Google is know for their “outside the box” thinking and they constantly reinvent and imagine new ways to do things more successfully. The way that Google moved from the “norms” of business to achieve more success in leadership was to reevaluate their management practices and then restructure and retrain their team leaders which resulted in less employee turnover, happier employees, and better output. These team management methods that Google now practices are still the primary practices of team management, but, with a shifted focus.
So how did Google shift? Google, “…began analyzing performance reviews, feedback surveys and nominations for top-manager awards. They correlated phrases, words, praise and complaints.” and put all the data together, used data analytics and came up with a list of the, “Eight Habits of Highly Effective Google Managers.” (Bryant, 2011). These eight habits are bare-bone ideas that go back to the fundamentals of team leadership. While they seem new and different to Google, they were really only cutting out all of the corporate rules that so many business find appealing and by doing so were able to restructure and find more success than before. What are these eight habits?
Google’s new team management strategy lists three of eight habits as:
“Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.”(Bryant, 2011)
“Help your employees with career development.”(Bryant, 2011)
“Don’t be a sissy: Be productive and results-oriented.” (Bryant, 2011)
“Having a clear vision and strategy” is directly related to the the “Results-Driven Structure” portion of our readings which explains that by having structure and norms of what is expected from a team will help the team become more cohesive (Northouse, pg 300). “Help your employees with career development” is directly related directly to the external support and recognition that Northouse teaches us our text readings that personal support beyond only work related support leads to better interpersonal relationships within the workplace. “Don’t be a sissy” would best be explained by connecting it to Principled Leadership in that by becoming a motivating leader and, “… by providing clear goals, assignments, and strategies.” an employer will get better results from their subordinates (Northouse, pg 302) .
The three examples that the article by Adam Bryant lists in his article, “Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss” are clearly team leadership qualities that have shown to be a successful model to return to time and time again. While it is easy for a corporation with a large number of employees to fall into the corporate way of doing things, Google found a way to go back to basics and empower the team.
Source:
Bryant, A. (2011, March 12). Google’s Quest to Build a Better Boss. Retrieved March 21, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/business/13hire.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. (Sixth Edition). New York: Sage Publications.
I think this is a very interesting topic. I recently read that Google is one of the top companies to work for, and I imagine that their reinvention of management strategies has a lot to do with this. Google identified it’s problems in leadership and then put plans into effect that would help them change these problems. This is one of the things from which so many companies could benefit! Too often companies are stuck in the past, blindly ignoring or refusing to believe that anything is wrong with how they are managed. Each of the lessons that we have learned about this year teach us how to change, and they could all be applied to Google’s situation or any other company. There are many people who are promoted into management without knowing how to be a leader, so they go by what they have seen or what has always been done. It is never okay to do something a certain way only because that’s the way it has always been done! By taking courses in leadership we can probably all agree with this statement, and not be afraid of exploring new leadership theories and practices. Good job, Google, for effective self-monitoring and making strides to identify and change problems in management.
Thank you for posting!