Management is a job,
not a position.
With forty five years in video production, twenty years in
management as a skills team supervisor, in
all facets of the industry ranging from broadcast and cable to
medical and industrial, I have the experience and training to
effectively manage your department.
My Management Philosophy:
In today's intense marketing and client based environment a managers
job is harder than ever before, A manager has to balance the values,
mission and goals of the company, be creative with budget
restrictions and requirements, cater to the needs and desires
of the client base plus support the well being and provide the
needs of his or her staff.
It's my opinion that a manager must be the place the buck stops.
He or she must be able to make the hard business decisions that
any profitable business requires. It is also my opinion that it
is the manager that must inform, include and empower each and
every staff member on his or her team with the values, goals and mission
of the organization. Everyone MUST be on the same page.
Managers need to clarify the responsibilities of each member
of the team. A manager needs to assess and utilize the strengths
and weaknesses of the department structure and of each member
on staff to optimize the teams and the organizations performance.
It is the managers responsibility to evaluate all aspects of the
department and to integrate the department and it's members into
a cohesive, productive unit.
A manager reviews and assesses results in three areas: Success
as compared to past performance and to the stated goals, Satisfaction
of the internal and external client base and performance and satisfaction
of the staff. It's easy to fall into the trap of only measuring
what's easy to measure. Our real job is to figure out what's significant
to the organization and it's clients and to the people that actually
do the work.
Managing artistically creative people in a business atmosphere
presents unique challenges. Creative people need constraints.
Constraints that provide support and structure without constraining
their creativity. Utilizing conflict management skills it is possible
to help everyone understand that their ultimate goal is the same.
Actions speak louder than words. Leaders need to be visible.
A manager can't sit in their office and expect to be an effective
manager. Effective leadership is not an arm's-length proposition.
I believe that the most effective contemporary management process
is participative management. It begins with a belief in the potential
of people. Participative management arises out of a personal philosophy
about people.
Respect is something that has to be earned. It's not necessary
for a manager to know how to do all the assignments his team does.
Not knowing all the details of each job is both a strength and
a weakness. It's up to the members of the team to fill in the
gaps. The managers duty is to listen to his team. This builds
respect. A manager that has the respect of his or her team can
achieve any goal set for them.
A leader has the right to expect, and the responsibility, to
facilitate team members to develop a high degree of literacy about
the institution, understand and support it's motives, know who
it serves, and to accept the constraints around the survival of
the organization.
What I Expect from My
Team:
I expect my team members to act as individuals and as team members.
I expect them to be proactive in the process of solving problems.
I expect each and every team member to "buy into" the mission
and goals of the organization. I expect each team member to be
personally accountable for his or her actions and to be honest
with me and the team. I expect each team member to assert personal
and professional initiative, to join in participative management
and to take risks.
What My Team Can Expect
from Me:
My team can expect from me that I will not be arbitrary, that
I will include the team in participative management. That I will
maintain a level playing field. That I will be predictable and
not act on whims. I will be open and honest with the team and
the entire organization. They can expect that I will always listen
to them. They can expect that I will do everything in my power
to provide the best working conditions, tools and training possible.
They can expect that I will promote personal growth within the
boundaries of organizational needs. They can expect that performance
evaluations will be done in a timely and fair manner, with direct
involvement of the person being reviewed. They can be assured
that the team and each individual team member will receive full
credit for their work and achievements. They can expect that when
problems arise that I will not fix the blame but will facilitate
the team to fix the problem.
Random Thoughts on Management
Practices:
The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The
last is to say "Thank You". A good leader is accountable for the
design of his or her area of responsibility. A business always
needs to be kept in sync with the strategy, mission and goals
and always aimed for the future. A good leader ensures that priorities
are set, that they are communicated to every employee and adhered
to in practice. This can only be done if the manager halts the
endless negotiation of the politicians in the group. No organization
can survive endless negotiation.
One of the methods I like to use to reduce costs and maintain
or improve quality and productivity is to ask the people that
do the work how to do it. Yes, that sounds simplistic, and perhaps
dangerous, but it has been my experience that without exception
they have the information and ability to both reduce cost and
improve quality but don't feel its their place to say
anything or have made suggestions before and had them ignored
or shot down without a proper hearing. Beyond improved quality
and reduced cost this method empowers the staff and usually improves
overall moral and work conditions.
When decisions are made on the basis of cost alone you overlook
the bigger picture. Things like extra hours spent making inferior
materials do the job or in redoing a job not done right the first
time, client dissatisfaction and churn from poor quality or untimely
completion, staff turnover and retraining costs, reduced moral
and productivity.
Team members expect a leader to face up to tough decisions. When
conflict must be resolved, when justice must be defined and carried
out, when promises need to be kept, and when organizations need
to know who measures up - these are the times leaders must act
with ruthless honesty and live up to the expectations of his or
her team members.
Building trust is a chief goal of any good manager. Clients,
internal and external need to have trust and faith in the estimates
and promises of the services they use. A leaders promises are
commitments that must be kept. It is the basis of accountability.
It is the basis of belonging to a team. It is a teams added value.
The way to keep good people, reduce training costs, and improve
productivity is to maintain moral with constant training and challenge
for employees. Staff always needs to be challenged to do more
and do it better thus allowing staff to realize their potential.
A good employee could probably find a job in any number of organizations
but they choose to work with you for reasons less tangible than
salary or position. One of the most precious gifts a manager can
give his team is delegation. It shows trust and empowers the team
member. With increasing complexity of today's organizations delegation
serves several positive impressions. It gets the work done, done
well and on time. It brings a diverse set of skills on line to
manage the work and it gives team members a sense of being in
control of their destiny. This feeling of control empowers an
employee with pride of achievement and promotes them to strive
for their personal best. Through experience and through trial
and error we choose team members and groups who we will delegate
important responsibilities. At the very heart of leadership lies
the necessity of making it possible for followers to contribute.
Delegation is the best opportunity for team members to learn by
doing, to learn to take risks, to become comfortable with the
consequences of their performance. By walking a mile in the managers
shoes one tends to learn the startling difference between the
perceptions of a leader and the everyday realities of team members.
Followers need a chance to do their best; leaders need a lot of
help.
We need to be at home in our working environment. There needs
to be a visible order and a "sense of place" so we know who we
are and where we fit into the big picture. When we know where
we fit we can decide to expand our role and improve our contribution
to the organization. Only then can we see the open-ended growth
possibilities. We need confident, well informed, well trained
people who understand what's going on who are willing to accept
the team direction and the organizations mission and goals. A
positive attitude promotes enthusiasm and is more important to
an organization than technical superiority. An organization thrives
on commitment and enthusiasm.
Question I
have for
you:
- Does your organization place a higher value on performance
and contribution than on preset policy manual timelines?
- Does your organization honor and live by the values and goals
it espouses?
- Does your organization believe in cross training, developing
talent from within and utilizing existing skills within the
organization?
- Does your organization have a commitment to the highest quality
and customer service standards?
Contact Information:
Jim Sawyer
209 Rialto Road
Poinciana, FL 34759
Home Phone . 863-852-7078 - Personal Cell . 321-403-2668
News 13 . 407-513-1335
E-mail to request a DVD demo with past work.
E-mail us at - jimsawyereditor@gmail.com
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NATIONAL & STATE LEVEL AWARDS: |
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| 1999 - THE VIDEOGRAPHER AWARDS - Award of Excellence - "Survival",
Chester Boot, Videographer/Editor |
| 1999 - TELLY AWARDS - Winner - "Cutting
Edge", Today's Headlines, Editor |
| 1999 - TELLY AWARDS - Finalist - "Survival",
Chester Boot, Videographer/Editor |
| 1999 - TELLY AWARDS - Finalist - "Image
SE MI", Comcast, Writer/Producer/Videographer//Editor/VO |
| 1997 - GOLDEN GOBO AWARDS - Winner, (Best Comcast Spot Nation
Wide.), "Survival",
Video/ Editor |
| 1995 - TELLY AWARDS - Winner - "It's
My Car", Saturn of Southgate, Writer/Producer/Interviewer/Editor |
| 1987 - Michigan Safety Council - 2nd Place - "Bomb Threats &
Search Techniques", Mercy, Dir./Editor/Writer |
| 1985 - American Hospital Assoc. - 1st Place -"Silently, Lovingly
....", CO-Producer/Director/Editor/Camera |
| 1972 - ADDY - Amer. Advertising Federation of Florida - 1st Place-
Radio,"Great Expectations" Writer/Talent |
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Videographer Awards
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Telly Awards
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Comcast Golden GOBO Award
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