Part 1: Dear Manager! You got to be good, otherwise, go home.

Part 1 of 2:

Most people who have been promoted to a manager position, surely must have to posses certain knowledge and skill in their field, plus a certain extent of the experience. However, apart from the technical expertise in his or her job, including the mentioned-above experience, there are still many elements needed to fulfill a manager job.

If we look into the complaints of employees who wish to resign or feel very unhappy with the work, many of those complaints are about many factors that do not directly point out the manager’s knowledge or expertise. In this article, I have summarized many of the complaints I received as a former HR director and even presently from many employees of many organizations while serving as a consultant or trainer throughout Thailand. I wish to propose 7 qualifications for a good qualified manager ESPECIALLY for all service related industries.

Excellent communication: So many people talk about listening! But, I know, here in Thailand, many managers cheat people by being quiet and only act like listening. I am sorry for this statement, I am Thai as well, and Thailand is my hometown, and it is painful to say the whole country has such a big problem about listening from my point of view. Most Thai people are groomed at early stage to keep their mouths shut (but allowed to gossip at the back), this habit has transformed into the listening mode without realization. Let’s do not discuss for now about listening skill even though the secret of excellent communication is “listening” skill.

In this article, I like to focus on “delivering information” or what I call “explaining”, not “talking”. I have seen so many managers do not know how to explain even simple things or they cannot deliver effective information in their briefings or meetings. I view that mangers have 3 main things to do in excellent communication: deliver information, explain complex information, and listen to information during the day from customer, staff, peers and superiors. In the service industry, each operational day of the manager is filled with information, more information and even more information, as there are always changes, requests, comments and complaints to deal with. How can we all serve the operation if the manager cannot even deliver simple information in a clear way? Exactly this is the main complaint from many subordinates I have spoken with. “Delivering” and “explaining” is a key to smoothen the operation within their area of responsibility.

Be systematic / well organized / detail oriented: A manager, cannot be messy in how they do things in all aspects of the professional life. I see system, organization and detail orientation as a good perfect blended process in having a good result of any task. They are all inseparable. If one person is systematic but not well organized, he will forget “this and that” at all times and his or her work will only be based on minute by minute or day by day! A well organized person is also a kind of well planned type of person and a manager must ALWAYS be ahead of their staff. In the service industry, detail orientation means a certain level of satisfaction because all information, requests and/or complaints of internal and external customers are filled with many detailed feelings, detailed needs and detailed facts. Therefore, a manager cannot be too conceptual. Remember, even small details serve many aspects of people satisfaction. All in all, if a manager is not systematic, he or she will be unable to communicate or explain task to staff effectively. A manager cannot do all things by herself or himself, therefore, being systematic will help the work to be more achievable by the manager and by others.

Effective problem-solving skill: Many managers do not like to solve problem! They only listen QUIETLY, and dump the employees’ problem into the garbage because some managers always see other peoples problem as a small issue. Many managers have no care to anyone! Or, some managers are very good to AVOID dealing with problems and let the staff to deal with it themselves. As I experience this type of manager, I have seen that people around this manager will suffer both in work and in private life. As a manager, one must be a good balanced fighter, not too much, not too less, not too strong and not too soft. Problem-solving skills need both science and art, and I think this qualification is the hardest for any manager, even for a normal human being. Problem solving is not rocket science, there are guideline. Subordinates truly and deeply respect a manager who is good at problem solving. The trick in solving problems correctly is simply to understand that many people misjudge problems. Most of the time, the problem is only a symptom of the REAL problem. Therefore,

• How to find out the core problem is crucial.
• If the problem cannot be solved immediately or at the expected time, how the manager will deal with this? This is another important issue and another important skill as well.
• Once the core cause is found, how the manager will tackle the found problem. The manager surely needs experience, technique, skill and personal charisma to deal with.
• Once the problem is solved, how manager ensures the problem will not reoccur. How it applies in another context.

I like to share some tips on some of my problem solving techniques.

• Never run away from the problem and show the eagerness to face it willingly at all time.
• Use your brain, heart, reason, emotion, feeling, common sense listen carefully before tackling the problem.
• Don’t believe a problem has to be solved in certain way, like you did it in the past.
• Don’t be surprise when you hear something you never know before, you must have an attitude that anything can happen at any time.

I personally believe that if the manager carries excellent communication skill, is systematic, well organized and detail oriented; these qualifications will help the manager with problem solving and will also support the manager dealing with un-solved problem at times apart from the above-mentioned techniques.

A manager really needs to be good to be called ‘manager’. No excuse! In my next article, I will write about the other 3 qualifications.

Part 2, please click here

© Nate-tra Dhevabanchachai, General Manager, Salaya Pavilion Hotel and Training Center, Mahidol University International College (www.salayapavilion) and Honorary Director of Mai-BS (Thailand) Company Limited, a hotel and resort consulting and training company (http://mai-bs.com)