Management by e-mail & protocol management VERSUS regular management… 2:0
I propose to add to the management cabinet of curiosities several everyday phenomena, noticed from management practice. They are so simple that we perceive them simply as an integral part of our corporate life:
- management by-e-mail (management via mailbox)
- protocol management (management through meeting minutes)
These concepts, in appearance, relate to situations of vigorous activity in the form of electronic communications or highly active activity in the format of meetings, but in fact it was noted that quite often they relate to “muda” (from Japanese, “muda” is a process that does not create any additional value for an external or internal client).
The point of this phenomenology is that normal professional tasks “migrate” from work plans or projects a) to mailboxes, b) to agendas and minutes of numerous meetings. It would seem that there is nothing wrong with this… These forms of communication can be quite useful if they do not replace regulations, work plans – that which is related to regular management.
“E-mail” demands a response, those in copy also have something to say, and the chain reaction of e-communications consumes time and space… New letters in the mailbox are always a reason for a feeling of being busy, and formally provable busyness at that.
The “minutes” of any important meeting (and at the highest level, all important and responsible meetings) require subsequent monitoring – control over the implementation of the management decisions made.
Thus, given a known number of meetings, it is entirely appropriate to create a separate workplace and staff unit for systematizing monitoring and maintaining general monitoring of all individual monitoring.
Simple ways are not interesting… Clarity and precision are sometimes not in demand. Otherwise, it would be different – management of work plans and projects through regulations and processes… Event management leads to meetings, protocols and monitoring, branched e-communications, regular management “lives” in 2 forms – in processes and projects, there are simply no other forms of life for business.
To develop the idea, I would introduce a “dichotomy” – “management versus reign”. Sometimes it is difficult to separate the first from the second, when the role of the owner is combined with the role of the top-level manager… for reigning, personal charisma is quite enough, or emails and protocols – if charisma cannot be applied, while management (regular management) still requires incredible efforts to systematize, implement and develop a huge number of already known management technologies.
The thought is fixed. To deepen and develop it, the continuation will follow…
