Obsolete management lessons you should definitely not follow anymore

People management, like all branches of human activity, is constantly evolving. However, there still exist some outdated, old-school management adages which are taken as fixed and permanent, even though in reality they could harm your managerial efforts if you were to follow them today. Let's take a look at four examples.

Illustration

This text is based on an article on Forbes.

The leader is always right as they are the ultimate decision maker

Unless you are in the military, this argument no longer holds up today. And, by the way, it no longer applies in the military either. A manager is not an omniscient authoritarian who dictates how things should be done, but rather someone who has to enable their subordinates to work efficiently and productively. In so doing, they have to put their ego and personality to one side as much as possible. So forget about always having the last say.

One management and communication style suits all workers

Personalisation has played a major role in the relationship between workers and their supervisors for some time. Each employee requires a slightly different approach, a different type of communication and a different management style. A good manager should respect these individual needs of workers. On no account should they always use the same style when dealing with individual subordinates.

Strict division of roles, hierarchies and teams

In the old days, companies and roles were strictly divided with a clearly defined hierarchy and teams working in isolation. This is no longer the case today. Where this idea still persists, there is certainly some catching up to do. Today even a manager can do routine work and regular workers be involved in key strategic decisions. Hierarchy is less important than cooperation and harmony among all company workers.

Development is something a worker first needs to earn

Training and developing workers only as a reward is one of the biggest fallacies of human resource management. In fact, companies should always train workers no matter what. Otherwise, they will eventually lose competitiveness as well as skilled employees. Educate your staff, regardless of whether they are more or less successful.

 

-mm-

Article source Forbes.com - prestigious American business magazine and website
Read more articles from Forbes.com