Managing yourself
(Originally Published on the OUBS Blog)
This part of Book 1 is focussing on how to handle transition into management, recognize and respond appropriately to stress and consider issues of time management.
Player-manager tension is a key point in this, as you will need to let other people do the job you did previously and let them learn and take credit. You will also need to pass your knowledge on to those people.
Also mentioned in the transition process that many managers see themselves in. This is based on a research by Adams et al. in 1976 which identified seven stages of transition.
\- Immobilisation [you do not know what to make of your role]
\- Minimisation [you carry on as though nothing has changed]
\- Depression [you feel you cannot cope]
\- Acceptance [you move on and see what you achieve]
\- Testing [you form your own views and experiment]
\- seeking meaning [you reflect on your experience]
\- internalising [you have come to terms with your job]
What you need to learn as a manager is that pressure, the force from out side which could be motivating, can result in stress, a mind and body signal making you feel as if you cannot cope.
In 1993 Handy identified five common causes of stress:
\- Responsibility for the work of others
\- Innovative functions
\- Integrative or boundary functions
\- Relationship problems
\- Career uncertainty
He argued that there are role-based sources of tension:
\- Role ambiguity
\- Role incompatibility
\- Role conflict
\- Role overload or underload
To deal with stress, the first thing you need to do is identify them early and you need to manage your time. One should analyse your actual use of time and compare it how you would like to use it (Plan, Analyse, Reflect, Change, Review).
You need to balance the urgent with the important.
To reduce stress you can delegate, put more emphasis on the work you should be doing, do training to reduce time spent on specific items, minimize urgent items, use task lists, remove disturbing repeating items, balance and compromise.
Delegation is a very important item that will both help you release time for other activities as well as train your staff. You need to delegate and monitor as you will have to keep control of the things you are responsible for. Things you can delegate are the following (as of Maddux – 1990):
\- Decisions you make most frequently
\- Functions you are an expert in (most of the time operating tasks)
\- Tasks and projects for which you are least qualified
\- Functions you dislike
\- Work that will provide experience for employees
\- Tasks that will add variety
\- Activities that will expand a job
\- Tasks that will increase the number of people who can perform critical assignments
\- Opportunities to use and reinforce creative talents