The boundary between the Team

The key to understanding this third executive function is to understand that the executive stands at the boundary between the team and the resources necessary for and the obstacles hindering the team from achieving their objectives.
Be well,
Dwika-EecuTrain

New Tip #3 for Technical Managers
(Steps #3 and #4)
**Steven Cerri

Tip #3: "Secure Resources and Remove Obstacles"
Here I want to introduce the third of Six Functions of Successful Executives©. Regardless of whether you are a supervisor or a CEO or an entrepreneur or any level in between, one of your functions is to secure the resources your team needs to do their jobs. Who else is going to do that? Who else has the power and the authority and the knowledge needed to know what resources are needed and how to obtain those resources?

Likewise, along with securing resources, the successful executive also is required to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of the team doing their jobs. With these two tasks, the successful executive paves the way for his or her team to apply their expertise to the task or tasks at hand.

Securing the resources may often take the form of purchasing equipment, or office space, or health insurance, or capital, or additional people. The successful executive is constantly asking "What is it my team needs that they can't get for themselves?"

Removing obstacles may take the form of talking to other departments to secure cooperation, working with vendors to secure shipments or commitments, or working with manufacturing to schedule processes. The successful executive is constantly asking "What obstacles are in the way of my team completing their tasks successfully?

In either case, the executive may be working within the company's formal or informal organizational structure or may be working outside the corporate structure altogether. The key to understanding this third executive function is to understand that the executive stands at the boundary between the team and the resources necessary for and the obstacles hindering the team from achieving their objectives.