After a friend joined a large company, he always works overtime every day, and rarely attended our friends' dinner parties. On this day, he suddenly asked me to come out. I was happy to accept the appointment certainly. As soon as we met, the first sentence my friend said was "ah". Thus, I understood my role that night.

After my friend was promoted to a supervisor, he worked really hard, did everything by himself, and led his colleagues to solve many problems. However, his boss did not agree with his achievements during the year-end appraisal, which made him very discouraged.

At this time, what sounded in my heart was a song I like very much:

"What is hard work? If the goal has gone wrong, does anyone here know that the harder you work, the more mistakes you will make?"

──MLA "Guangzhou Foot Bathing Night"

That night, I knew that my friend didn't want to listen to my storytelling. Thus, we just had a lot of jokes and drinks that night. Afterwards, when my friend had free time, I explained my opinion to him.

The position of department head is mostly held by a manager-level employee, because this is a position in charge of management, and it must have sufficient knowledge and ability. Since previous performance is the promotion criteria, the management experience of the employees is not enough actually when they are promoted to managers.

When I first became a manager, I think the most difficult thing to adapt to is the degree of freedom. My former boss once said to me, "You are the happiest when someone guides you to work." It was only after I became a supervisor that I fully understood the meaning of this sentence. With greater freedom comes greater responsibility, and supervisors must be responsible for every decision they make. The level of thinking is completely different from the previous work, and no one will tell you what to do next. If you are not mentally prepared, you will inevitably lose focus and rely on the previous route.

We spent a lot of time working on projects and solving problems before being promoted, which formed our success pattern and a comfort zone. Even after promotion, it is easy to continue to operate in this mode under the pressure of freedom, focusing on different projects and problems. Since you are in your comfort zone, work will be smooth, and time will pass quickly. In the end, we feel good that the problem is resolved and the burden on our colleagues is reduced. However, it was a different story in the eyes of outsiders, as the department was at a standstill during this period. However, it was a different story in the eyes of outsiders, as the department was at a standstill during this period.

When we manage a department, we can't just look at the problems in the department. This will make us lose sight of the forest for the trees. We need to take a hundred steps back to see the overall development direction depends on how the departments should cooperate and how the departments will develop. Managing department must start from the "department" itself. The situation is the same as that of parents raising children. Parents will arrange the daily life of the children, but this is not the point. For parents, how to make their children grow up in an ideal direction is the real goal of parents.

Every supervisor will have a different idea of ​​how to "develop", but the essence of development remains the same. My suggestion is to start with the vision, ask yourself what is the ideal department in your mind? What goals does the department need to achieve?

A department is a group of people who gather for consciousness. If everyone's direction is different, it is easy to get lost. Some people may think that the vision is unreal. However, a suitable vision can bring direction and motivation to the department, and it is easier for colleagues to understand the path the supervisor wants to take.

There is no right or wrong vision, only how to achieve it. However, since the world is constantly changing, the vision must also change with the world. Supervisors must periodically reflect on whether the original ideal is still valid and adjust the direction when necessary. After having a vision, the supervisor can think about different projects, connect the status quo and the vision with projects, and then work with colleagues in the department to move towards the goal step by step.

Supervisors will adapt to the degree of freedom after some experience. They even like the degree of freedom and unable to work without freedom. At that time, it means that you have become a supervisor who can take responsibility for your work.

Simon So

Head of Digital Marketing