Troy Scott

Lessons for the Learning Student: Management

The structure and content of courses can lead to a disconnection between the student and
the material. Its easy to get lost in definitions and overwhelmed with the names of the various
people and their contributions to the field of study. One aspect of a class that is easily missed is
its personal effect on the student. In MGT 300, I not only learned the fundamentals to being a
successful manager, but I rediscovered important life lessons that helped me come into my own
state of understanding.
Managers do not need to rule and overpower their employees but rather oversee
and empower them. It may seem at times that a manager should act as an oppressive school
teacher everyone fears during grade school. On the contrary, managers should serve more like a
guidance counselor: someone who inspires, empowers, and cares about each individual. A
managers sole purpose is not to teach or enforce strict law over their subordinates but to nurture
and illuminate them in a way that is both personally and organizationally beneficial.
Management, like history, requires objective insight into the strengths and
weaknesses of the past to learn and adapt to the future. From the primordial ooze to the great
beast, management has gone through different ideologies and theories that approach management
from a new light. Beginning with the monotonous and mechanical scientific management to the
organic and personal quality management, we have seen several shapes and forms to the same
basic concept of management. Just as the present is ever-changing, we must espouse the tenets
of past styles of management to accommodate evolving cultures and human ideals.
The key to success begins with a foundation of understanding which requires
necessary planning. Too easy is it to have an idea and expect it to just magically come to
fruition. Like an organization, great visions cannot instantiate with the flick of a finger. They
must be realized enough that procedural steps can be formed. Once a proper method is
visualized, the process of creation can begin. Is it in part the function of the manager to see
through that a vision is properly planned, and in turn, completely understood by the workforce.
Therein a manager has set out a plan for their subordinates to follow, elevating the vision or goal
to its highest potential.
The sum of the parts is greater than the whole when the manager is the binding
glue. When a team of people get together to collaborate on a project, the results can become
exponentially better, but if the team succumbs to groupthink, ideas get curtailed, weakening the
critical analysis required to enhance the overall performance of the team. It is the managers job
to ensure that viewpoints are challenged and ideas are refined. Additionally, a manager must not
be too abrasive and hinder the focus of the team. It is a harmonic balance a manager must find
between synergy and conflict to construct a productive team within the workplace.
It is impossible to please everyone in a work environment. As a manager and
employee, you must give up certain rights to appease the entire workforce. There is no
perfect group of individuals; there is no world without conflict or disarray. There is an attainable
margin a manager can bridge to make a workplace virtually free of disruption and tension,
especially when it comes to the clashing of personalities. A manager can resolve disputes
amongst their subordinates by finding a reasonable compromise between the two in an
appropriate fashion. Managers should also strive to minimize any disputes between subordinate
and themselves. As a manager, one needs to be as objective, sympathetic, and approachable as

possible. Any conflict a subordinate has with their manager may indicate an issue in their
managing strategies, or it may be an underlying symptom with the rest of the workplace.
As planning is essential to execute projects in a clear and concise way, the
organization and design of a workforce is the stable backbone for all operations. An
organized and clean work environment ensures the fluidity of projects and the ease of
management. When a team of co-workers are organized and able to meet timelines, a manager
can better gauge the progress of projects, the difficulty of tasks, and can more easily predict and
overcome obstacles. From the tidiness of a desk to the alphabetically filed bookshelf, it is
apparent but sometimes overlook how crucial it is for a company and its divisions to be
organized. Without proper organization, critical information may be lost in the noise of the
workplace, resulting in incomplete tasks and disgruntled workers.
Understanding when to reward or reprimand subordinates, based on personality,
history, and complacency. Not everyone is the exact same, and as such, not everyone should
receive the same type of feedback on their performance, positive or negative. Different people
benefit from different modes of discipline and reinforcements. Its very easy to have a binary
approach to rewards and punishments, but ultimately, it forces the workers to operate under your
ideals and personality which can suppress their creativity and willingness to perform. Being a
flexible manager means knowing how to approach different people with a similar state of mind.
By understanding the individuals, you are more capable of driving change in the workplace, and
the productivity and happiness of everyone will increase substantially.
Power is a great tool, but as with most things, it can be abused and misguided. A
very clich subject is the malevolence and misuse of power, but analyzing it under the
managerial microscope throws a whole new light on the matter. Managers need power and
authority to have any influence on their subordinates. Without it, there would be chaos in the
workplace. Tasks would not be completed, projects would be terribly past due, and the hope for
success would rely entirely on the individual morality, discipline, and eagerness of the
employees. On the opposite side of the coin, managers with excessive power instill fear and
distress in the workplace, limiting productivity. Finding a way to control power in a way that
creates eustress and encourages productivity while not being too overbearing is a difficult but
achievable feat. It requires the manager to understand the importance of the whole over
themselves and not get too thirsty for power.
Communication is the key to understanding. Without it, an efficient and effective
organization is impossible. Verbal communication is an evolutionary trait that binds our
species into a single working organism. This pivotal trait in humans is somethingas ridiculous
as it soundsthat is entirely necessary for a healthy and functional system of people, and it
should not be overlooked or undervalued. The exchange of ideas allows each person in a team or
organization to loan their individualized skills to a cause or project while stimulating change and
betterment.
No matter the conflict, whether a resolution is found or not, theres always
something to be gainedlessons to be learned. One of the most important pieces of
knowledge stems from the ability to fail or from the ability to overcome and learn from failure.
Its a lesson that has been engrained into most peoples minds, but its something that needs to be
absorbed in personal and subjective manner. There comes a point where failure transcends
thought. It becomes a feeling, and with that feeling you can choose to either become empowered
or devoid of motivation. It wasnt until MGT 300 that this occurred for me in my college career.
It is a valuable and unforgettable lesson.