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This post was last edited by qy576100527 on 2021-5-8 14:34. If the boss doesn’t establish rules, the employees will start making demands! A kindergarten teacher was leading a group of children across the road; she had them hold onto a rope and form a line, with the teacher leading the way at the front. While crossing the road, a child’s shoelace came undone. But instead of stopping to tie it, he walked all the way to the other side of the road before crouching down to tie it. Seeing this, I couldn’t help but feel respect for the children. I walked over and asked the teacher, “Why doesn’t the child stop when his shoelaces come loose?” ”The teacher said, “Because if the child lets go, they won’t get the red flower, and without the red flower, they’re not a good child – that’s the greatest punishment for them.” ” Managing a company also requires a \"rope,\" and all members must hold onto it; anyone who lets go will be punished. In this way, everyone will naturally unite, and the team will have the ability to take action. Conversely, if the boss does not want this “rope,” or if this “rope” is loose, it will not exert any restraint on everyone; as a result, people will not feel respect for it, and this poses a fatal threat to the development of the company. What is this rope? Obviously, it is the “system”. Without rules and systems, nothing can be organized properly. As the saying goes, \"A country has its laws, and a family has its rules.\" Any enterprise should have a set of systems suitable for itself, as such systems ensure fairness and justice. To maintain the authority of the system, company owners and senior managers should first abide by it and use the system to manage people, rather than relying on personal relationships. Managing people is exhausting; managers understand this principle. So how can one become an efficient and composed manager? Systematic management is the only way out and solution. ▌1. Raise awareness: Systematic management is a systematic approach aimed at helping employees become better versions of themselves. The formulation and implementation of systems are essentially processes of shaping people. Why establish a system? It is because there are irregularities or issues in certain aspects, and it is necessary to clarify the behavioral requirements for everyone. The habitual behaviors that people used to consider normal need to be changed, and one must follow the established rules. No one likes to be constrained; systems themselves represent such constraints on people, causing discomfort and even harming the interests of some individuals. I used to take shortcuts to get to work, but now you want me to take the main road, which is much farther – that’s not acceptable! Especially for Chinese people who are accustomed to freedom and laxity, managers must give careful thought before establishing rules: Can these rules be effectively implemented? Do they have the confidence and determination to ensure their proper implementation? If it’s difficult to implement this system and one isn’t very confident about it, it’s better not to establish it at all; there’s no need even to mention it. Otherwise, it will only embarrass the managers and reduce their authority. ▌2. Self-reflection: How well are your team systems implemented? Are there any leaders who fail to follow through? After a system is established, leaders demand that others follow it, but often fail to do so themselves ； Or middle and senior management does not comply, while only ordinary employees are required to do so. Over time, as a result of this pattern, no one followed the rules anymore, and things returned to the situation where \"managing people is exhausting.\" Has there been any failure to carry out tasks due to focusing only on the results and ignoring the process? Because the system itself may be unreasonable; if it is implemented, there are all these audits and signatures required, which is very troublesome ； If it isn’t carried out, as long as the result is the same, the supervisor will be equally pleased; they might even praise their subordinates for being “smart” and “doing a great job”. Over time, everyone began to ignore the process and only pursued the outcome. In fact, the process is essential for the result, and the result is inevitable from the process. Without processes of prior and ongoing control, good results will not be achieved. Even if there are good results, they may be accidental and individual. And once good results are not achieved, it’s too late to look back for reasons, because from management to employees, there has been a habit of focusing only on results rather than on the process. Is there non-compliance resulting from inequality before the system? In some companies, the top leader can \"conveniently\" fail to enforce the rules. When senior managers violate these rules, the top leader, given that he himself has not followed them either, decides to turn a blind eye. When middle-level managers break the rules, the seniors also find excuses to justify their behavior. As for certain employees, considerations such as personal relationships lead to the decision to overlook their mistakes, and this pattern continues, resulting in a widespread failure to enforce the rules. Is everyone in your company or team treated equally under the rules? ▌3. Abandon the culture of familiarity and establish a culture of strangeness. As a business leader or department manager, have you ever encountered situations where your subordinates call you ‘big brother’ or ‘brother’? If so, this “culture of familiarity” will render the team’s rules and regulations ineffective. Why? Since you and your subordinates are like brothers, even if they make some mistakes, you just turn a blind eye and let it go. Why do they call you “Big Brother”? There’s only one purpose: he wants privileges, to be above everyone else, to ignore the rules, to be treated specially within the team, and to do as he pleases. Therefore, when managers follow the \"mass line\" and blend in with the people, treating their subordinates as friends, the result is that when subordinates make mistakes or violate regulations, their supervisors feel reluctant to enforce discipline and let it go. The aftermath is that subordinates take advantage of the situation, disregard the rules, and act flippantly; overall, team management becomes nearly unmanageable. What if we don’t do this? Things become much easier then. We are in a working relationship, a contractual relationship; we handle matters professionally, doing things as they should be done. We get paid to do our work, follow the rules and regulations. Why? Since my elder brother isn’t here, I have to be careful; otherwise I’ll get punished. This is the \"culture of strangers.\" Therefore, whether it is a boss, general manager, or department head, to lead a team effectively, one must abandon the \"insider culture\" and establish a \"stranger culture,\" not leaving any room for those who try to take shortcuts or be clever in manipulative ways; this way, the implementation of rules becomes much smoother. ▌4. System management is fundamentally about being responsible for employees. Skilled managers understand that system management is like tightening screws – it requires a lot of effort, but as long as one persists and keeps going, and enforces the rules strictly from the beginning, the team will develop a mechanism for operating automatically in accordance with those rules ； If it isn’t tightened enough, air will gradually seep in, the walls of discipline will crumble, the team will lose oversight from rules, and the atmosphere will deteriorate further. Shang Yang believed that: \"When imposing punishments, if the penalties for minor offenses are severe, then those who commit minor offenses will not be deterred, and those who commit serious offenses will not come forward. This is what is meant by using punishment to eliminate punishment; once punishment is removed, the problem is resolved.\" (\"Shang Jun Shu·Jin Ling\") In other words, institutional management must make good use of penalties; if severe punishments are imposed for minor crimes, then such minor crimes will cease to occur, and serious crimes as well will not happen. In this way, penalties can be used to prevent further crimes, thereby achieving the goal of getting things done without having to resort to penalties at all. Managers who are afraid of offending others are like \"water\" – weak and powerless; they dare not or do not want to address subordinates who violate the rules, always being polite. Employees also think such managers have a gentle temper and even somewhat appreciate them. However, over time, some employees developed a tendency to despise the system and disregard rules; eventually, they made unforgivable mistakes, were fired, or even committed crimes and ended up \"dying by drowning\"” ； Strict and harsh managers are like \"fire\" – blazing fiercely and merciless; they dare to take action and enforce rules, leaving no room for employees to be negligent even in the slightest. Over time, everyone develops a good habit of abiding by regulations, avoids making small mistakes, and prevents major errors, thus ensuring a safe life. The saying \"Hitting is love, scolding is care\" reflects this same principle: strict institutional management is an expression of love and responsibility toward employees. On the other hand, being lenient toward subordinates’ violations of rules is a form of encouragement and indulgence; small mistakes by subordinates can lead to bigger problems, which is essentially the greatest harm and a sign of irresponsibility toward those employees.