As organisations grow, expectations grow with them. More people, more responsibilities, more clients, more opportunities, more ideas — and inevitably, more things that need attention.
As managers, it is easy to measure our effectiveness by how much we get done or how many things our teams are working on. Over time, however, I have started looking at management differently. I believe one of the most important responsibilities of a manager is not to make the team do more, but to help the team focus on what matters most.
I have experienced this first-hand across different situations — managing my internal team, working with leaders at client engagements, and coordinating teams across different functions. The context changes, but one principle remains remarkably consistent: there will always be 1,000 things to do, but there will always be 5–10 things that matter the most. I strongly believe that a person can do anything, but cannot do everything. The manager’s role is therefore to bring that sense of priority to the team — to identify what deserves attention, create clarity around it, and help people connect their individual contribution to the larger objective.
And this principle does not stop with the manager. The managers we work with have their own teams, and they need to create the same clarity within their teams. When priorities are clear and people understand how their work connects to the larger objective, the organisation starts moving with much greater purpose.
Over time, I have found two simple principles that help me stay focused and, more importantly, help my teams stay focused.
Principle 1 — Know What You Are Trying to Achieve
1. Set clear goals
Goals should be clear, transparent, unambiguous and slightly stretching. But they should also be limited.
In my experience, having 5–10 meaningful priorities is far more effective than having 20–30 things labelled as priorities. A long list creates activity; a focused list creates impact.
2. Create understanding and ownership
Setting a goal is only the beginning. The team should understand what we are trying to achieve, why it matters, and how their individual contribution connects to the larger objective.
When people understand the “why”, the goal becomes more than something assigned to them. It becomes something they can take ownership of.
Principle 2 — Track, Collaborate & Re-align
Once the destination is clear, the next responsibility is to maintain momentum.
1. Establish a communication rhythm
Every goal needs a rhythm of communication. What needs to be reviewed daily? What needs a weekly discussion? What can be communicated through email or a dashboard? What requires a conversation? The objective is not to communicate more. It is to communicate at the right frequency and through the right channel.
2. Communicate beyond the report
Reports and dashboards tell us what is happening. Conversations often help us understand why it is happening. Sometimes a short face-to-face or video conversation can reveal confusion, hesitation, urgency or a completely different understanding of a situation that may never appear in a report.
Data and reporting are essential, but good management also requires us to talk, listen, question and understand.
3. If the approach isn’t working, change the approach
A goal may remain unchanged, but the approach to achieving it does not have to. If the indicators are not moving in the right direction, we should ask:
What are we missing? What should we change? What can we try differently? Good management is about staying committed to the objective while remaining flexible about the path.
Finally, Build the Practice
None of this becomes effective overnight.
You cannot expect someone to run a marathon on their first run. Building a disciplined way of working within a team is similar. It takes repetition, feedback, consistency and patience before the practice becomes part of the team’s natural way of working.
For me, management is therefore less about controlling people and more about creating clarity, building ownership, maintaining focus and helping people succeed.
There will always be 100 things waiting for us.
The real job of a manager is to know which 5 deserve the organisation’s energy right now — and then help the team move those forward, together.
GET THIS IN YOUR INBOX
J.hirani provides strategic advisory services to manufacturing, service brands, product brands, online/ offline business. Read our capabilities.
