Adult learners come to learning with a wide range of previous experiences, knowledge, self-direction, interests, and competencies. This diversity must be accommodated in the professional development planning.
10. Transfer of learning for adults is not automatic and must be facilitated. Coaching and other kinds of follow-up support are needed to help adult learners transfer learning into daily practice so that it is sustained." (pp. 36-37)

Porter's Five Forces
The Porter’s 5 Forces tool is a simple but powerful tool for understanding where power lies in a business situation. This is useful, because it helps to understand both the strength of the current competitive position, and the strength of a position that is being looked at for moving. With a clear understanding of where power lies, can take fair advantage of a situation of strength, improve a situation of weakness, and avoid taking wrong steps. This makes it an important part of the planning toolkit.

The Final word on Managing People

Efficient managers excel in plagiarising ideas of subordinates!