Richard Branson: Seven rules for managers

Coaching senior managers can be difficult because they need to find a stretch of uninterrupted time to review their decisions. So, every year, we bring senior managers from across the Virgin Group to my home on Necker Island to discuss the challenges and opportunities we face. We celebrate our achievements, reflect on our mistakes and discuss how we could better work together.

In a session led by Sally Morgan, a former aide to British prime minister Tony Blair who serves as one of our advisers, our group came up with some handy guidelines for managers by looking at lessons learnt from the public, private and non-profit sectors. Whether you are launching your first start-up or leading an experienced team, these basics will hold true in almost every situation.

KEEP YOUR TEAM INFORMED

It is crucial to set objectives for each period according to your business’s strategy – and then make sure all employees know about them.

Sally told us that when she was working for the British government, every summer, ministers appointed to cabinet received a note from Blair that outlined his strategic approach for the year and set clear objectives for each department. Cabinet met for a week to discuss these before members of parliament returned from holidays and had the chance to analyse and challenge the approach. Thereafter, the team received a note from Blair every Sunday, which was discussed at a meeting next morning to agree on key actions.

Communicating your objectives regularly will help ensure your team has a framework for making decisions. It is important all feel welcome to discuss the group’s objectives – that open debate is encouraged – because everyone will have a responsibility to follow through.

DEFINE THE RULES OF THE ROAD

It is important to define core values for your business, which you and your employees can refer to when making decisions. In assessing investments and new directions at Virgin, we have always considered whether the proposed business meets our core values, which helps us manage our diverse portfolio and maintain consistency. We look at whether it will do something different to most or all companies in the industry or sector; whether it will provide real value, great customer service and retain the sense of fun and pride that distinguishes a good from a great business. Recently we added a new core value: we test whether a new business will have the legs to go overseas and can be scaled up within about three years.

FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS

It is tempting to try to do too much; for ambitious managers and their teams, there are always too many projects and too little time. But successful organizations know what their priorities are: They tackle the really important projects and the rest falls into place.

WHO’S IN CHARGE? IT’S UP TO YOU

A good manager provides clear roles for members of his team, which enables everyone to get on with the job of running the business. Once you’ve made these choices, do not micromanage. If you make a habit of diving in and changing a major project’s direction or otherwise intervening, your employees will learn to be dependent on you, and they will not reach their full potential.

CHAMPION YOUR EMPLOYEES’ IDEAS

When your team makes a judgment call, you need to follow through with conviction. If you cast doubt and let their project languish, your team will not have the impetus or confidence to take the next steps. If you insist on making every big decision yourself, you will create a terrible log jam. Do not fall into the trap of asking for further reports in order to justify moving forward. It is always better to act; it is debilitating to dither.

LEARN FROM MISTAKES AND MOVE ON

It is impossible to get every decision right. When things go wrong, review with your team what happened and learn from it together. But don’t linger – dust yourself off and tackle the next challenge.

It is important not to keep tinkering with a project in hopes of delaying its end. At Virgin, we have not always got this right – for instance, we hung onto our Megastores longer than we should have.

CELEBRATE SUCCESSES EVERY DAY

When someone on your team has a big success, celebrate it and tell others. This is something that should be part of your everyday work – you should try to catch your team doing something right.

BRW

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