Fall Semester 2024 at Augusta University starts today! I will be meeting with my first class of undergraduate business majors early this evening. The course I am teaching that starts this evening is “Operations Management.” Operations Management (OM) is part of the “business core” that is required of all students seeking a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree, no matter their major or concentration (e.g., Accounting, Finance, Marketing). OM is a required course because it shows students how to manage the creation of goods and delivery of services. If a company does not have anything to sell (i.e., goods and/or services), it really has no reason to exist. So, if an individual is going to work in a business, he or she needs to understand its operations.
Since this is a “Business Daily” and most of our readers are businesspeople, I thought that it would be a good idea that most weeks this semester, I would focus my column on the topic covered in my class that week which readers could apply to their firms. During the next four months or so, I will provide you with insights on such topics as operations strategy, product and process design, capacity and location decisions, managing quality, inventory management, and supply chain management.
In this first week of classes, we do not cover any topical material. Rather, we will use our session this evening to discuss what the course will cover and review the syllabus in detail so that the students understand what is expected of them and have a firm grasp of the assignments, exams, and other scheduled activities that will take place between now and early to mid-December.
Another important aspect of this initial class meeting is the opportunity for students to get to know me, for me to get to know them, and for them to get to know each other. So, I will introduce myself by telling them about my educational background, work experience, and my family and interests. I will ask them to introduce themselves by letting us know where they are from, what their major/concentration is, and what kind of jobs they have had. I also have each of us talk about any “brushes with fame” we have had, i.e., famous people we have met. Among others, I will let them know that Jerry Seinfeld went to my high school and that I played high school football against Alec Baldwin, and Alec’s dad was one of my coaches. I find that this “icebreaker” allows everyone to open up a little more and we all start getting more comfortable with one another more quickly. This is crucial because my class requires significant interaction and some group work, so getting everyone to know more about each other facilitates both interaction and group formation throughout the semester.
This first-day exercise has always been an important prerequisite for a good course for me. As noted above, if we all know things about each other, it will be easier for us to have a lively and interactive class. In addition, it will also make it easier for students to come to see me if they are struggling in the class and need extra help, and makes it easier for me to have difficult conversations with students who are not performing up to expectations. As I reflect on this, it reminds me that there is a similar lesson for business managers and leaders. That is, if you get to know your people and let your people know you, you will probably be a more effective leader/manager. Let us understand why.
When I arrived at Augusta University as Dean of the Hull College of Business, one of the first things I did was arrange to have breakfast or lunch with every faculty and staff member in the college. Throughout my time as Dean, I continued to do this at least once every academic year and often did it every semester. During these meals, I had no agenda other than to allow those with whom I worked to know me better and to allow me to get to know them better. In many of your businesses, your span of control may be such that getting together with everyone who reports to you for a meal is impractical. There are several important returns on the time invested in getting to know your people:
- Makes you more approachable and will allow your employees to feel like they can address professional and personal issues with you early. Will tend to nip problems in the bud.
- Allows you to better understand what motivates each of your individual employees. Not everyone is motivated by the same things, so understanding what is important to each individual will help you motivate him/her and be better able to improve retention.
- Helps you better assign new responsibilities. If you know your employees better, you have a better handle on what talents and/or traits they have that might help or hinder particular assignments.
- Assists you when having to have “difficult conversations” and feedback sessions. The better you know a person, the more likely you can have an open and honest discussion.
- Employees will tend to be more vested in the company. If you demonstrate that you truly care about your people by learning more about them, they will be more likely to work harder and remain with your company.
I look forward to sharing with you my “Lessons in OM” in the coming weeks. There will be some weeks in which there will be more timely topics which will take precedence over OM, but for the most part, I will attempt to share the most important lessons from my course. I hope today’s lesson derived from my initial class session of the semester is helpful as you lead and manage.
