Management is critical to an organisation’s success. Therefore, you need to ensure your organisation has robust, effective, and efficient management at all times. The only way to weed out ineffective management is through regular management review exercises. This article shares six tips for conducting a successful management review.
What is a management review?
A management review is an assessment exercise to determine the effectiveness of the company’s management system. The review reveals whether your organisation’s leadership is still focused on your objectives for a given period. Therefore, you get to know whether your company is headed in the right direction, as this exercise clears doubts and eliminates speculation over where your company stands.
Think of a management review exercise as a chance to take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and reflect on the company away from the chaos of daily operations. Therefore, you need to schedule each financial year, project, performance period, or other timelines to include a performance review to inform you how well you are doing and what changes are necessary to steer the company back in the right direction.
Tips to ensure management review success
Schedule an effective review timetable
Determine how frequently you should be conducting the management reviews. Generally, each management position requires at least one management review annually. However, different departments, projects, missions, company structures, and other factors may necessitate a more frequent schedule. Therefore, determine what works in each case, and stick to that frequency.
Consider which managers need a review
Some organisations are large and have several branches, which makes reviewing each employee in a management position a long, tedious, and expensive process. In such instances, you need to prioritise top management and trickle down when necessary or train those managers to conduct internal department management reviews.
Formulate an agenda for each review
You need to stick to specific objectives to ensure desired results and steer the project in the right direction. Matters arise, and each candidate handles the exercise differently. Therefore, an agenda keeps the meeting grounded and collects correct responses to the review’s objective. Common themes in the agenda include an explanation of issues and challenges, changes observed, and an analysis of performance This HACCP audit is a suitable tool for those in the hospitality sector. Those in the manufacturing industry can rely on this ISO 14001 checklist. Action points for a given period or position’s objectives is another important factor.
Listen keenly and take notes
During the review, ask for answers and keenly listen to the managers. You’ll need that information to formulate effective action plans and develop practical tactics for the challenges. This requires breaking the ice, setting a conducive review environment, and eliminating any hurdles between the manager and their willingness to immerse completely in the exercise.
Develop an action plan
At the end of the review, you need to develop an action plan for the manager to focus on until the next review. You need to agree on the deliverables and facilitate the necessary support to attain those deliverables. This stage includes revealing any rewards or reprimands, depending on previous performance.
Share the review meeting notes
You need to document every exchange and other information from the review exercise to serve as a reference point for future reviews and to communicate with the relevant heads.
A management review is similar to a health check-up. Your organisation functions better when you know where you stand and in which direction you are headed. Each industry has specific demands of the process, but the overall objective is similar.
