SUBJECT: Managing Successfully
APPLICATION: Developing a Game Plan

Management Memo
By Thomas P. Sattler, Ed.D., and Carol A. Doniek, M.S.

Do you have what it takes to be a successful manager in today's fitness/wellness market? A manager's game plan must include strategic leadership, commitment to continuous improvement, team building and life skills. Test your reactions to the following four management scenarios, and then compare your reactions with those expected of today's middle- and senior- level management.

  1. You have hired a part-time front- desk/administrative assistant. On his/her first day you:
    1. Ask one of your employees to do the orientation so that you can focus on more pressing matters. This will empower the employee so he/she will have the chance to practice supervisory skills with the new hire.
    2. Give the new hire the front desk manual and a video tape which has been prepared so that he/she can study in a quiet room.
    3. Spend time reviewing his/her work for the day. Take a tour of the center to introduce him/her to other employees and set a meeting time with him/her at the end of the shift to review the day's events.
  2. Your company wants to test a new membership tracking software package. You:
    1. Pass until the software has been proven reliable. You don't want your data collection to be interrupted or risk membership data loss.
    2. Accept the offer to show that you are a team player, but make sure that you are available to point out any problems which are inherent in the new system.
    3. Accept the offer without question because you believe that the new technology could speed the monthly billing process.
  3. As a team leader, your most important responsibility is to:
    1. Complete projects on time and on budget.
    2. Define the team's mission and goals.
    3. Encourage everyone on the team to participate.
  4. You have six major projects to complete by the end of the week. You:
    1. Do the easiest tasks first so you can show that some sort of progress has been made if everything does not get completed.
    2. Complete the tasks that will win you the most notoriety.
    3. Break each task down into a series of smaller goals and create a time-line/checklist for the completion of each task.

Answers

  1. c. Both you and the new hire will benefit from your taking time to do the orientation. However, you may delegate the task to a select staff member who you know will provide the proper guidance. Unfortunately, poor work practices and attitudes are often passed to new hires unbeknownst to top management.
  2. c. High-value managers are expected to welcome and be knowledgeable about new technologies.
  3. b. Clearly defined mission statements and goals will keep the team on track.
  4. c. Breaking down each task will help you avoid the temptation to procrastinate when you feel overwhelmed. The time- line/checklist will serve as a manageable action plan.

Follow-up

As a logical follow-up to this short exercise, you may want to develop an evaluative instrument of your own. The steps in the process are as follows:

  1. Solicit input from staff members of various departments to determine the critical issues in their own areas or issues which are interdepartmental.
  2. Write case study scenarios with various management options that have been used in the past, and explain the options which are high-value oriented.
  3. Have all staff members respond to the complete test of scenarios to determine the most commonly selected option for each scenario.
  4. Discuss the results with the appropriate answers at the next staff meeting.

A managers game plan must Include leadership, commitment, to continuous improvement, team building and life skills.

REFERENCE

Stone, Florence M., & Randi T. Sachs. The High-Value Manager. New York: American Management Association, 1995.

Thomas R. Sattler, Ed.D., is professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Carol A. Doniek, M.S., is manager of the Stuart Fitness Center at the Quaker Oats Co., Chicago.


PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES


SITE MENU

Committee on Administrators

The Committee on Administrators (COA) is an advocate for Marquette administrators in their welfare, professional development, communication, collegiality and other related topics. COA presents the concerns and recommendations of administrators regarding these issues to senior administration through the vice president and general counsel.