Paper plans to action
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PAPER PLANS, like a sheet of music, are ineffectual unless performed. The conductors who bring business and transport plans into action and conduct their performance are the directors and owners of small companies, middle and junior management people, supervisors and foremen.
The committee stage has passed; the shuffling of papers has ended; the big picture has been drawn; now we get down to the nuts and bolts of operations.
In putting plans into being, there are three persistent problems which managers face. Firstly, the application of technical skill; secondly, the systematic ordering of operations; and lastly, the organisation and encouragement of sustained co-operation, sometimes referred to as teamwork. If these are out of balance no other virtues will compensate and the operations as a whole will not be successful.
Adapting for success Managers want their plans to succeed. Sometimes methods which cannot be used "as is" can be adapted with surprising ease by adding a personal twist. But if a vital change has to be made in the plans for a major operation, then the whole plan must be reexamined from start to finish. Never be inhibited by this. The start of activity on a plan is not the time to be timid, but to face up to difficulties and get all the help needed. This does not indicate distrust of one's self, but common sense.
As action proceeds, part of nearly every plan has to be reshaped in the light of events. Adaption can be best achieved, and success assured, if the manager has good powers of observation, can read events quickly and gives himself proper time to act.
All people waste time, but to a manager time is one of the most valuable resources he has, and he should recognise this. Please read Peter Drucker's The effective executive on this important topicl.
Get going!
You cannot begin a job effectively by coasting. Start with zeal and energy. Initial inertia is a law of life. It takes more effort to get going, as any transport engineer will tell you, than to keep going. Fortune does not smile on those who, having prepared to do a job, hesitate.
You must therefore train yourself to act once the plans have been approved. Do not tolerate excuses or sloppy practices from subordinates. Communicate your own zeal to them, give them leadership and, at the same time, teach them how to improve.
Those preparing for management should always bear in mind what Professor R. W. Revans said many years ago: "Management consists of three things: deciding what to do (policy); how to do it (execution); and doing it (operations)." More recently he has been a strong advocate of "action learning", and I recommend his book, Action learning, on this important aspect of how to cope with your future2.
In the early stages of your career you must "get your hands dirty" and gain a deep insight into all aspects of the work. Never let your subordinates say to you "you don't know what goes on" — by your own actions you must see to it that you always do!
Charting and writing Transport operations lend themselves to being controlled by various forms of charts, diagrams, rosters and schedules. Learn how to use them and gain mastery of your tasks from them. Writing is an essential tool in these tasks. Memory alone is a poor tool for effectiveness. How often has a customer been let down because some executive "assumed"?
Some managers use Critical Path Analysis, which shows by arrows how the project activities relate to one another, the time they must start, and the completion deadline for each. This technique reveals in advance where there are possible trouble spots or bottlenecks. But whatever system is used, do not rely on memory alone; always write in the log or control book.
Are your plans working out?
In another piece of advice to managers Peter Drucker said: "In the last analysis, management is practise. Its essence is not knowing but doing. Its test is not logic but results. Its only authority is performance3."
Like a navigator you should always be checking to see whether your plans are "on track" or whether adjustments to course are necessary. Frequent checks are preferable to occasional ones. Small deviations can be corrected quickly and smoothly; large ones take longer and may indeed wreck the plan altogether.
When planned work does not move towards completion as if on greased skids, there is no advantage in panic and melancholy mumblings. Dig through all the reasons for slow-down until you pin down the vital one that counts. Size up the situation, and with staff co-operation, act to get back to schedule again. Perhaps you should aim for the Shakespearean view as expressed in Hamlet — "Suit the action to the word, the word to the action".
The people the industry needs Wherever you may find yourself in road transport, develop your own brand of effectiveness. No matter what your job may be you can develop some form of art or pride in your work. Resolve to put the stamp of your own spirit upon the work and to be above the mediocrity that satisfies an "ordinary" person. Even in the Stone Age there were masters of their craft who were proud of the hatchet heads they chipped from flints.
Strive to become a professional who enjoys what he is working at so that you experience the great satisfaction of getting things done. The highest efficiency is attained when a given amount of energy is so wisely directed that a task is completed in the least possible space of time. Professionals are productivityconscious people.
All the precepts in the systems manuals or rule books are worthless unless a person has the spirit to make them work. This is a law of life, as old as the first caveman's fire, and those preparing for road transport management should always remember it. Emerson put it neatly: "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
References 1 Drucker, Peter F. The effective executive. Heinemann, London 1967. (Please read especially Chapter 2: "Know thy time".) 2 Revans, R.W. Action learning — new techniques for management. Blond and Biggs, London 1960.
3 Drucker, Peter F. Management tasks, responsibilities, practices. Heinemann, London 1974.