Decision Making For Dummies

Chapter 14

Making Decisions as a Manager

In This Chapter

Discovering overall changes to the manager’s role

Identifying your leadership approach as a manager

Choosing the most effective use of authority

Avoiding and addressing unmet expectations

When companies reach a point (number of staff) where they feel the need to organize how work gets done, many automatically adopt hierarchies without considering other options. The go-to hierarchy — and the way it has always been done in business, based on the belief that people need to be directed, not trusted — is one that relies on managers to control and direct performance … that is, to tell people what to do and to make sure they do what is expected of them.

This model — and the manager’s role — is changing. So, too, is the way in which decisions get made. Now the focus is on engaging employees and working collaboratively to make sound decisions quickly. In this chapter, I explore the overall trends affecting the managerial role, provide some tools you can use to thrive, and share strategies to help both older and younger workers achieve ...