The Four Most Common Problems in Management and How to Solve Them

Managing and supervising people is not an easy job. Everyday we are facing different problems and challenges. Maybe a small or big problems that we must enhance or motivate our people, talk with them and even sometimes help them to solve their day to day problems. Every individual has his own characteristic to portray. Variations of people should take into consideration in managing them. Factors like timing, place, and situation would work well for the managers.

With the fast changing world, we need to cope up with things that could hinders the development of one's managerial skills. Here are the top ten most common problems in management and how to solve them.

1. The Attitude Problems

   • require extra time, attention, and direction
   • ignore legitimate authority or directions from their bosses
   • smile and tell a joke
   • enjoy seeing others achievements

The manager's attitude is what makes him uniquely as him. Attitude plays a vital role in your career's advancement and edge. As we mature in our job, we tend to learn more in our relationships with other people for whom we work with. The attitude with which we approach all our tasks eventually shapes our individual role and determines our success. The reasons for a person having an attitude problem are so deep-rooted and complex that you don't want to solve any problem that you encounter. Sometimes, you find that you are having a continuing problems with your subordinates. Attitude problems may solve through:

2. The Communication Problem

   1. Upward Communication calls for tact, because the subordinate may have no contradict or correct the superior in a manner that does not anger him, downgrade his position, or damage his ego. For example, don't ever say to a boss, “You're wrong”. Bosses don't like that kind of communicating. The subordinate, in effect must elicit a reaction or behavior in the superior much as a salesman makes someone want to buy a product.
   2. Sideward Communication or communication between peers tends to be by mutual consent. Since no one has any real authority over others in the peer group, one has to use logic and persuasions to demonstrate agreement and get any action.
   3. Downward Communication tends to be authoritative and quick. Directives or orders are issued to be carried out. Little explanations are given as to the reason behind the directives. Open feedback of these directives is generally discouraged in practice, if not in principle. Let the subordinate who points out that the boss was wrong beware.

Today, we live in a world of euphemism. For as long as we use nice words, we can cite any subjects. Most of us search for the right words to express what we feel in the least offensive manner. This is fine unless we concern ourselves more with the format of message than its substance. Euphemisms carry us far from the truth into the world of unreality or out-right lies.

If you really want to hear the plain truth of what the other person really thinks about the situation, one way to get it is to make the other person angry. When someone is angry with you, he forgets about your feelings or using nice words. He will tell you in a clear and loud voice exactly what he thinks about you and the situation that exists between him and you. He may even go back a bit in time and bring up long forgotten or suppressed problems. It may not be good for your ego and it may hurt a little, but you will know what he thinks.

Problems in communication arise when the person doing the communicating is unaware of or doesn't care which of the three type he or she is doing (upward, sideward or downward)

Types of Communication:

So what do we really mean when we use the term communication problem? First, we must admit that the problem, whatever it is, is generally not communicating. The problem lies somewhere else. I order to cure any illness or solve any problem, it is best to find the ultimate cause. There are proximate causes, ultimate causes and others in between in the chain and cause.

When we spend our time and effort in trying to solve communication problems, in most cases we are applying solve to rash. It is only temporary in nature and will recur because we are seeing a manifestation of something that is the effect of some other basic cause.

3. Disagreement

   1. The know-it-all. This person tells everyone what he thinks-loud and clear. He is rarely there when a decision has to made, but is right there afterward telling you and everyone else why he disagreed with what was done. He use 20/20 hindsight to tell you what was wrong. He is never wrong.
   2. The shy person. These personalities are so quiet you scarcely know they are around. They do their work as assigned to them. They rarely venture an opinion or disagree anyone. They don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, so if they believe something is going wrong, they don't say anything. They would never presume to suggest to the boss or anyone else that there is a better way to do anything. That could cause controversy, and this type doesn't like to be the subject of controversy or in any way involved.
   3. The “I only follow orders type”. These people do what they are told and don't ask questions. They disagree or give their ideas when asked, but unless and until they are specifically requested to give opinions, they tend to remain silent and never question anything.
   4. The born arguer. This type likes to oppose for the sake of opposing. No matter what you plan to do or what decision you want to make, you can count on them to disagree. They seem to feel that the only way they can show you they have minds of their own is to disagree with you just about everything and everyone. This is usually a form of arrested emotional development.
   5. The reasonable type. These personalities are willing and able to contribute ideas and are not afraid to disagree or to offer novel ideas, if they are given the right environment in which to respond. Fortunately, the majority of employees are in this category.

If handles properly, results positive benefits. A good manager encourages those with other points of view to express their ides. Those who sometimes disagree many will have something of value to contribute if their viewpoints are not shut off. It is up to those in charge to create an environment that neither suppresses disagreement nor permits disagreements to degenerate into hostility and distrust. A manager who skillfully handles disagreements will not permit employees to” talk the thing to death” without ever reaching constructive conclusions.

Handling disagreements requires the exercise of good judgment and some knowledge of personality traits. Let us consider some types of personalities in the workplace:

It is only human to bitterly resist being boxed in or proved wrong. We all have egos and will react negatively to disagreement that is based upon a criticism of our own performance, decisions, or judgments. No benefit will accrue to you if you win someone else.

In summary, coping with disagreement and dissent can be beneficial, depending upon on how it is done. The issues about disagreement is explained here are not moral or ethical. It is pragmatic, business-type decisions. When it comes to disagreement on a moral, legal, ethical level, you should follow your conscience and never compromise it.

4. The Doers

   1. In any organization, 90% of work is done by 10% of the people
   2. There are three kinds of people in the world: (1) 5% who do things, (2) 10% who don't do anything but carefully study what doers do and comment on these activities to each other, and (3) group of 85% who neither do anything nor know or care what is going on
   3. In any organization, 80% to 90% of the sales are made by 20% of the sales force

Doers get things done. They the initiative and generate the activities to be done in the right time. There are three statements that pertain to doers these are as follows:

Doers are like yeast in the bread. Just a little in every loaf is all that is needed for the whole loaf to rise. Too much in one loaf destroys it and none in another destroys that one too. Doers vitalize the loaf they are in. managers must first identify these people and then spread them around on the ratio of about one per ten employees, if possible. This will give good results, whatever goal may be.

These problems may arise in the part of the managers and the labor force. The management of a business has left the hands of its owners and come into the hands of the professional manger, an employee himself. Perhaps the strangest thing about the professional manger, as we know him today, is that he is not working primarily to get rich, but to do good production.