Jay Mesinger

Tasks versus relationships:
"How are you managing your flight department?" asks Mesinger

October 21, 2002:

The other day I was having dinner with a friend who is not a part of the aviation industry. He was talking about how he runs his office and the fact that he tries to manage the relationship he has with his employees rather than trying to manage the tasks that he requires them to accomplish.

Afterwards I was thinking about what he had said and about the fact that many of the most successful flight departments I’ve seen in my 28 years in aviation have practised this very same management style. As a matter of fact, many of the most successful companies I’ve seen in any industry - the companies that high quality, skilled employees most want to work for - share this same trait.

It’s easy to forget sometimes that the aircraft is not the only valuable asset in the flight department - those individuals who make up the flight department are at least as, if not more important, and need to be managed with the same care and devotion that is given to the material asset.

As a flight department manager, have you ever stopped to think about where your focus is? Do you manage each task that has to get accomplished, or do you manage the relationships with the people that you need in order to accomplish the tasks? The distinction can make all the difference between just getting the task done and potentially getting it done with greater efficiency and higher quality.

Managing the task would, for example, mean asking your maintenance person to change the brakes on the airplane. Managing the relationship would mean that you asked your maintenance person to change the brakes, but did so remembering the next trip for the airplane is days away and that this person has a parent-teacher conference for his child that night which he can’t miss.

When you consider not only the task, but also the circumstances, timelines and the individual’s personal issues when working to get a task accomplished you will not only get more out of the person you are asking to accomplish the task, but you will also remind them that their own needs don’t have to be overlooked as part of that process.

There is no question that the task must be articulated and accomplished. There is no question that it must be accomplished successfully and on time. Helping the employee achieve both their professional and personal responsibilities is one aspect of managing the relationship. I do not mean that the manager must constantly build a task timeline around personal needs of the employee, nor do I mean that work and obligation to the employer shouldn’t come first during what is determined as the workday. I want to emphasise that if one’s management style includes the whole relationship between the employee and the employer, an even stronger productivity can be the result.

So often the impact of management is far greater than the manager realises. Managing a flight department is about an entire set of intertwined relationships being affected. Think for a moment about any one individual in your management scope or control. Now think for a moment about all of the extended relationships that the person being managed has or can have (i.e. other employees, company executives, vendors, counterparts in other flight departments on your field, etc.) Maybe even take a moment and draw it out on a piece of paper. The reach can be tremendous!

When you manage the relationships, when you make sure that employees are happier and the product of their work is greater, it can affect every relationship that they have. The people that employees interact with will notice the differences and those relationships will be equally affected down the line. Management styles are more often than not emulated by the people being managed. By your managing the relationships and not just the tasks, your whole flight department will begin to pay attention to relationships. This is a complete paradigm shift for many people and it is not always an easy transition to make, but the benefits can be huge.

Not only can this management style result in greater productivity and higher quality work, it can also translate into opportunities to build bridges between the flight department and the company. The above-mentioned results will be recognised by the corporate side of the business, as they will indirectly affect aircraft performance, costs and interactions between flight department personnel and corporate executives.

By managing the relationship and not the task a new awareness of the department will begin to shine through. In fact, before you even know it, your entire flight department will become ambassadors of positive influence external to the flight department. Co-workers and management within the overall company will begin to notice the difference in a very positive way. The results will be immediate and commendable. Safety in the cockpit can be positively affected. The service offerings from vendors can be positively affected. Even the smallest task done will be attacked with a new vigour and dedication. All this can be accomplished by simply managing beyond the task.


- Jay Mesinger