12.7 THE SKILLS YOU NEED TO BE A GREAT BOSS: Minimize Problems by Being Prepared

(SHORT NOTES FROM TEAM MANAGEMENT:

Difficult Management Situations at http://www.mindtools.com)

 

Discrimination is a word that conjures up fear, anger, stress, and a whole host of negative emotions.  Complaints of discrimination can severely damage businesses.  Discrimination in the workplace creates an unfair and unpleasant working environment.

Reactive management refers to a situation in which you don’t – or can't – plan ahead for problems or opportunities. Instead, you react to them as they happen.  In contrast, proactive management happens when you plan ahead to avoid or manage problems.  You might be in a reactive state for several reasons:

o   A crisis may have forced you to change or abandon your plans.  You need to make short-term decisions to cope with the situation.

o   Your organization may have poorly planned processes or policies.  You need to spend your time fixing these or working around them, instead of planning for the future.

o   You may find a reactive management style exciting.  People with certain personality types can enjoy the "buzz" that goes along with it.

 

Firefighting is sometimes essential during a rush, or as part of a short period of change. However, it can have serious implications when it becomes the norm:

o   likely to deliver lower quality work

o   may be able to fight fires successfully most of the time, but sometimes it may fail

o   will need to shift your team members from one task to another

o   deal with constantly changing information

o   leaving staff frustrated, and they may start to look for more satisfying opportunities outside your team

o   individual performance will fall

o   hard to find the root causes of problems when you have to focus urgently on symptoms

o   less likely to spot the strategic opportunities that proactive managers exploit, because you don’t have the time and mind space to see them.

o   also stressful

o   don’t have time to unwind when dealing with one crisis after another

o    team members may be less resilient and not able to cope with this pressure

Moving to Proactive Management

Take Back Control of Time ·        Time is an essential weapon against reactive management ·        determine which tasks and responsibilities are critical or delay any non-critical tasks ·        prioritize ·        focus on essential tasks

Look at Processes ·        do a thorough review of all of the processes ·        look at people’s working practices ·        Map and challenge each process ·        explore possible process improvements ·        create checklists ·        involve your team members in this work

Turn Risks Into Plans ·        Conduct a Risk Analysis ·        prioritize the risks that you face ·        create a contingency plan each risk

Focus on Morale ·        bring positive emotions back to the team ·        look for small wins ·        create opportunities for your team to discuss problems, share information, and support one another, via team meetings or informal get-togethers

Build in Continuous Improvement ·        Make the most of your people’s knowledge and experience ·        encourage them to suggest changes ·        Create opportunities for your team to explore and implement ideas ·        schedule a regular time to discuss new ideas ·        set objectives that encourage creativity ·        simply create a suggestions box