BUS603: Managing People

"Managed" work is just that: work activity supervised and directed to some degree. The amount of management occurring in a situation is dynamic and depends on the activity itself. For instance, in the manufacturing economy, managed work is prominent. I'll call this "widget" work, the point of which is producing a widget the same way, every time. People need to perform this work according to consistent processes with consistent, standardized outcomes.

Because this work requires consistency, it typically proceeds via explicit guidelines and policies (rules about cost, schedule, quality, quantity, process, and so on - characteristics applicable to all work to a greater or lesser degree). We can find examples of it in a variety of roles across many industries. Quite often, any role in any industry requires some amount of this type of work. Examples include manufacturing precision machine parts, answering a customer support case within a specified timeframe for contractual reasons and with a friendly greeting, etc. In the software industry, a role that's entirely like this would be a rarity, yet even these roles require some work of the "managed" type. For instance, consider the way a support engineer must respond to a case using a set of quality standards (friendliness, perhaps with a professional written tone, a branded signature line, adherence to a specific contractual agreement, usually responding within a particular time frame, etc).

"Management" is the best strategy when work requirements include adhering to a consistent schedule, process, and quality.