The Importance of Clarity

One of the projects that I am working on during my internship, is programming a training retreat for the Sales team in the September. Part of this task required me to find out what training people thought would be the most beneficial for them or their teams to participate in. While there were lots of basic requests like public speaking, negotiation and software training, there was also a lot of interest shown from the managers for leadership training. After talking with each of them about their biggest challenges and what specific training they think would help them all lead their teams more effectively, I noticed that one of the biggest problems was a lack of clarity on what exactly they were responsible for. Their confusion seems to be coming from two areas. The first is regarding the policies at NPM and the second is about their actual job descriptions.

Most of the managers have requested to have a refresher or explanatory session on what the policies and protocols in the company are. They all seemed to suggest that there are quite a few policies that NPM follows that are not written down anywhere, and since none of them received any formal new manager training, they are not clear on certain protocols when it comes to supervising other employees. Many were unaware that NPM offers different rewards for good work, or what punishments should be used when. Further, they are unaware how far their leadership responsibilities stretch.

Most of the young managers work under a supervisor, responsible for the multiple teams in their department. Many of the managers are unsure where their responsibilities end and their supervisors begin, or how much they really should be doing when it comes to supervising the employees on their teams. They mentioned that it would have been helpful if they had been given a clear description of what their new position would entail and what responsibilities they would have when they first got promoted.

My solution to both of these problems, is more transparency. It seems that the managers are unsure of the duties they are actually expected to complete, if there was some written description of these responsibilities to clarify who should be handling what, the company and power structure would probably operate more efficiently. If the managers knew what they should be doing, they might be able to take more work off of the supervisors’ plates and everyone would be able to focus more on the jobs that they know they are responsible for. It would also be helpful if the main policies that managers should follow were written up clearly and taught to them before they filled their leadership role. This would help with consistency and efficiency across teams as well as give the new managers more confidence in their leadership positions. Knowing exactly what is expected of them would clear up any confusion that the managers have and help the company run more efficiently.