Implementing Effective Management Systems in a College

Whose Today’s Guest?

Christine Mushibwe is the vice chancellor at Unicaf University. She has a vast experience in university management as she has served in management positions for several universities.

Management Systems Defined

Management system is a commonly used term in business. There several other terms that have been coin in business that are used to help business owners, but when we talk of management systems and attach the term effective at the beginning we are simply referring to principles of how a business should be run.

There so many definitions that one may use, for some it may be defined as interrelation functions of a business, but as stated above these are management systems are principles that one comes up with for his or her business.

There a number of models and theories that business owners have come up with, but as to how effective these models and theories are is relative. This is because these are principals designed for a particular business based on the business owner’s observation hence it is not possible for one’s management system to work for somebody else.

Take for instance, Fredrick Taylors management system. It was very mechanistic and as far as he was concerned the only way to use human beings was as machines, this worked in his organization and he made a lot of profit but it had a major challenge as people didn’t have to think but rather it meant he always thought on their behalf.

In another organization this management would not be accepted and ultimately would not work. In order to create effective management systems, one has to be innovative in the way they think and establish as to what exactly one needs to do and what management system to implement.

You will need to understand what your goals are and come up with Key Performance indicators (KPIs). This will help your monitor your management system that you have designed.

Are There Unique Management Systems?

There could be there some businesses but like indicated above, copying and pasting a management system may not work for your business, however bench marking is a good way of trying to design your management systems. You can look at what others are doing, approach likeminded businesses or in this case already established colleges, see how they function and pick up what you actually think may work in your institution.

Incorporating Technology and Record Keeping Systems

The new normal has brought a lot of things. It has called on people to be really innovative and to begin thinking outside the box, the same applies to colleges even during this period they are adapting.

• Enrolment

Universities and colleges are like are coming up with a holistic system to reach clients and students both at local and at the international level, this has allowed universities and colleges to keep enrolling students and shifted the lessons to online platforms like Zoom despite being in a lock down.

• Payments and records

Develop a system that allows your students to pay right from the comfort of their homes, such transactions allow for accountability as they are quick and direct especial with the challenge that we face as a country, we employ people with no prior experience and in most cases our relative s are the ones that we employ to manage our accounts and various other cardinal positions.

Quality of Education

• Curriculum

This will be a key determinant of the quality of education you will be offering as an institution.

• The Overall Goal of the Institution

The goal of any institution should not just focus on getting the numbers in but rather there should be a key focus on bring in the right staff, anybody can teach now at days but your aim should be to get qualified individuals that can give excellent service.

• Recruitment Process

From the onset, your recruitment process should be very clear and it should be in stages. One will need to know where to get the applications forms how to interview and who should be involved in the interview process so that you are help to choose the right individuals to teach and lecture.

• Infrastructure

We are very easily swayed when money comes in and we often use it on things that were not intended for. But in order to be an institution that provides high quality education there is need to look the part and that can only be achieved by re-investing in infrastructure.

Good infrastructure will attract the right clients for your college and the quality of this infrastructure will send a message as to the quality of education that you are providing. This infrastructure includes simple things like tables, boards and the builds themselves, they convey the level of your institution.

Reinvestment in infrastructure should be any institutions concern, even the Higher Education authority will allude to this. It is not advisable to turn a house into a college or university unless you will completely change the infrastructure.

Key Insight:

• Management systems is all about the principals that you set as a leader.
• Management systems need policies, they illuminate the boundaries in which workers are supposed to operate.
• Never work alone in your business or institution journey, seek to work with already established institutions or businesses and learn from them, look at how they function and pick on what you can adopt.

“Don’t walk alone ,walk with those that are already in business as you become innovative”

We would love to hear from you. You can participate in this conversation on social media and in our comments section below. Your input is valuable to other.