Do we need managers or systems?

I am not sure whether I have read any managerial books but I do know that I have worked under many managers. Quantity being around 7. I must say they all were different. They did only one thing. Fulfilling their KRAs but their approaches weren't the same. They even spoke the same language.

Good managers are those who can use minimum resources with maximum effectiveness. They must also be endearing to their people. You will say this is what all managers need. This is unfortunately not true. Most managers I met where not endearing to their people neither did they not circumspectly avoided breaking rules. They did it however selectively. Obviously, this is not true for all of them. Some where highly rule oriented and others were highly people oriented. They were very good motivators both in positive sense and negative sense. They reprimanded their people, they set relationships, they even spoilt relationships. How do these managers knwo what is right for the situation. This is what I am here to find out.

If you know about how an organization functions then you can easily judge and understand as to what and why managers do the way they do. Still there were other managers who lived in I am right and you are wrong paradigm. How a manager grows is he understands that he is the moral pillar of his or her department while others are humans. After all there has to be a balance between morals and performance. We must also agree that there is a boss - subordinate relations with managers. The boss has its own challenges after all they are also people like us.

One more thing that I noticed is that managers don't mix up with each other very well. When two or more managers meet there is always a tussle. They don't agree. Most times the tussle is very healthy but other times it is just not so. They realize that they are independent and each of them have different views and morals. During the observation I also saw that systems and managers play a complementary role. Systems are friends of managers. Most job get done via systems. Systems is invisible but it is a powerful force in our society especially in organizations. People come in the morning to their work place, they don't stare at their bosses, they just do what the system has asked them to do. This one time system setting and there after it's changes are the job done by the managers along with an expert who knows about the systems or who has experience about the systems.

Are managers replaceable? Can't say. But certainly the managers having more systems can do much more work done than alone a manager can.

For the time being let us assume that this way is the best way.

Adieu!

Chapter 1 What about typing

You must be wondering, how apt it is in the age of computers anybody talking about typing. Typing is not seen as a professional skill. It is underrated. But one must accept it. We all have our speed when it comes to typing a document, sending a mail or writing a letter. We do not understand how pace is important in case there is urgency. The stream of consciousness happens well only if you type well. A normal individual works so hard in increasing his typing speed but most of the efforts are in vain. Why is it in vain?

Typing like any other discipline requires focus and effort. It has to be learnt like we learn the alphabets. The best way to go about typing will be discussed in the multiphase chapters and you will always be thankful for such advice. As a secretary or for that matter if you are working in an organization you always know how urgent it is to do your work. Preferably as a software programmer or a student you have to type many assignments. People chat on their computers and post blogs nowadays.

When I started my typing was around 25 wpm. I even remember in joining a typing class during my school days. It increased my typing speed to 35 wpm. Then after learning, we had no way of implementing in our daily work and studies. I lost the touch and typing once again became esoteric.

When my job started I had to type minutes, and send emails. All these could not be done slowly. We generally think faster than we type. This is obvious. So the problem not lies in our thinking it lies in our speed. When you Google you shall find many people having great typing speed. Some of them even are above 100wpm. The Guiness book of record shows that one man can type about 160 wpm. This is amazing. I don’t expect you or me to type at that speed but anywhere above 60wpm is a good typing speed.

I have worked hard on my typing. My motivation was one of my colleagues who had a competitive typing speed and later for me it grew to a passion. If I had any time I would type. There are many software available freely on the net where you can learn your typing and increase your speed. My present typing is 80 to 90 wpm. It varies depending on the material also.

Others need not go through the same turmoil. Some of the things would be discussed here and they require immediate attention for data entry operators, students, secretaries etc. The chapters have been kept shorter because that is what how much you need to know. Mostly it should be done in under one reading. You can revise or repeat the same and every time you do so you will find some new tips for doing things better.

Touch typing as you call it has two types of key boards. One is QWERTY and the other is DVORAK. I use QWERTY. Most of us in India use QWERTY. I will not say I know how many do but in the market mostly you have this layout .

Two finger typing is what most of do in the beginning. After that we learn that we have to place your fingers on the middle row. We will come to what these rows are ahead.

We shall also come to the kind of finger and arm exercises you need to do regularly when you are tired of typing. Even I miss out some of these exercises but recently I have pledged to start it. Let us begin today.

Now we get into specifics. Any keyboard has a top row, home middle row and bottom row. In QWERTY we place the fingers on the middle row. You must keep the four fingers on A,S,D,F while the other fingers on your right hand has to be kept on ; ,L,K,J.