What is your Management Style? Are you a flexible person, or are you a person who feels that the "rules are the rules", period! I had a learning experience recently that I thought I would share. I will leave it up to your own evaluations. I will change the names of those involved, but the story remains the same.

I have been involved in a number of "Pamela's" online programs, and have always found her to be a reasonable, friendly and honest person to deal with. In the past if I had a little problem, question or comment, a quick email to Pamela came with a quick reply and a solution.

A few months back, she changed her preferred method of communication to an open forum, designed to cover all of her programs. Logic says this was a very good move because her little empire was growing and individual emails were probably getting to be too much. I do not routinely go check out all of the forums of all of the businesses in which I am involved. Generally I have found this to be too time consuming for daily usage. Now I am not saying that business forums are a waste of time -- I think there is a place for them. I am just saying that unless I have a specific issue, I don't check all of the ones that are a part of my many programs.

So fast forward to about a month ago. I received an email from Pamela explaining that a certain payment processor had been causing problems and a number of people's monthly payments had not been made to one of her programs. She also set a deadline for getting this fixed and caught up to date. I immediately contacted her and she confirmed that, yes, I was on the unpaid list, and she referred me to the forum where instructions were posted explaining the procedure to fix the problem.

I found said instructions, tried to apply them, and now matter how hard I tried, I was unable follow the instructions, no matter which browser I use, and no matter where I went within the program. I don't usually get stumped like that, but the info that was being referenced was simply not to be found. I dropped an email off to Pamela and requested some assistance.

Here is where the ball got dropped. I never heard back from Pamela. I got busy and kind of forgot about the whole thing myself. In hindsight, I should have posted my problem in the forum. But I didn't for one of the very reasons that I hate reading these types of forums -- I much prefer a quick email. Besides which, if no one else was having the problem, why should I clutter up the forum with my specific problem.

Fast forward to a few days ago, I got an email stating that I had been dropped from the program for non-payment. This was certainly not my intention, so again, I sent back an email and was referred to the forum. I contacted the forum moderator and also Pamela, explained the situation, and asked where to go from this point.

This is the point in the story where my management style differs from Pamela's. Her approach is that the rules had been outlined and she wasn't making any exceptions for anyone, period, no matter how long they had been a member of her programs. Obviously, this is her right and her privilege. Do I agree with it? No, I don't. Her program -- her privilege. Can I survive without her programs? Absolutely. Did she make a "happy customer" and will I recommend her and her programs to other people? Not a chance!

So that is the end of my little story, and like I said, I learned a couple of valuable lessons. First and foremost, I have begun copying myself when I write important emails for which I need to follow up. I am putting these copies into a separate folder so they are easy for me to find and make sure nothing has gotten ignored.

Second, in my own businesses where I deal with people, I am striving to work with people and to remember that they too are busy and sometimes confused by directions. Are there times where rules should be followed letter by letter? Of course. However, by working with people and being flexible whenever possible, you will create a happy customer and one who will want to remain working with you in both your current and future endeavors.

Which management style do you prefer?