Management Articles & Downloads

Dependent relationships keep people from achieving their potential. The dependent person has low expectations of himself, often the result of a supervisor’s inability to foster self initiative, and his performance then begins to reflect this lack of confidence. Appropriate management behaviors can develop initiative, trust, and personal responsibility and play a large part in ensuring that performance-hindering “dependency DNA” doesn’t take hold in an organization. Managers and supervisors will learn how they contribute to a cycle of dependency in their organizations and how to re-educate themselves and their employees to operate in a performance culture.

While decision making is critical to effectiveness and success, few people ever receive any training on how to make wise, thoughtful choices. Research has shown that success is highly dependent on the process people use to arrive at decisions. Raising the odds of making good decisions requires learning and applying a valid, repeatable decision-making process—Impact Achievement Group addresses this situation with its latest article, “Becoming an Agile Decision Maker and Avoiding Common Decision-Making Traps.” Readers will learn about the various factors that influence human decision making and how this awareness improves the ability to make effective decisions.

Learning to effectively delegate appropriate tasks and prevent upward delegation are critical components of successful management. New managers or supervisors who fail to develop these skills can easily find themselves in the trap of doing for employees what employees can and should be doing for themselves. The article, Initiative, Personal Responsibility, and Delegation, gives managers actionable tips for successfully assigning work tasks.

For a limited time, Impact Achievement Group is offering Chapter One of our best selling book for free -- online. Read this chapter (Motivation at Work) to learn about the critical role of managers -- and how they need to learn to adapts to the performance needs of employees.

For a limited time, Impact Achievement Group is offering Chapter Two of our best selling book for free -- online. Read this chapter (Motivation at Work) to learn about how to turn organizations around... particularly ones that often show lack of employee morale, extremely low productivity, or disrespect for authority.

Performance problem situations are a supervisor or manager’s defining moments The way these defining moments are dealt with can either trap you in a cycle of limitations, decreasing the quality of your work life, or enable you to manage performance effectively. This article, Handling Performance Problems, is based on Module #8 from the popular Supervisory Basics training series from Impact Achievement Group. It offers tips and guidance for new confronting and addressing performance problem situations.

Not all situations that come before the new manager will be easy to deal with. A main responsibility and obligation in a managerial capacity is to address and, many times, confront difficult and uncomfortable issues. This article offers insights into the important skills necessary for handling workplace complaints, employee conflicts, and personal requests. Topics covered include addressing workplace complaints, tactics for handling employee conflicts, and handling personal requests.

Little can cause new managers as much difficulty as misunderstanding labor laws. Legal concerns can and will vary by organization, location, and state or province or country. But every manager must know the basics. Part 5 in a 12-Part Series on Helping Individual Contributors and Seasoned, But Untrained, Supervisors Transition to Effective Leaders, this article “The Law: Compliance Basics” presents a handy reference for new managers regarding key employment legal issues and pitfalls.

The boss is the person with the greatest control over a new manager's success. How well the new manager manages the relationship will, to a great degree, have a critical impact on the new manager’s career aspirations and success at that job. Part 4 in a 12-Part Series on Helping Individual Contributors and Seasoned, But Untrained, Supervisors Transition to Effective Leaders, this article “Working With the Boss” discusses the importance for new managers to develop a relationship with their boss, how to go about doing that, and how to effectively use that relationship to eliminate obstacles in their growth as a supervisor. We also show how Human resources can assist newly promoted managers by pointing out specific things a new supervisor or manager can do – at first and then routinely – to become a valued resource to the boss.

Performance problem situations are a supervisor or manager’s defining moments The way these defining moments are dealt with can either trap you in a cycle of limitations, decreasing the quality of your work life, or enable you to manage performance effectively. This article, Handling Performance Problems, is based on Module #8 from the popular Supervisory Basics training series from Impact Achievement Group. It offers tips and guidance for new confronting and addressing performance problem situations.

Based on Module #2 from The Supervisory Basics Series, this article gives first-time managers an appreciation for “business acumen”’ – an understanding of how a business creates value and makes money. Topics covered include business acumen (a basic understanding of how an organization makes money), the principles of customer loyalty and creating a culture that focuses on the customer.

Based on Module #1 from The Supervisory Basics Series, this article provides a framework for starting out in a new supervisory or management position. Topics covered include overcoming common mistake new supervisors make and the importance of people skills and initial team meetings.