Isn't your team just a "group"? Learning from Andrew Grove's "HIGH OUTPUT MANAGEMENT" in the remote era

Introduction: Is your team just "collecting" remotely working?

Now that remote work has become the norm, is there any manager having this kind of problem?

"Each member is supposed to work seriously, but for some reason the team is not getting any results." "It's hard to see who is having trouble with what when communicating through the screen." "I'm busy with my work and I can't help but develop a team."

That's not to say you're "bad." However, management methods in the industrial age are no longer suited to modern working styles.

So, what should I do? The answer lies in the timeless masterpiece "HIGH OUTPUT MANAGEMENT" by Andrew S. Grove, the legendary manager who raised Intel into a global company. This book redefines the "work" of managers and is a bible that is still read by Silicon Valley managers.

In this article, we will interpret the core of this book by replacing it with the context of the modern IT industry, especially remote work.

Roughly speaking

Manager's output = Organizational output. It's not your job, but the results your team produces, that's what you really appreciate.
Be aware of the "rewarding effects of management". It is necessary to focus on activities that maximize the team's output with minimal effort.
When working remotely, "One on One"** is the lifeblood. It is not a place to check progress, but the best opportunity to bring out the motivation and abilities of subordinates.

What exactly is a manager's job?

A trap that many managers fall into. It involves dragging the success experiences of your playing days and becoming immersed in your own work. But Glove asserts.

"Manager output is the output of an organization that was under supervision or influenced immediately after that."

In other words, no matter how good you write or create the perfect material, it is just your personal output. Your output as a manager is the summary of the results your team has produced.

With this definition, you naturally come to understand what a manager should do. It is to bring out the abilities and motivation of our subordinates and increase the productivity of the entire team. Glove says. "When a person is not working there are only two reasons: they simply can't do it or don't try to do it. In other words, they either have no ability or are unwilling to do it."

Your job is to editate your subordinates and motivate them. It is no exaggeration to say that it will be summed up into these two parts.

"Management leverage" that produces maximum results with minimal effort

So how can you increase your team's productivity? This is where the concept of "leverage" comes into play.

Managers have limited time. How to maximize the output of your team within that limited time? Gloves have three activities that have a strong leverage:

Activities in which one manager influences a large number of people (e.g. providing accurate information indicating the team's policy)
Activities that affect one action over a long period of time (e.g. training to improve subordinate skills, effective personnel assessment)
Activities that influence group work by unique and valuable knowledge (e.g., sharing expertise, standardizing best practices)

Let's apply this to modern remote work.

For example, let's say you create a quality document for your team using esa or Notion. This will be visible to the entire team at any time, and will create a state where they can be seen in the future. This is a highly leverage activity** that affects many members in one task and for a long period of time.

Conversely, ad hoc Slack instructions and oral explanations that are only communicated to specific individuals have little leverage. This is because even if it is a good idea to get away with it, it will not be built up as organizational knowledge. Which activity should you spend your time on?

Redefine the lifeline of the remote era, "one on one"

"One on One, I'm doing it."

There are probably many managers who say that. However, isn't this a mere progress check meeting? For Globe, One-on-One is "probably the best source of organizational knowledge available to managers" and is the most important management activity.

This is especially important in remote work environments where members' faces are hard to see. It is not a place to manage task progress. It is a sacred time to bring out the potential problems, career worries and source of motivation that subordinates face.

For an effective one-on-one, Glove says "the agenda should be decided by subordinates." This is because by doing so, subordinates will organize their own issues in advance and take the meeting on an independent basis. Your boss is the listener, organizes his subordinates' thoughts and helps him clarify his next actions.

This time is an investment for subordinates as well as the most leverage investment for managers to know the pulse of their organization.

Conclusion: Three actions you can do starting tomorrow

"HIGH OUTPUT MANAGEMENT" is not just a theory book. It is a treasure trove of concrete action plans that can be used in your daily work. If you are feeling a challenge with the current situation of your team, why not start with these three things?

**Review your calendar. ** Visualize the amount of time spent on your work and the amount of time spent on "highly leveraging activities" (documentation, 1-on-1, training, etc.) that contribute to improving the output of your team.
**Someone on One will create an agenda from your subordinates. ** And you should focus on "listening." I'm sure you'll be able to see things that you couldn't see before.
**Identify recurring questions and problems in the team and document the answers. ** It is a valuable investment that will help future team members and create your own time.

Management is not art, it is science and technology. And you can learn the skills. This book is the best textbook for that. This is where your journey begins from a "just a group" to a "high-output organization."