10 examples of best practices in management

1. 1-to-1 weekly meeting
2. Cross functional meeting
3. Manage learning sessions or “learnings”
4. Using Delegation
5. Definition of business objectives
6. Performance review
7. Escalation path
8. Staff growth and development plans
9. “Bottom-up” planning
10. Using the Guidelines

What are the "best practices" in the company?

We can define best practices as good habits or of the methodological approaches to the execution of business activities or processes. Examples of best practices can be very varied and different from company to company:

• Who develops software could be have as a best practice to have meetings between developers to define how the code will be written before starting to write it or have a code review meeting after it is written “peer review”.
• A website development company might have a best practice of have non-technical people do a usability test of the site and outside the company to see how users interact with the interface.
• A human resources department might have as a best practice that of making a Annual internal survey among all employees to verify that the benefits and concessions offered are always in line with the changing expectations of colleagues.

The opposite of best practice.

On the other hand, there are corporate behaviors that are at the opposite extreme of the so-called best practices, which can negatively influence the corporate climate and which are evidence of the absence of a corporate culture. The use of best practices in the company, and therefore the existence of the term "best practice" in the company vocabulary, is part of those elements of corporate culture that either exists or is very difficult to create see also my article Plato and the science of management.

Some examples of inconsistent behavior can be:

• Don’t leverage internal resources for office politics reasons. Promote people and manage promotions based on personal preferences, friendships and nepotism.
• Promise to do certain things and not do them, lack of the so-called "walk the talk"
• Implement policies that reward office attendance rather than results
• Discriminating treatment based on the company's office politics and not on objective and motivated criteria
• Having unclear or undefined roles and responsibilities.
• Tolerating bad behavior instead of correcting it

Having bad habits or practices in your company and not doing anything to correct them leads to the generation of toxic work environments. Toxic work environments feed on themselves through vicious cycles whereby they tend to reinforce themselves through positive feedback.

Tolerating bad behavior is equivalent to approving it. That is, if an incorrect behavior is not discouraged and repressed once discovered, the person who carries out the incorrect behavior without being reprimanded will see this result as positive and will tend to replicate the incorrect behavior. This is the mechanism of positive feedback.

The weekly 'one to one'

The one-to-one meeting with your collaborators is something as simple as it is useful.

The weekly one to one has two purposes: the first one is discuss the progress of the week's activities the second is to have a open communication channel with your collaborator.

It is clear that if there is no trace of the activities in progress and if the activities in progress are not clearly assigned to a person, the discussion does not hold up. In other words, as a manager, you cannot ask for an update on the activities in charge of a person if you have not first given a clear delegation and objectives to the person.

Second point, if you don't want to hear what your collaborators have to say… well, one to one you will never do. Then we do a survey.

Cross functional meeting

The cross functional meeting is a weekly meeting of the heads of functions who meet for a round the table of updates and discussion of problems.

Have you ever heard of it? I don't think so, but if you work in an Italian company that does it please write to me to report it to me, you never know in life.

Even the operation of the cross functional meeting, as well as the 1: 1 is very simple. A group of function managers from various functions and at the same level + or- find themselves in a room and share what they are doing (briefly) and the problems they are experiencing. Something so civil in Italy has never been seen for two reasons first that we don't know what a cross functional meeting is and two because so many people go to meetings if they feel like it, otherwise they find an excuse.

Manage learning sessions or “learnings”

Learning sessions are meetings that should be held at the conclusion of projects to discuss what went well and what went badly.

From this meeting, activities that performed well and others that performed poorly emerge. Those that performed well will be kept to be replicated in future projects, while activities that performed poorly will be analyzed further to see if anything can be improved and if not, they will be discarded.

Let's take an example: "we are organizing a promotional activity for Black Week and we decide to offer a discount on a different selection of products for each day of the week. After Black Week we evaluate the results and see that sales have been in line with the expected objective and we have also improved profit margins." In this case, from the learning session, it emerged that the activity carried out for Black Week went well and can be replicated, perhaps with some variations, for future initiatives.

The Delegation

Asking someone to do something other than a simple task by giving him the responsibility for the thing and accompanying him in achieving the goal.

In Italy it is practically prohibited. Talking about delegation is in itself a signal of misalignment, a slippery and somewhat unpleasant subject that begins with defining what a person should do to end up with acknowledging the merit of having achieved a goal in the case. Practically heresy, but more profanely a subversive and intolerable attitude to the Italian management. Rather I cut my veins. Wink.

However, among all those mentioned so far, in fact, delegation is a complex managerial practice that requires skills in managing it, skills that are obviously lacking in Italy.

To learn more: go to the free lesson basis for effective delegation management.

Targets

I left the most important business process for last. The definition of business objectives is the most important process because it is the one that guides the behavior of all employees for the reporting year.

Business goals should be in a number ranging from 3 to 5 and should apply to all employees. For example, objectives such as the growth of X% turnover or the improvement of EBIT from X to Y are objectives that concern the whole company. But also goals such as improving product quality or customer satisfaction are goals that can involve all employees. In cascade, each employee will have to adapt the three company objectives to his own work environment and decline them into his own objectives.

Other examples of business goals can be:

Growth of X percent of turnover while maintaining the current level of profitability;

Create a more sustainable work environment and reduce the 10% turnover rate

Launch two new innovative products on the market by the end of the XX year.

Each employee will have to take these three company objectives and define them for their area, necessarily with the support of their line manager.

The performance review

The performance review is closely linked to the definition of the person's individual annual objectives.

Based on performance objectives, which can be linked to both company and individual results, the person receives an evaluation on the degree of achievement of their objectives.

For example

• Achieving company performance objectives: 100% if the company has achieved its objectives
• Achieving personal performance goals: 90% whether the individual has achieved his/her work goals
• Achievement of personal growth and development goals: 100% if the person has completed the training program planned for the year.

Performance evaluation should be done at pre-established times throughout the year, for example at the end of each quarter.

Escalation

Escalation is a process of bringing to the next level an issue that cannot be resolved to the level at which it is being debated, because two managers of the same level cannot find an agreement.

Imagine that the production manager and the logistics manager cannot agree on where to install a new warehouse. If the two managers have the same line report, they will talk to their mutual boss to find a solution.

It is very simple and effective, it is a pity that it only works in a managerial environment where the senior line manager intervenes only when necessary in management decisions.

In an environment where the business owner intervenes in every single decision this process simply cannot exist.

The staff growth and development plan

The Staff Growth and Development Plan is a strategic document that defines the actions needed to professionally grow a company's employees. It is a long-term investment that aims to improve the skills, knowledge and abilities of collaborators, aligning their aspirations with the company's objectives.

Because it's important?

• Increase employee satisfaction: When employees see that the company invests in them, they feel more valued and motivated.
• Improve business performance: More competent and motivated employees lead to better results.
• Reduces turnover: A well-structured development plan helps retain talent within the company.
• Promotes innovation: Employees with new skills are more likely to propose innovative ideas.

Examples of training activities:

• Online courses: Provide access to e-learning platforms to acquire new skills.
• Internal workshops: Organize workshops held by internal experts within the company.
• Mentoring: Assign each employee a mentor to guide them in their professional growth.
• Coaching: Provide personalized support to overcome challenges and achieve goals.
• Conference participation: Send employees to industry events to catch up on the latest news.

“Bottom up planning”

The bottom up planning is an approach to strategic planning that starts at the lowest levels of the organization (such as individual departments or employees) and then moves up to the top, until it reaches the company management. In other words, it is a method that actively involves all members of the organization in the decision-making process.

How does it work?

1. Starting from the departments: Each department or operating unit identifies its own goals, challenges, and the resources needed to achieve them.
2. Information aggregation: The information collected from various departments is consolidated and analyzed at the company level.
3. Definition of strategic objectives: Based on the information collected, the management defines the strategic objectives of the company, taking into account the needs and proposals coming from the departments.

Benefits of bottom-up planning

• Greater involvement: Employees feel more engaged and motivated when they have the opportunity to contribute to defining company goals.
• More detailed information: Information gathered by departments is often more detailed and accurate than that obtained through a top-down approach.
• Flexibility: Bottom-up planning allows strategic plans to be adapted to the specific needs of each department.
• Innovation: By involving employees at all levels, new ideas and innovative solutions are encouraged.

Disadvantages of bottom-up planning

• Longer times: The process of gathering and analyzing information can take longer than a top-down approach.
• Coordination difficulties: Coordinating information from different departments can be complex.
• Risk of misaligned goals: If not managed well, the process could lead to the definition of objectives that are not fully aligned with the overall strategy of the company.

When to use bottom-up planning?

Bottom-up planning is particularly effective when:

• You want to increase employee engagement.
• Detailed information on department needs is needed.
• The company is characterized by a strong participatory culture.
• The aim is to promote innovation and flexibility.