What is the best way to manage people?

There is no Straight Jacket formula.

There is always this thought that we need to tell our people what to do. Then there is this thought, that, if you give them freedom and not micro-manage, they perform better. I have over this period in time, experienced that neither is absolutely true. It is a queer mix, which evolves in your style of working over the years, your own learning curve, your ways of handling people, and your ability to think above self, which creates a chemistry you and your team are most comfortable with. You tend to follow that.

Another central key to the governance issue in corporate working is for others to see, know, understand from you, why you do what you do. More and more that gets clear to them, the chemistry of working parameters gets even out. If you are doing for a cause, there will be some who will always be with you, as they support that cause themselves. Others will be with you, if you are helping them in their career growth by providing good and exciting work opportunities, there will also be some, who will simply work with you, as they keep learning from the environment you create for work.

But if you do not have these reasons, or any other, they keep seeking these either from you, or from their immediate supervisors, or from the company in general. Once they do not find any of these, they might look for better and better compensation packages, as the sole motivator to be around. Pressure at times is killing on people. Once pressurized they tend to succumb. Some again, excel under pressure.

So, it is kind of interesting. You cannot put any of these into a straight-jacket mode. It is human being you are dealing with. So, the procedure is not robotic. It changes and behaves differently all the time. You got to be there in it, to feel, understand, evolve a mechanism which is most convenient to you.

Give it time. Be clear about yourself. Know why you are doing what. You will see, things opening up automatically for you.

Take care!