List the top ten common mistakes made by first-year managers; and, identify the top three that you feel you wo

Question

List the top ten common mistakes made by first-year managers; and, identify the top three that you feel you would be the most likely to make. Briefly describe different strategies you could use to help avoid these mistakes. Be specific. Finally, describe the difference between "arrivers" and "derailers" and how their odds for success are influenced by these top ten mistakes.

Answer 1

I'll offer you this one contribution:

The biggest lesson I had to learn when I was first put into a mangagement position was the need to delegate. I had about a dozen technicians working a production line, and I decided that my job was to keep them moving product and the I would to all the peripheral functions that would keep them at their test benches.

I was tracking numbers, moving equipment, repairing test boxes, fetching tools, stacking product, baby sitting each and every move the techs made. I was wearing myself out. After a couple of weeks of this, my manager came out to me, kind of giggling to himself. He pulled me aside and offered my a couple of pieces of advice.

He said, "Vince, you are the manager. You can tell people what to do. Don't be afraid to delegate responsibilities and authority." He said that, "Delegating authority does not weaken yours. It extends your authority. You don't lose any responsibility, but it frees you to do the most important things."

Then he told me that an important part of the production process is to know EXACTLY where your product is at any given moment. He had noticed that whenever he came out to ask me the status of my line, I'd count the pieces at each station then tell him. He suggested I place a clipboard at each station and have the technician simply make a mark on a sheet of paper as he/she passed each machine to the next station. All I needed to do was go to the clipboard and see, at once, how many machines had gone through at each point. It took the tech less than a second to make a mark and it saved me a minute or two of counting times the number of stations.

Well, duh!

When a tech needed more product, all he had to do was go fetch another rack. When the next station need more product, HE'D fetch another rack from the previous station. Again, a moment of their time saved me running all over the production floor and a LOT of time, counted at the end of the day.

Saved me a lot of work, and left me with the time to solve REAL problems.

Answer 2

I didn't see the Kerrang 100 list so I don't know if yours is better BUT I can't agree with any rock list that doesn't have Foghat in the top 100 somewhere. Foghat was one of the best rock bands ever and should be in at least the top 20! The Scorpions, The Kinks, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, Credence Clearwater Revival, Frank Zappa, Krokus, Dokken, Tesla, and Foreigner should also be on the list before The Cars or Styx!

Answer 3

Do you have any other homework assignments you'd like someone to do for you?

You'll learn more, you know, if you do your own homework. If someone just does it for you, how will you cope when you actually get out in the real world?