Are you a good manager?
Find out how great your management capability really is by answering the following searching and challenging questions. Be honest now!
1. An employee complains that it is too cold in the office, and her hot water bottle keeps freezing. Do you:
a) tell them to stop complaining and put on an extra couple of jumpers
b) ask them to put 50p in the meter
c) sympathise, but explain that overheads must be cut
d) close up early and all go to the pub.
2. The meeting you are in has lasted over three hours and the chairman is still on item 1 of the agenda. Do you:
a) pretend to die in the hope you will be carried out
b) ask if you may be excused to visit the bathroom
c) yawn loudly to see if he takes the hint
d) hit the fire alarm when no-one is looking.
3. You want to ask your boss for a pay rise. Do you:
a) dress in rags and show her pictures of your children
b) buy her a bunch of flowers and tell her how young she is looking
c) beg
d) tell her that you are about to close the Microsoft contract and just need that extra incentive.
4. Yesterday you had 358 E-mails and 78 people came to see you. Do you:
a) fire your secretary
b) create a waiting room outside your office
c) look for a new job
d) go on holiday.
5. Your sales manager has just lost a major contract because your price is too high. Do you:
a) visit the customer dressed in rags and show him pictures of your children
b) have toilet paper printed with the sales manager’s picture on
c) offer to subsidise the price out of the sales manager’s salary
d) compliment the sales manager on saving the need for all that paperwork.
6. Two of your colleagues do not get on and regularly argue. Do you:
a) suggest they give each other a big hug
b) promote one of them and demote the other to simplify decision making
c) suggest a duel and provide suitable weapons
d) give each points based on the quality of insults they use.
7. Staff turnover is reaching new heights. Do you:
a) make employees sign a minimum 10 year contract with no escape clause
b) congratulate yourself on the reducing overheads
c) find out where they are going and apply for a job there
d) raise your own salary to compensate for the increased workload.
8. The computer system fails and all customer records for the past 15 years are lost. Do you:
a) laugh and remind people that you always said paper systems were better
b) take a lynch mob up to the IT department
c) accept the blame and hope for a great redundancy package
d) admit you never really knew how to use the computer anyway.
9. A young team member bursts into tears and tells you she has just found out she is pregnant. Do you:
a) point out the clause in her contract where she waived any right to maternity pay
b) complain that her sobbing is making a stain on the new carpet
c) tell her about the second-hand cot your sister is trying to sell
d) say ‘congratulations’ and ‘where is that report I asked for ten minutes ago?’
10. Your entire team has started to take several smoke breaks a day amounting to several hours. Do you:
a) take up smoking
b) charge a £5 entry fee into the smoking shelter
c) increase the profit mark-up on the cigarette machine
d) move their desks into the smoking shelter
If you said Yes to any of the answers suggested, you may be in serious trouble and should lie down until the feeling goes away. Alternatively, you could call The Beech Consultancy and see if there are more suitable recommendations to help with your problems of communication, staff morale, delegation or company culture.
If you said No to all of the suggested answers, there may just be hope for you. However, to be on the safe side, have a chat to The Beech Consultancy and let us work together to ensure you are implementing the best principles of individual and team development to create a successful and positive environment.
The best way to be ready for the future is to invent it.