Simon Thorneycroft and Jonathan Hodgson

What's so successful about Gordon Ramsay's management style?

Interesting read on the BBC News website called Compliments to the chef.

It covers a number of points about Gordon Ramsay's management style, one interesting statistic is that for all his profanities and tough approach his staff retention is very high,

He is not without his critics, but despite his reputation for hot-headedness he has held on to 80% of his staff for the past 10 years.

The points are true for most businesses/teams:

• Working as a team - "It's an obvious ingredient of any successful business, but staff at some companies seem incapable of working as a team. Ramsay excels at giving his staff a sense of the story in which they play an important part."
• Boss not friend - "Ramsay is tough, but his style is also about coaching and encouraging the best from his staff."
• Back to Basics - "He hates pretension and makes sure the whole team understands what his vision is so they are all working towards the same goal."
• Stand out from the crowd - "Ramsay identifies what each business can do to the highest possible standard."
• Good communications - "His comments might be peppered with swear words, but Ramsay communicates clearly and continuously with staff. He lets them know exactly what he expects and provides them with both positive and negative feedback. The result is a highly-motivated workforce."

Many of those points are key to Agile processes; good communication via stand-up meetings, back to basics via YAGNI (You Aren't Gonna Need It), etc.

Maybe IT can learn some tips from other industries, Matt Davey points to a recent article on management techniques from Sport being applied to businesses. There's a similar story from Joel Spolsky in the introduction of his new book about an army major providing inspiration by setting a positive example.

As Terry from Harrogate says, "By him expecting the highest standards from his staff and being prepared to put in the time to help them achieve those standards. The overall effect is a completely inspiring boss."

How many managers in IT can you say the same for?