delhi - National HRD Network

Little Harry had
managed to
convince his
teacher that his
absence from
school on the
previous day was
genuine. Mrs.
Mehta managed to prepare an elaborate
dinner in spite of the low ration as it was
month ending. Mr. Raj managed to buy two
tickets of the movie on the first day of
release. 'Manage', is the word most
commonly people manage to use in their
daily routine.
Managing or management is no more
identified only with professionals but is a
universal activity, as it is also a very common
household word these days. In almost every
context this word is handy. But for what ever
reasons it is used, the importance of
management or managing things, is crystal
clear. Effective and efficient utilization of
available resources to attain a specific target
is nothing but management. The knowledge
of the available resources; the knowledge
of how to acquire these resources and then
the knowledge of utilizing these resources
efficiently are critical. Though Money,
Materials, Machines and Men are the basic
things that are to be managed, management
of men is very crucial and challenging. But,
to successfully manage things around us it
is essential to practice the art of
management right from within ourselves.
For a satisfied living, managing one self is
the first and foremost thing to be efficiently
and effectively dealt with. A person who can
manage himself effectively only can succeed
in managing others. As goes the 42nd sloka
of Chapter 3 in Bhagavad-Gita,
"Indriyani parani adhurinadriyebhyah param
manah Manustu para buddhirho buddeh
partasu saha"
(Sensory organs are more powerful than the
physical body; the mind is more powerful
than the sensory organs; Intellect is more
powerful than the mind. Soul is a distant
witness or observer, which is very delicate
or subtle, yet the most powerful. Hence,
control your mind with the strength of the
soul.).
A person enjoys emotional stability and is a
better decision maker when he can regulate
his mind which is very essential for self
control. Hence, the art of managing 'our self'
and to have self control is necessary before
we manage other men. Through this article
the various facets in the art of managing
oneself is discussed.
Managing habits: Habit Cultivation is both
advantageous and disadvantageous. Habits
should be developed for our healthy
One Step Towards Success
existence. Habits sometimes may land us
in problems. Hence, it is always better that
we are flexible with our habits and manage
them according to the situation.
Managing hobbies: Every individual has
something as a personal interest and when
we try to pursue it regularly in our leisure
time it becomes our hobby. So the hobbies
have to be managed properly so that they
do not become the 'once upon a time
activities' of our life. Moreover, hobbies
always enrich and enlighten us with fresh
energy and life. They help us in developing
a world of our own where we can find solace
from the hustle bustle of the competitive life.
Hence, manage to spare some time for
pursuing hobbies.
Managing Behavior: Immense pleasure is
experienced when people try to follow in our
foot steps towards satisfaction and
fulfillment. Before we study and analyze the
behavior of the people to be managed at
our work place it is very essential and helpful
if we study and assess our own self and
bring about the required changes in
ourselves, so that we set an example to
people at our work. We then can easily
influence and manage the human resources
at work place too.
Managing time: Time management is
'managing the time available at our disposal
effectively'. Or rather, as it is not possible to
manage the availability of time as per our
requirement, I think it is better we think on
how we manage ourselves to the time
available. Forecasting the possible
obstacles and planning the day to day
activities will surely help us in managing
ourselves to time and successfully complete
all our activities of the day with satisfaction.
Managing energies: Our physical, mental
and spiritual energies should be managed
in most productive way so that we attain our
goals effectively. When we learn to manage
our energies we can also efficiently manage
the time at our disposal because we will be
brisk at our thoughts and actions.
Managing routine activities: As goes the
moral of an old story "Never trust a person's
intention unless he himself stoops to do the
job", it is always better to see that we
manage to do our personal works ourselves
as far as possible to avoid any delay at
workplace. A person who depends on
somebody to perform his duties will never
do them in time or as intended. Like, driving
our own car or vehicle to the workplace
instead of depending on a driver assures
that we reach our destination in time. If we
stop depending on our family members for
small things which we can manage to do on
our own, it helps to create a sharing and
caring atmosphere at home too.
Ms. B V Sandhya vani is faculty at Alluri Institute of Management Sciences, Hanamkonda. E-Mail: svksm@yahoo.com
– B V Sandhya Vani
Managing Self Discipline: Discipline is one
of the values which set most of the things
right in our life. Maintain self discipline
before we expect it in somebody else. The
value system that is to be spread across
our workplace should be originating from
within us.
Managing emotions: It is very essential to
manage our emotions as per the situation
and should take care that our personal
emotions do not affect our work
atmosphere. Especially, self sympathy is a
negative emotion which would cause
hindrance to our progress.
Managing Conflict: Intrapersonal conflicts
are as common as decision making in a
person's life. The pros and cons of a
decision are to be weighed and there exists
a conflict when the act to be performed,
clashes with our personal feelings or values.
It is essential to manage these intrapersonal
conflicts effectively to decide on 'to do or
not to do, what to do, where to do, how to
do, who is to do'. Anywhere and everywhere
an internal conflict may arise and we have
to effectively decide on these questions by
resolving this conflict within us.
Managing Stress: Stress is a part of
everybody's life in the modern days. The
competitive environment is creating stress
on everybody. This, on the long run leads
to many disastrous actions. Even school
children are not an exception now. They
undergo stress because of the competition
they are forced to face. The competitive
environment forces the parents and the
teachers to create stress on the students.
Hence, we should learn to manage stress
effectively by practicing Yoga or meditation,
listening to music, spending time on our
hobbies etc which are some of the methods
available for easily reducing stress. By
managing stress, decision making at work
place also is effective.
Thus, every individual to work effectively has
to start practicing the art of managing from
within him and then move on to manage
others. Guiding and leading ourselves
towards positiveness by self assessment
and practicing self control only will help us
to successfully guide and lead others. When
both the managers and the people to be
managed, start managing themselves then
the people management process becomes
very simple. When we are well managed
human beings, we can attain self
satisfaction. Self satisfaction fills us with
positive energy and leads us towards
success. Let us try to practice this art of self
management as one of the steps towards
success.
| HRD News Letter | March 2009, Vol.24, Issue:12 36