Being an operational manager!

Is being an operational manager choosing for a special kind of ”lifestyle”? Probably not... but it is something more than just managing an operation. Too often you see that people are performing the job of operational manager for the wrong reasons. For example: the experienced specialist is promoted to a(n operational) managerial position because of his substantial knowledge. However, he lacks training and/or practice in management skills needed for fulfilling the position.

The question one can ask is what makes somebody a good operational manager? It is important that people who become operational managers have deliberately chosen to become a operational manager. During my years as a consultant I met many operational managers. Some were good and some were not so good. From this experience, I have created a list of skills and attitudes an operational manager requires to be successful.

A good operational manager is somebody who:

- Shows interest in the employees and also in the operational processes;
- Takes the role of trainer-coach, and gives full attention to all aspects of the team, both during the training (design and implementation of processes) and during the game (execution)
- Supervises his team and the operation by walking around and does not only lead his department from inside his office;
- Makes use of so-called Morning calls; in the morning (with a cup of coffee in the hand) he goes around the department and briefly discusses what is going on there and what the key attention areas are for that day or week. When necessary, he immediately ensures that action is taken;
- Monitors who does what, how large the pile of work is and whether the work will be finished on time. Proactive acting is very important;
- Does not start to ‘micro manage’ the operation. Steers on the big picture and if necessary, zooms in on certain details and detailed information;
- Plans sufficient time in his/her agenda to react to unexpected situations, if necessary.

In practice, operational managers often miss the commitment, entrepreneurship and initiative because managers are afraid of making mistakes.

What can you do as a organization to make sure that the right people choose and are chosen to become an operational manager? Some tips:

- Make sure that managers are tested on the specific skills and attitudes as mentioned above;
- The operational managers has to have sufficient responsibilities to make decisions;
- Ensure that the operational manager gets the credits for a good performance of the operation;
- Create a culture in which being an operational manager is regarded at least as important as being a manager of finance or marketing, maybe even more important. Make operations ‘ sexy’; - Set-up a training program specially for operational managers

Perhaps after reading all this, you can say that being a good operational manager is a kind of “lifestyle” after all!

Freek Hermkens studied in Maastricht from 1993 to 1999. During his study he was a board member of Argyris and chairman of the Management Consultancy Day. Freek has several years of experience in optimizing processes, and is currently working as a consultant at O&i (www.oi.nl) in Utrecht.