100 Days Of Management

Barack Obama has just completed his first 100 days as President of the United States. He’s put in place a $787bn economic stimulus plan, put 2m acres of wilderness under federal protection, set in place a major reform of healthcare and acquired a new dog. A Gallup poll indicates that a majority of Americans feel he has done a good or excellent job so far. At the same time former President George W. Bush has spent his first 100 days out of office raising funds for his Presidential library, after 100 days he’s at $147m, ahead of expectation and well on the way to his $300m target.

100 days is an interesting marker to see how well someone is doing in a new job. Some people set themselves 100 day action plans, clearly setting out what they intend to do each day to build success, others set themselves 100 day objectives, visibly publishing what they will have achieved at the end of 100 days without specifically identifying the markers to get there.

Unfortunately many managers set themselves a lower goal of using the first 100 days in a new role to settle in, find out how things work, get to know everyone, and think about what changes might be appropriate. This strategy rarely yields significant results. At the end of 100 days the new manager is able to explain the current situation, justify why things are the way they are and rationalise any failures in performance.

To give managers a real chance of succeeding, they need to feel excited about their new management role, and confident in their ability to carry it out successfully. In too many cases a person is appointed or promoted to the role of manager with no clear idea of what their responsibilities are and no clear mandate to manage. Structured Training’s Fundamentals of Management course is a great way to invest 3 of those all important 100 days, taking time to decide what kind of manager you are (and want to be), what your key challenges will be, what your objectives are developing strategies to really deliver on your management promise. Don’t worry if you’re already in role. Your 100 days can start here.