Administrator is defined as a person who administers the affairs of an organization or an official body. They are also referred to as managers and executives. Since, most of us work for some organization for our living; we are all responsible for administration. Administration is, however, never an easy job since it means that getting the work done from the people within the stipulated time. This often means persuasion and also means application of force since most people do not work without force. Yet force creates a reaction that reduces the effectiveness of the administrator. Every leader and manager has to be a good administrator since he has to deliver things to the people.
People can become better and more efficient administrator if they follow these five rules.
1. Rule by Law
Often managers have to run after people to get the work done. This method may work when there are a small number of people working under the manager. When the number becomes large, managers waste a lot of their energy in chasing people leaving no time for planning and doing important jobs. It is better to actually develop a system based on well defined rules and laws which clearly laid down the tasks and the criteria for rewards and punishments. In this way, instead of looking for the individuals, the administrator has to focus only on the people who are to be rewarded or punished.
2. Be Fair
Once the rules for administration have been clearly laid down, the next step is to implement the rules in a fair and just manner. This may pose sometime problems as even the favorite people of the managers could not be rewarded beyond rules and they too might have to be punished if they break the laws. Yet justice and equality motivates most people to perform objectively and the efficiency of the organisation improves automatically.
3. Take Decisive Action
It is often not easy to reward the people and punish people who do not deliver. The rewards are always questioned and the punishments are always create hated. Yet a good administrator has to take suitable action, if he wants to maintain the sanctity of the rules. The actions must be selective but harsh so that it could have deterrent effect on the other people.
4. Feedback
One can never visualize all situations, when framing the rules. The rules are tested only when they are applied on people in the real life situations. Therefore, the administrator must continuously take feedback of the implementation of the rules. This would enable him to discard the rules which has proven to be ineffective and make new rules which can deliver better results.
5. Use Discretion
Often the rules are made so exhaustive and inflexible that the organisation starts acting like machine. Thereafter they become just the implementer of the rules forgetting the real purpose for which the rules were created. The rules must, therefore, give sufficient discretionary powers to the managers so that he can use the rules to achieve the ends of the organisation rather than become mere implementer of the rules. The discretionary power can take care of the human element of the administrator.