- “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.”
-Pablo Picasso
As we wrap up 2024, I wanted to share a few ideas which have served me well over my career in the Investment Management and Strategy Consulting industries.
Congratulate your employees/colleagues for a job well done this year. This is obvious to some, but I have witnessed many managers who will not or fail to recognize members of their team. Even during tough years, good managers pull their members together to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the firm or a specific project. I often used team meals to show gratitude and thanks. My Mom taught me long ago that a shared meal is an effective way to bring people together to show gratitude for a job well done.
Review the corporate strategy and objectives to ensure your own goals and objectives are aligned. It is typical for firms to provide annual updates for their employees focused on near- and long-term corporate objectives and corresponding quantifiable metrics. Use this period as an opportunity to quantify how your team can contribute to the achievement of the objectives. Ensure that each member of your team understands how their individual performance can help achieve such objectives. Effective managers ensure that their team members understand how their specific performance has a direct and meaningful contribution to the firm’s success.
Confirm all team roles and responsibilities, ensuring that you possess the appropriate resources to achieve your objectives. While it is not difficult to understand you and your team’s objectives, it is easy to overlook the resources needed to achieve the objectives within the desired time period. Therefore, it is important for managers to “size” the team to the stated goals and objectives. If additional resources are necessary, seek opportunities to leverage others within the organization. If not available, review the resource gap with executive management ensuring mutual understanding of what can and cannot be achieved.
Always have a Plan B should unexpected actions derail your team, projects, and the ability to achieve near term objectives. Nothing ever works out as planned; therefore, experience managers should always be contemplating alternative actions should initiatives become derailed. One method I have successfully utilized is prioritizing the various activities based on their overall impact on the business. Those activities with the highest priority (e.g., critical) naturally are the initial primary focus. Other activities which are “important” but not critical are the second priority. Finally, those activities which are “nice to have” are considered last and only implemented should time, resources and budget remain.
Close out the year on a strong point, spend quality time with your colleagues and team members congratulating them on a job well done, and prepare your team for success in the coming year.
Happy Holidays!
Joseph Burschinger
Principal Consultant
WMT Advisors LLC