Blogs

Elston, Mary. Master Your Middle Management Universe: How to Succeed with Moga Moga Management Using 3 Easy Steps!. Littleton: Aascom Publishing, Inc. 2006.

Some days, there’s nothing better than an easy-to-read management book.  It took me an hour over the weekend to read Mary Elston’s “Master Your Middle Management Universe” from Aascom Publishing in Littleton, Colorado.  It is so full of nice little gems, I’m sharing it with you.

What makes it such a gem? In less than 120 pages, Ms. Elston’s message is, “get it done now and get it done right” and she tells you exactly how to do so. 

Part One opens with a call to all middle managers by defining what a middle manager is—basically, if you’re not a CXO, you’re a middle manager. She introduces and explains her theme of Moga Moga that is her inheritance from her large Italian family.  Moga stands for motivate, organize, guide, and achieve.  The chapters continue with Moga Moga management in three easy steps: assess (analyze the current state of your team, or take stock and define roles), address (find out if processes are working), and finesse (fine-tune your program for success). She concludes Part One by tying the three strands together.

Part Two continues with guiding team performance to the next level.  She offers the high points of her “Meet to Succeed” program.

Part Three outlines the characteristics of good and bad managers.

Part Four concludes the book with the Top 20 Moga Moga morals and final words of wisdom.

So, why do I like this book?

As often as she generously peppers her book with useful worksheets, Ms. Elston is reasonable and she shares hard-won lessons learned. Like a call and response, she asks, what makes a good team?

• Full appreciation and respect for everyone’s contribution
• Common goals for the team
• Tools for processes and resources
• Individual ownership and accountability

She encourages you to ask your boss what they want you to do—you're supposed to ask your boss, how can I put a gold star on your review next year? Ask about what’s expected and proactively propose a plan to meet the expectation. In return, your boss must validate what you do.  It’s critical to account for what you do as soon as you begin doing it.  Share key information. Being left in the dark alienates people and hinders team spirit. Interview your team members.

• Do present roles enable each person to “own” a defined area of responsibility that aligns with his or her skills and goals and allow room for growth in the future?
• Are there areas in which role overlap produces redundancy that is useful?
• Are there areas in which role overlap generates unnecessary and unproductive conflict?

(Do these questions sound familiar? Do we not ask our clients when implementing electronic records systems the very same? Additional proof—as if it was needed!--that records is inherent to business.)

But, Ms. Elston states, although there may be conflict, it is process conflict, not personal conflict (which if you’ve ever worked in a Records warehouse is a tremendously helpful reminder). Start small, walk before you run, but build to a program crescendo.  Certainly, hold the daily ten-minute sanity check—address the processes!

• Are current processes allowing each person to contribute to the group’s success on a daily basis?
• Are processes enabling a productive and efficient execution of duties?
• Are processes in place that inherently allow chaos?

If any of the answers to the above are no, then it’s time to finesse. “E to the Power of Four”—eliminate overlap, enable ownership, engage process, enhance productivity—dares to look pain in the face and ask team members and clients what kind of sadists they are.  Just because you’ve always done it this way doesn’t mean you have to continue living under these conditions (I used that line in a meeting earlier today and immediately alleviated tension. Use it—it works.)!

Communicate, enable, and support. Indeed, in Ms. Elston’s opinion, great process reinforces roles and leaders to greater productivity. 

Do yourself a favor. Treat yourself to a modest text from an experienced manager.  Glean a few good details on communicating with your internal clients now that your projects have been approved and you’re moving forward. These are the basics, but they’re shiny.