Fifteen years ago I was responsible for running a relatively large Service Desk in New York City for what was known at the time as one of the “big six” accounting firms.  Feedback indicated I was a good people manager and we were a successful team in terms of customer satisfaction.  Because I was considered a strong people manager and I established a strong rapport with senior management and my staff, I thought I was effective.

But when I left and became an independent consultant, within two years I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my career and what I feel is a lesson every Manager should learn sooner rather than later.

My consulting engagements were focused on building or fixing Service Desks and Call Centers.  The key was that I had to build or fix in a manner that would sustain long after my engagement was over (something I had not done in my previous job in New York).

The lesson I learned was simple.  As a manager responsible for a team of people you need to define how you want things done.  In other words, you need standard operating procedures.  Then, with the SOPs in place, you need to manage your team – motivate, inspire, and coach them relative to the execution of these SOPs.

The difference between the results you get from simply managing people as compared to the results you get from managing people to defined process is enormous.  Yes, people are very important.  Yes, as a manager you need people skills to manage these people.  But if you are simply managing your people – it is not enough.  In fact, it’s irresponsible.  In today’s global, competitive economy you need to manage your people to define policies and procedures in order to achieve the best possible results.