Hi, I'm a Student currently doing an elective on Management and I need to interview a Manager to ask some questions for an essay assignment. I would really appreciate it if someone could help.

Basically the interview is to find out how the Manager makes plans to achieve the goals of his company and for our own focus for the assignment, we also want to find out how the Manager manages his employees in the workplace. The objective of the interview is basically for us to compare whether what happens in real life bears any semblance to the theory that we study.

An example of some questions I want to ask will be something like this.

1. As a manager, what kind of planning & decision-making do you do within the scope of your job?

2. What are some of the criteria you use to set your objectives?

3. Can you elaborate about the kind of employees under your management? Eg. Do you have a diverse workforce under you and do you find any benefits of it? If not, why?

It would be greatly appreciated if anyone is willing to help with this. Some of the questions are probably not appropriate to answer publicly on the Internet so it would be better if you emailed me. Please email me at >Removed<

First there are Action Plans; short plan/s for immediate action. I.E. taking action to fix an immediate problem. This can also then be incorporated into the regular planning process.

Planning; Involves more intricate details for long term benefits; financial, sales, administration, advertising, etc.

Planning in general takes a different perspective depending upon the position of the person involved; CEO, CFO, General Manager, Regional Manager, local manager, site manager, etc. This planning can be in stages that can be reviewed and changed if necessary.

The only way to have success in planning is to make it 'gradable.' And planning should always be realistic and obtainable.

Stringer

Hi, thanks for answering. I was wondering if its possible for me to talk to you personally for an interview?

If not, can I ask a few more questions?

What kind of criteria would a manager generally use when making plans?

According to theory, a good Manager is someone who achieves the company goals with high efficiency and effectiveness. How would a manager be able to utilize their manpower or human resources to achieve those goals?

Leaving conversations on this board is helpful to anyone else that may need advice Hidden.

Yes ask away, if I can help I would be happy to do so.

First you have to identify exactly what you want to set the goal/s for, what you want to accomplish and when. You have to be very precise and you have to have dates as to when this will be completed.

Then a manager has to gather all pertinent information; market, demographics, who is responsible for the area of this goal (staff the goal), finances involved, what people should be assigned, returns, etc. When all this info is gathered access and dissect it setting a reasonable, measurable goal.

The manager should always set goals with the assistance of the people involved. If they do not it is seen as a company goal and not theirs, they need to participate and understand the goal/s and how they will participate and how it should/will be obtained. They have to 'buy in' to it or the manager will not get the participation required to complete it.

Stringer