Clemens Schranz, director of Soravia Management - Good leader enables for each team member to grow in their job!

(Clemens Schranz)

The business building New Mill is situated next to the newly opened hotel Radisson Blu Old Mill in Belgrade and together they form the complex Stari mlin (Old Mill). New Mill has 10 floors and an underground parking lot. This entire space has about 4,119 square meters, whereas the building alone features 3,665 square meters of space for rent. This is a project of the Soravia company.

Since people represent the most important resource for each company's operations, Clemens Schranz, the director of Soravia Management, speaks for eKapija about the responsibilities and characteristics of a leader, ways to motivate employees, the importance of initiatives and conflicts...

Considering that you are a team leader and that you carry the greatest responsibility you probably have the most complete picture during realisation of project. You are faced with many challenges, you changed your work environment, you had to adapt to your new co-workers and they had to adapt to you. You needed to provide for yourself and for others an opportunity to “fit in” in order to create an ideal working environment. You certainly managed this, because the OLD MILL project was successfully completed.

I am interested in knowing how you view your position as a leader?

- My position in SORAVIA MANAGEMENT requires to reach the strategic goals of the company and the goals of the projects our company are pursuing. Leadership requires to translate these goals into daily operations and to enable the entire team to work together towards meeting these goals. This is how the success is being measured ultimately. Every employee has to contribute his/her share, in the field or area he/she is responsible for. Values are very important and I am trying to live the values as a role model for the team. The values are the framework within which the work has to be carried out.

How do you motivate your employees to perform to the best of their abilities?

- I believe that the intrinsic motivation of each employee is weighing at least as much as the extrinsic motivation. As a manager I am responsible to lay the foundation for extrinsic motivation. For example, I can ensure that the working environment is professional. There are many aspects to it: a proper work place with enough space, functioning equipment, but also informal break-out zones where the team can mingle and rest. That’s the “hardware”. For the “software” I am trying to offer a good work-life balance: flexible working times when personal matters do require it, for example. Also, I want the team members to grow in their job.

The possibility to conduct trainings or courses s offered. Since we are only around 10 team members, I put strong emphasize on the team work spirit: open communication, flat hierarchies, fast decision making, but also the “fun factor” must not fall short . Last but not least, I can say that our remuneration policy is fair and performance is being rewarded. If you add up all this, it can have a positive impact on the overall motivation.

What is the importance of communication and information exchange for the smooth functioning of a team?

- It is the basis for everything. Ineffective communication is the number 1 reason for projects to fail in our industry. From what I observe, informal communication is taking place regularly and ensures that information is being exchanged. In addition, I am in the course to implement a document and work-flow management system. The vision is to digitalize our operations as much as possible. Documents must be easily found, processes must run smoothly and become transparent. Only then we can avoid to getting stuck somewhere along the way and our company will become more agile. Double-work must be avoided, the time to search for information reduced to an absolute minimum.

Besides that, I am constantly trying to keep meetings effective: they have to be properly prepared and the agenda items designed to be relevant for all participants. If it is not relevant to everybody, information can be exchanged through “conversations” rather than meetings.

How important are initiative and reliability for a successful job completion?

- I would add “responsibility” and “accountability” to the question. It is good if people have work experience. But to me it is equally important that they are effective. To be effective, they have to be able to complete their work and tasks with a minimum of support, and in good quality. Therefore, they are asked to take initiative, thinking out of the box, trying new things, even if they have not been doing it before. Of course, they have to act responsibly in the interest of the company. Also, they are held accountable: to must be able to explain the reason for any of their action or decision. Then a manager can rely on the actions and results are produced.

Would you characterise yourself as an authoritarian, a democratic or a laissez-faire leader..?

- Certainly, a laissez-faire style. Results count, not hierarchies or the way of decision making.

How important is group cohesion for productivity?

- It is important. Disputes among group members can sometimes prevent the effectiveness. However, employees are responsible to actively work on group cohesion. Management offers the framework for it.

Do you believe that conflicts can be productive?

- Always. Conflicts represent different views, standpoints and interests. The manager has to lead the conflicting parties to ways of conflict resolution.

How do you resolve conflicts and crises?

- Max Frisch, a philosopher of the early last century, once stated: “A crisis is a productive state. You simply have to get rid of its aftertaste of catastrophe.” In this sense, I approach conflicts and crises as a chance.