POM - 04 S.M.A.R.T GOALS

SMART GOAL SETTING

Imagine you could make objects in paint application in your computer and just print them into 3D real life objects! Yes, this is the future of 3D printing, an innovation that will someday become innovation of the century. However, still a lot needs to be done in this area to realize this imagination. This time Prof. Mandi showed us a 3D object, an elephant, which was printed in NITIE‘s own 3D printing machine. Professor told us that some of the NITIE alumni have started business in this area and though it’s a new area to venture in still they are pursuing it. With this example he urged us all to take action and not waste time thinking and thinking because till now we have done nothing and we are young so we can take risks. After all, every mistake makes us wise. He wanted us to Shoot Shoot Shoot then aim instead of Aim Aim Aim then Shoot.  

We all should have some goals to achieve in our lives. But goals should not be absurd; they should be perfectly gauged in accordance with individual’s potential. Hence emerged the concept of smart goals, but how to know whether a goal is smart or not?

For a goal to be a SMART goal, it should be –

S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Achievable
R- Realistic
T- Time Bound

The video below will make it more clear what smart goals are:

After explaining what SMART goals are Prof. Mandi resumed the tower building exercise seeing it as an example for goal setting. He asked volunteers to give the values of the Goal Set by them and analyzed them. On Analyzing the goal set by the volunteers it became clear that most of the goals set lacked either one or more of the characteristic of a SMART goal. Prof. Mandi insisted that all the parameters, namely - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time Bound, of a SMART Goal should be in Consonance or harmony. Also, goal setting and goal achievement have to follow a spiral relationship i.e they should keep on evolving and should affect each other progressively and not regressively. After this Prof. Mandi Explained that potential is not static but keeps on changing as we push our own limits. He defined performance as “Performance is to realize the potential and breed new potential “ 

PERFORMANCE = SMART GOAL SET X SMART GOAL ACHIEVED.

Some ground rules for Goal Setting - 

Goal Set  >  Historical Goal

Goal Achieved  >= Goal Set

Goal Set >= Potential

If any of the condition above fails during goal setting, the goal cannot be a SMART goal.

After long deliberations, the following data for the parameters was achieved – 

1. Goal Set : 30
2.Goal Achieved : To be found out
3. Goal Achieved (Historical) : 27
4.Potential :30

Above is one example of a SMART goal in tower building exercise. 

Once goal is set we have to achieve it a time frame, but sometimes due to unavoidable reasons like lack of resources or some unfortunate situations, achieving the goal in the set time frame may become difficult. Here comes the Jugaad. Jugaad is increasingly being accepted as a management technique and is recognized all over the world as an acceptable form of frugal engineering pioneered in India. Companies in India are adopting Jugaad as a practice to reduce research and development costs. Jugaad also applies to any kind of creative and out of the box thinking which maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders.

PYGMALION EFFECT

According to Pygmalion effect if higher expectations are placed on people then they are more susceptible to perform better. It is also known as Rosenthal Effect. The effect is named after Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw. The corollary of the Pygmalion effect is the golem effect in which low expectations lead to a decrease in performance.

Below is beautiful video of a man who wants to dance and win a competition, but lacks dancing skills. However his trainer motivates him and places large expectations on him to win the competition. As a result the person is motivated to perform better and in the end…. Enjoy the video to know the conclusion.

That is it for this week. Hope you learned some important organizational management concepts form this post. Keep on leaving your comments and / or valuable feedback.

Cheers,
Ankush

POM 03 - THE SCALING UP FROM CRAFTSMEN THINKING TO CORPORATE THINKING

 CRAFTSMEN THINKING Vs. CORPORATE THINKING

Another class and another set of props, today Prof. Mandi came with numerous wooden cubes with numbers and figures printed on its faces. He wanted the highest bidder to build a tower out of these blocks. Finally after a reluctant bidding round Mr. Anvesh Chipalli got the chance to build the tower by spending 500 bucks! He managed to make the best of this opportunity by building a tower of 16 cubes.

Prof. Mandi explained how Mr Anvesh like a single craftsman used no organization management skills. He is unable to use any organizational management skills because he has no organization to manage.  He is just one single person. Students argued that a craftsman like a cobbler making shoes is using a bit of management by optimizing his resources, but Prof. Mandi clarified that it is organization management he is talking of and whatever resources the cobbler is managing reflects his excellent craftsmanship and not management. The notion of organization comes in when more than one person is involved.

 

Dr. Mandi also explained that bigger is the size of an organization more is the output of the organization and the organization can cater to more and more people. With more people the chain elongates resulting in greater performance and profits. So with many people working in the company the importance of organization management cannot be undermined.

Below are some points of contrast between Craftsmanship and Modern Management 

	Craftsmanship	Modern Management
Number of people involved	One	More than one
Work Flow	Work is done in a  Sequential manner	Work is done in Parallel
Specialization of workers	Craftsman is jack of all trades	Work involves dexterity (Smallest piece of work is done by a worker many times )
Satisfaction Levels	High	Low
Interdependency	Low	High
Skill Levels	High Skill is required	Low skill required ( Deskilling is done here to gain advantage in terms of providing less training )

To prove his point, he asked the students to form a team and try to build a tower of maximum height possible. He wanted to show that the team would work as an organization and achieve better results. Eight students volunteered to do the task. However Prof. Mandi now trying to prove a different point introduced a twist in the task. He asked only one person to actually touch the blocks and construct the tower who would be blindfolded throughout the task and other seven can only guide and instruct orally. The team was able to make a tower of seven blocks only. When asked from the person who was constructing the tower why he couldn’t make a bigger tower, he told that he was listening to so many voices and orders that he got confused and things became haywire.

What I learnt from the above activity:  Middle level managers today are just sitting and shouting orders without really passing on something useful to the workers which actually can help the workers with  their tasks. As a result productivity and quality are coming down. The number of managers working in an organization should be justified and individual roles should be scrutinized. This forms one of the agenda of organization management. 

3 E’s OF MANAGEMENT

The 3 E’s of management which are required to be achieved by any organization are   –

     1)    Effectiveness

     2)    Efficiency

     3)    Excellence

Effectiveness can be defined as the capability of producing intended result that is acceptable to others and appeals to the masses. It is tough to achieve and only few people can work on it.

 Efficiency is the ratio of Output to Input. It is easier to achieve.

 Effectiveness is synonymous to right direction and efficiency to speed. So, if one is effective and efficient one can excel, similar to the person who runs fast in a right direction wins. So the formula for excellence becomes –

  

      EXCELLENCE                 =       EFFICIENCY           X        EFFECTIVENESS

(More out of less for more)              (More out of less)                         (For more)

Above were some of the fundamentals about organization management. More important topics to follow. Suggestion and / or improvements are always welcome.

Cheers!!
Ankush

POM 02 - THEORY X Vs THEORY Y - A MOTIVATIONAL THEORY

Whenever Dr. Mandi enters the class a wave of delight passes through the class. He is welcomed in the class and I wait for his class because that is when I get the real learning and that too in a fun way. He started with a topic namely – 

THEORY X and THEORY Y

In the year 1960, Douglas McGregor, a professor from MIT came up with a theory which explains two contrasting models of employee motivation.  These theories are referred to as THEORY X and THEORY Y. These theories cover what perception managers hold of their employees not how the employee actually behaves.

Theory X assumes that workers are lazy and not motivated. They will do anything to avoid work and are in the organization only for money. As a result managers, in order to achieve organizational goals, have to resort heavily on threat and strict supervision to gain their employee’s compliance. This results in a damaged environment affecting the efficiency and productivity. However it may be noted that employees disinterest in work can be due other reason as well. Reasons like rules and policies of company. This theory is counterproductive and is referred to as authoritarian style of management.

Theory Y on the other hand is participative style of management and assumes that workers are self-motivated and like to work. They are ready to take tough jobs and responsibility. This style of management gives enough liberty to workers to bring out their creative side and innovate. Theory Y managers tend to develop trust with their workers which goes a long way in human resource

Development. This theory is productive.

So based on the above four situations emerge:

Theory X Manager and Lazy Employee: The employee is lazy and the Theory X manager thinks that the employee is lazy. Theory X Manager will not try to motivate his employee and hence the organization’s productivity is affected. Please note here that the employee might be lazy for multiple reasons: he may not be interested in the work assigned to him or else, the work provided to him might not be good and so he is disinterested.

Theory X Manager and Not Lazy Employee: The employee is not lazy but Theory X manager assumes that the employee is lazy. In this situation the excellent work done by employee gets unnoticed and unrewarded. This will result in employee demotivation and dissatisfaction. Maybe to an extent that the employee leaves the organization.

Theory Y Manager and Lazy Employee:  In this scenario, the employee is lazy but the manager thinks that he is not lazy. The Manager puts in constant effort to motivate his employee by using different techniques. Managers support their employees, listen to the problems of employees hence leading to a better relationship between the two and thereby increasing productivity for the company.

 Theory Y Manager and Not Lazy Employee: Here, the employee is not lazy and the manager too thinks that the employee is not lazy and is performing to the best of his abilities. An ideal situation for any organization. Employees work is noticed and appreciated which in turn motivates him to perform better resulting in employee satisfaction.  Such organizations will always witness a continuous growth.

Experiences related to my work place

Theory X – I had one senior colleague at the post of manager in my company. He was a very lazy and slothful fellow. He failed at every deadline given to him no matter how relaxed the deadline maybe. So my senior manager resorted to threats of slow promotion and less hike in order to get the work done from him. This resulted in a bad atmosphere for the entire team and resulted in counter productivity.

Theory Y – For some of the projects i was working with my additional general manager.  He always thought that the youth are more creative and should be given opportunities to try out something new so that new innovations can happen. He used to give me many out of the league projects for the betterment of my workplace and I enjoyed working with him and taking responsibility.

In either case of an employee , as a Manager i would like to follow Theory Y  , because that is when i can increase productivity for the company and help the company grow. Moreover it will also lead to my subordinate's satisfaction.

 I sincerely hope that you all would have taken away some learnings from this post . Feedbacks and / or suggestions are always welcome. 

Cheers,

Ankush