Management cheat sheet

Management functions

Planning sets direction, organising arranges resources, leading coordinates people, and controlling compares results with objectives.

These functions interact rather than occurring only once in a fixed sequence.

Delegation

Delegation assigns work and an appropriate level of authority. Responsibility, authority and accountability are related but different concepts.

A task assignment without needed decision rights can create a bottleneck.

Objectives and measures

An objective describes an intended result. A measure indicates something about performance; it may capture only part of the objective.

A high activity count does not necessarily establish a high-quality outcome.

Decision process

Define the problem, compare alternatives against criteria, decide and review the result. Consider uncertainty and trade-offs explicitly.

A decision can be reasonable under uncertainty even when the eventual outcome is poor.

Decision rights

Organisational structure allocates authority, responsibility and reporting relationships. Accountability is clearer when people know who can decide and who must be consulted.

Delegating a task without clarifying decision limits can leave responsibility ambiguous.

Leading and lagging measures

A leading measure tracks an activity or condition expected to influence a result; a lagging measure records an outcome. The proposed relationship needs evidence.

Training completion is an activity measure, not proof that work quality improved.

Motivation and context

Motivation can involve interest, purpose, social relationships and external incentives. The effect of an incentive depends on the task, design and organisational context.

An incentive tied to one metric can encourage behaviour that neglects unmeasured work.

Risk and uncertainty

Risk assessment considers possible outcomes, likelihood and consequences within a defined model. An ordinal risk matrix is a prioritisation aid, not an exact probability calculation.

Record assumptions and review them as new information becomes available.

Worked example: a project path

One dependent path takes 3 + 5 = 8 days; another takes 4 + 2 = 6 days. With no other constraints or overlap, the 8-day path controls the earliest completion.

Shortening the 6-day path alone does not reduce this model’s overall completion time.

Common mistake: a target is the objective

A metric represents part of an objective. If people optimise the measure while harming the intended outcome, the measure needs to be reconsidered.

Evaluate quality and side effects as well as whether the numerical target was reached.

Check your understanding

Does completing a training course by itself demonstrate improved performance?

No. Completion measures participation; performance needs suitable evidence about outcomes or behaviour.

Curriculum connections

Sources