One of the principle work element in IAM Group Limited is work ethics. We value it as much as we value the goals we have implemented ourselves. Every employee should have this to have the company functioning at its peak. Every individual has his own ethic depending on the culture he has been exposed with. IAM Group Ltd. also has our own which we want to share for you to incorporate with your own principles as well.

Integrity
An employee should be able to stand for what he is and what he says he is. This aspect is particularly important to middle management since they stand in between the boss who expects so much from them and the rank and file who set them as examples. Integrity stretches to all aspects of an employee’s job. An employee with integrity fosters trusting relationships with clients, coworkers and supervisors. Coworkers value the employee’s ability to give honest feedback. Clients trust the employee’s advice. Supervisors rely on the employee’s high moral standards, trusting him not to steal from the company or create problems.

Sense of Responsibility
A strong sense of responsibility affects how an employee works and the amount of work she does. When the employee feels personally responsible for her job performance, she shows up on time, puts in her best effort and completes projects to the best of her ability. It shows how exemplary s/he could be especially to managers and team leaders.

Emphasis on Quality
Some employees do only the bare minimum, just enough to keep their job intact. Employees with a strong work ethic care about the quality of their work. They do their best to produce great work, not merely churn out what is needed. The employee’s commitment to quality improves the company’s overall quality. It is not a matter of task-oriented or result driven, it should be both.

Discipline
This aspect is somehow similar to the sense of responsibility. To achieve being responsible, you should be disciplined. Take the Japanese, for example. When I attended a meeting in Yokohama, Japan, I was impressed on the punctuality they have and the way they handle situations. When you say American people are punctual, take a look at our Japanese friends.

It takes a certain level of commitment to finish your tasks every day. An employee with good discipline stays focused on his goals and is determined to complete his assignments. These employees show a high level of dedication to the company, always ensuring they do their part.

Sense of Teamwork
Most employees have to work together to meet a company’s objectives. An employee with a high sense of teamwork helps a team meet its goals and deliver quality work. These employees respect their peers and help where they can, making collaborations go smoother.

Almost all of us start from the beginning, from the lowliest of the low and even underneath the hierarchy, and then we slowly climb to reach the top. One of our volunteers in IAM Group Ltd. is from Yokohama, Japan which has a wide variety of businesses and entrepreneurs. He shares a story of his climb to the mid management while he also explains what his current position really mean.

What is middle management?

Middle Management, top-level management’s link to its lower subordinates, plays a crucial part in the organization. This level is composed of managers who are responsible for implementing company strategy in the most efficient way and creating the most effective working environment. They may adjust and interpret the initial plan in order to reach target goals. In changes such as downsizing, outsourcing, and delayering, or in order to flatten the organization and empower employees to be innovative, and reduce costs, middle management may be reduced.

How does it function?

Our friend tells us that he always has the opportunity to report valuable information and suggestions from inside the organization. They channel communication within the company, as they pass major decisions of executives and main goals to lower levels of employees. This contributes to better coordination between workers and makes the company more united.

In the technical aspect, middle management is in charge of facilitating any changes needed in an organization and creates an effective working environment and ways of doing things better. He administers day-to-day routine and monitors performance, and makes sure everything is done in compliance with the organization’s needs.

Competencies in Middle Management

Being part of middle management allows one to make two critical investments. Here in IAM Group Limited, we face the same critical issues and different approaches to them. The first is signature – how one acquires and builds knowledge and rare and valuable competencies. Each has its own style and may be effective for some but not for others. The concept of management is subject to one’s interpretation. How it is carried out and handled is how leadership and management is understood.

The second is in developing new areas of proficiency, or moving into adjacencies, throughout working life.

The following competencies are critical in order to become an effective middle manager:

1. Leadership – the most important competency that requires many skills. A middle manager must know how to make sense with things and is persuasive. He must be able to motivate, influence and guide his members, and become a role model for them and demonstrate the quality and the level of work contribution necessary for a certain organization. He must have a desire for continuous self-development and learning.

1. Decision-making – ability to quickly solve conflicts, make decisions under pressure and takes responsibility for the outcome.

1. Creativity and visioning – He should have a clear vision of the possible challenges the team may face and strategize through it with the ability to overcome roadblocks, see the opportunities that lie ahead.

1. Performance Management – this includes managing his own and his subordinates’ performances by setting clear and measurable objectives and providing coaching. A middle manager must also be skilled in presenting, persuading, and influencing people.

Challenges in Middle Management

Based on a survey conducted by Harvard Business Review back in November 2014, employees belonging to this level may encounter the following challenges:

1. Diversity is unrecognized
2. Organization is perceived ineffective and inefficient
3. Overwork
4. Unaddressed issues
5. No value or appreciation
6. Unfair treatment
7. Lack of meaning and purpose
8. No career/promotion opportunities
9. Poor leadership

4 Rule Plan on How to Be Productive

I've been in the ever circling vortex of self-doubt, frustration, and loathing. It's no good so to speak. If I spend all this time typing this out to you and you don't let it be a little tinder for your fire, well, you're just letting us both down. And you don't HAVE to do that. You don't HAVE to do anything. But you get to choose. Here’s a simple 4-rule plan to stay productive in life:

Rule 1. There are no more zero days. What's a zero day? A zero day is when you don't do a single thing towards whatever dream or goal or want or whatever that you got going on. No more zeros. I'm not saying you got to bust an essay out everyday, that's not the point. The point I'm trying to make is that you have to make yourself, promise yourself, that the new SYSTEM you live in is a NON-ZERO system. Didn’t do anything all day and it's 11:58 PM? Write one sentence, do one pushup, read one page of that chapter. One. Because one is non-zero. When you're in the super vortex of being bummed your pattern of behavior is keeping the vortex going, that's what you're used to. Turning into productivity ultimate master of the universe doesn't happen from the vortex. It happens from a massive string of CONSISTENT NON ZEROS. That's rule number one. Do not forget.

Rule 2. Be grateful to the 3 YOU'S. Yes, there are three you's. There's the past you, the present you, and the future you. If you want to love someone and have someone love you back, you have got to learn to love yourself, and the 3 you's are the key. Be GRATEFUL to the past you for the positive things you've done. And do favors for the future you like you would for your best bro. Feeling down today? Stop a second, think of a good decision you made yesterday. Salad and tuna instead of Big Mac? THANK YOU YOUNGER ME. Was yesterday a non-zero day because you wrote 200 words (hey, that's all you could muster)? THANK YOU YOUNGER ME. Saved up some coin over time to buy that sweet thing you wanted? THANK YOU. Second part of the 3 me's is you got to do your future self a favor, just like you would for your best friend (no best friend? You do now. You got 2. It's future and past you). Tired and can't get off Facebook/videogames/Internet?  Forget present self, this one's for future me, I'm going to rock out some push-ups. I'm doing this one for future me. Alarm clock goes off and bed is too comfy? Stay away for a moment, present self, this one's for my best friend, the future me. I'm up and going for a 5 km run (or 25 meter run, it's gotta be non-zero). MAKE SURE YOU THANK YOUR OLD SELF for rocking out at the end of every single thing.  That makes your life better. The cycle of doing something for someone else (future you) and thanking someone for the good in your life (past you) is key to building gratitude and productivity. Do not doubt yourself. Over time you should spread the gratitude to others who help you on your path.

Rule 3. Forgive yourself. Maybe you got all the know-how, money, ability, strength and talent to do whatever is you want to do. But let’s say you still didn't do it. Now you're giving yourself a hard time for not doing what you need to, to be who you want to. Heads up champion, being disappointed in yourself causes you to be less productive. Tried your best to have a non-zero day yesterday and it failed? So what? I forgive you previous self. I forgive you. But today? Today is a non-zero masterpiece to the best of my ability for future self. This one's for you future homes. Forgiveness, use it. I forgive you. Say it out loud.

Rule 4. Exercise and books. That's it. Very standard advice but when you exercise daily, you actually get smarter. When you exercise, you get high from endorphins. When you exercise, you clear your mind. When you exercise, you are doing your future self a huge favor. Exercise is a leg on a three legged stool. As for books, almost everything we've all ever thought of, or felt, or gone through, or wanted, or wanted to know how to do, or whatever, has been figured out by someone else. Get some books to read. You know what else you could do? Read 7 habits of highly successful people. Read "emotional intelligence". Read "From good to great". Read “thinking fast and slow”. Read books that will help you understand. Read the bodyweight fitness forums and incorporate it into your workouts. Reading is the warp whistle from Super Mario 3 – It gets you to the next level that much faster.

That’s about it. There’s so much more when it comes to how to turn non-zero days into hugely non-zero days, but that’s not your mission right now. Your mission is non-zero and forgiveness and favors. You got a report deadline in the next 24 hours? Just focus, do remember the rules and do what you can within the next 24 hours.

I have joined IAM Group Limited Singapore to outperform some of my co-workers in terms of productivity. My workplace connects with people with as far as Yokohama, Japan and the Southeast Asia. Some of them even know IAM Group Ltd, but people from Yokohama Japan are so talented and such. I devised these 4 rules so I can keep up to my game. Remember, if you do things right for yourself, everything else should follow through.@http://iamgroup-limited.com/