Discussions:
1-The manager that I chose to interview for this assignment was Margaret McGinnis who works for Bear River Casino and Hotel.Margaret's job at Bear River Casino is the cage manager.The cage is like the bank of the casino.It is where customers go to cash in casino vouchers and chips, perform cash advances as well as a wide variety of other financial transactions.Margaret is the manager of this department so she leads a team of cashiers who perform the actual transactions for the customers.Margaret will sometimes perform the duties of a cashier if needed, but she will mostly be in the back overseeing that everything is happening efficiently, effectively and following the strict casino policies.
A typical day starts at 8am when Margaret comes in to work.She first will go in to the cage and meet with the closing supervisor that has been there overnight in order to discuss how the night went and if there was any problems or issues that needed to be addressed.After talking with the closing supervisor she will print off the reports the previous day's transactions and bring them to the audit and accounting department.After dropping of paperwork she will go to her office and work on things such as scheduling, ordering supplies, computer work, and will attend meetings to discuss general casino policy as well as the cage specific policy and make sure that everything is running as it should.She will often brainstorm and plan strategies with other department managers in order to figure out ways that the different departments can work together to ensure the success of the casino.Throughout the day she will often come back to the cage and make sure that the cashiers and supervisors are busy and on task.She also makes sure to ask if they need anything from her, and will make sure to encourage and motivate.
Margaret believes that the most important skills that a manager should have include problem solving skills, strategic thinking, attention to detail, leadership, the ability to motivate, and also the ability to listen to her team.She believes that it takes a balance of many skills in order to be a good manager.You can't only rely on any one skill, they all must balance together to be able to be an effective manager.Her advice on being a good manager is that in order to be shown respect as a manager you must show respect to your team.Employees want to feel respected and feel as though what they do is appreciated.Margaret feels that she gets the most productivity out of her team when she is actively letting them know when they do well.When the employees feel like they are cared about they want to work harder and be more productive.The fact is that it is a team and for things to run smoothly there must be a level of respect shown towards everyone.
I found it very interesting that Margaret discussed the importance of having a balance of many skills in order to be a good manager.I often hear people say that they are a great problem solver, or they are a good listener, or even that they are incredibly detail oriented.These are all great skills, but I agree that one or two isn't enough.Someone must have a variety of skills that they can utilize since there are often a variety of issues and problems that a manager comes across.After discussing a typical day for Margaret I can see how having multiple skills would be necessary in order to accomplish the many different tasks in a day.I also was really interested about Margaret's thoughts about respecting employees in order to be shown respect back as a leader.Many managers think that intimidation will motivate employees to work harder but I tend to agree with Margaret.I think that the most productive team is one that has a high level of respect of one another.
I saw many different similarities between the text and the interview with Margaret.The text talks about the four tasks of management which are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.During my interview with Margaret I think she touched on each one of these tasks in one way or another when she was describing her typical day.She spends a lot of time in the background planning and organizing, but is also leading a team of employees.The reports that she maintains and analyze fall under the controlling task since she uses them to measure and monitor how well the department is running and if goals are being achieved.Also I recognized the presence of different levels of management.Margaret would be considered a middle manager.She manages a number of supervisors, but she is also under the top managers and who she must report to.The skills that she mentioned seem to be a mix of conceptual and human skills.This makes sense because of the need for a variety of different skills she discussed a good manager should have.
2-Job title: Manager at Rite Aid
Describe a typical day: A typical days consists of looking over the previous day's results. Analyze what was a success and what wasn't. How to fix what wasn't a success and what needs to be fixed for today. Look at the personal that you will have that day. Make a list of what must be accomplished in this day and delegate it. Follow up what was delegated. After following up, if it was done correctly praise whoever accomplished the task and if it wasn't ask questions and find out why so why so you can train the staff members on time management and use of resources. Give a compliment or make AT LEAST one persons day.
Most important skills: Must be motivated and keep an open mind and take in as much knowledge possible, from ANYONE. Be aware of your competition/visit the competition.
Advice on being a good manager: Listen to everyone and teach EVERYTHING you know to your staff. Allow your employees to grow and help them grow. Teach employees to be independent and self starters and leaders as well.
What surprised me: The manager that I talked to said that it was important to make it a necessity to better someone's life everyday, even in the smallest way. I wouldn't real think that a manager would be too worried about improving the life of others, but she said by making someone happy it will make them more productive and influence them in a positive manner.
How this relates to the text: This interview had relations to the context in chapter one because I noticed that even though the manager did not specifically state the 4 principles of managerial tasks, she organized and planned by creating a sort of "to-do" list and assigning those tasks to specific people, she lead by example, and she controlled what was being done in the present day and what will be done in the future.