Page 46 - Becoming a Successful Manager

The Staff Mosaic—Working Together 37

quickly to share a thought, but they often leave behind the respect
necessary to communicate a message completely. Managing is
an ever-changing art with increasing demands and challenges.
And managing requires creativity. The core barriers to working
in virtual communities are neither cultural nor technological.
They require the ability to ask questions and to make decisions.
Those questions must be the right questions about what the team
requires.
The responses likewise empower team members to make their
decisions from their understanding of the common goals.
In a later chapter you’ll fi nd an extensive section on getting to
know the members of your workforce.

As you navigate through the book focus on specific people you
know and how to get the most productivity and loyalty from each
one.
An effective and successful manager gets work done through
other people, not through giving orders or writing memos.
Congratulations!

Discovery Lesson

Choose one of the fi ve senses at a time and imagine it is gone. Then
answer each of the following questions according to the senses you have
left to determine what you need for clear communication. Also consider
the implied questions that go with each of those listed. For example,
“What feedback do you need from your team?”
If you cannot see them, how do you know they are happy, inter-
ested, or productive? What can you do to better understand?
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