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Friday, August 26, 2011

Management Lessons from Anna’s fast

A few management lessons learnt from Anna’s Fast in the ongoing agitation for Jan Lokpal Bill


1. Clarity of objectives and scope management- . A very clear objective of bringing in the Jan Lokpal bill in a time bound manner. Gandhian approach is still relevant today to handle major upsurges and without shedding a drop of blood or a bullet fired, the final objectives can be met.

2. Leadership-

a) Anna- demonstrative, proactive, connecting with masses, people first, sacrifice and a lot more

b) Government functionaries/ opposition parties- reactive, no clarity of objective, shifting stands

c) Team Anna- cohesive team, collective decision making, astute, knowledgeable

3. Time management- There can be no better example of setting the deadline of meeting the objectives as in present case it was 31 Aug

4. Budget – Anna’s team had mobilized resources and logistics according the budgets they had access to and have managed to garner more financial support as the momentum picked up.

5. Effective Communication is the key to achievement of goals as demonstrated by team Anna during the entire process. Stubbornness and arrogance are barriers to communication as demonstrated by Mr Kapil Sibal and Mr Chidambaram

6. Choosing the right team is essential- Team Anna who professionally managed the entire event on their respective skill sets like Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal with past knowledge of government procedures , processes and Justice Santosh Hegde and Shanti Bhushan advising on legal complexities to name some.

7. Risk management- The risks involved akin to chasing a moving target with the stakeholders dynamics shifting every hour. Also, mobilization of teams and the success of the agitation heavily depended on the response from people

8. Strategy and Change management- The strategies changed as required by the events. When the government tried to clamp restrictions initially, a stage in of dharna in jail premises left the authorities in a dilemma. Likewise the gherao of the houses of the MPs to bring about pressure on them and PM brought about pressure on the government to review their stand.



These are some very simplistic ways to analyze the ongoing situation and in all certainty based on the outcome of the result of the ongoing agitation, elaborate studies will be carried out by the intellectuals

2 comments:

  1. You are right, he is a master strategist and thinks of steps ahead... Most amazing is his leadership qualities...A septuagenarian leading the youth is awesome.

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  2. Yes Alka...Am sure that with yesterday's all round support in Parliament the admiration for Anna's crusade has gone up several notches further

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