Myths about Managing People - Essay Example

MYTHS ABOUT MANAGING PEOPLE QUESTION: What are some typical myths of managing people that you may have and what are the realities after reading thischapter? Do these realities support or refute the myths? In any culture, industry or business functioning in a free market economy, the position of MANAGER has always been an enviable designation that accords its possessor a high degree of respect. A manager is seen to be as leader, superior to his follower and empowered to hold sway over their destinies – well, in the workplace, anyway. As with many of the things we regard with awe, a whole body of myths have come to surround the mystique of the manager. As leader of the rank-and-file, a manager is first and foremost a leader. The need for one such “herdsman” conjures the idea that people have a natural tendency to relax and work slowly, or bum around, when they are not being watched. The manager must then supervise them closely and let them know that they are under constant observation in order for them to be productive. The research undertaken shows this to be false. Managers spend much of their time not only directing their subordinates but interacting likewise with “peers, superiors, and people outside the organization.” It highlights the role of planner, which is often relegated by common notion to the background. Secondly, it is generally taken for granted that a manager’s work is easy and light considering they do not do the “hands-on” job their subordinates do. They stay in the office at their desks and just wait for results. However, as the study shows, a manager’s job is rarely an idle one. Managers are constantly bombarded with problems, requests, and contingencies to address, often and requiring quick decision-making. Sometimes the elevated position the manager has over a single unit tasked with a single function lends one to believe that he is an expert in his field and thus his tasks is specialized. The study proves the contrary, however, that the typical manage is a generalist, called to address issues and demands of varied and fragmented nature, requiring multifaceted skills – technical, financial, and human relations included. The manager is often seen as a “navigator” of sorts whose principal task is to plan the details of his unit. It is often thought that the more carefully the plans are prepared and forward-looking activities such as training are undertaken, the less time and effort he spends doing “repair” management. That just is not so, according to the research. Much of the manager’s activities are described by the study as “reactive rather than proactive in nature”, pertaining more to adjustments, adaptations, and damage control. This causes the manager to forego the long periods of “uninterrupted time” necessary for him to engage in activities such as reflective planning, team-building, and staff training. Oftentimes, a good manager is characterized as one who attends to all problems that are brought to his attention. He attends to them immediately. Only an inefficient manager postpones attending to problems. It is thus a revelation in this research that since problems occur in random order, the manager rarely finds time to solve them as they occur. He chooses the most important problems to address first, those that are more urgent or that have a greater chance of being successfully dealt with. Other problems are either ignored or postponed. In this way, the manager conserves time and energy to yield the most favorable result for the most important concerns. Because of his position in the organization, a manager’s perceived primary role is to act as liaison between top management and subordinates. Thus he spends most of his productive time interacting with these parties. If he needs to speak with other persons within the organization he must course it through official channels. Time spent talking with people outside the organization is wasted and unproductive time. While this may be partially true, the study shows that managers deal in large part not only with his direct subordinates and superiors, but with many other people within and without the organization. Informally, to get the information he needs, the manager seldom abides by channels as this may be cumbersome and time consuming. Instead, he goes directly even to the people below his subordinates or those above his superiors and interacts with them on a regular basis. This enhances his effectiveness as a timely and reliable decision-maker. Typically, managers are thought of as structured and formal, preferring to have black-and-white (written) rather than spoken communication, presumably to make communication official and documented. This is why many of the rank-and-file think that formal letters are necessary to communicate upwards with their superiors. This just is not so also, says the report. Spoken conversation, oftentimes even informal gossip and rumors, kidding and joking around, and other such personal interactions, are wellsprings of direct information for managers. A good manager with get the “feel” of a certain situation in his unit or organization by paying attention to the banter at the water cooler, the offhand remark by company janitor or cafeteria servers, or the body language of his subordinates and peers. Probably one of the more outdated notions of managers is that they have no time for civic activities, social events, special committees or interest groups and social clubs. Thanks to the new directions introduced by corporate social responsibility, managers have found it necessary – and fulfilling – to create the time to devote to such activities. Aside from the personal satisfaction they may derive from these activities that helps to reduce the stress of managerial work, social intermingling provides him with the much-needed networks that enhances his effectiveness on the job. It is not surprising that complexities of managerial work necessitate mastery of social short-cuts that break down barriers and make difficult outcomes possible. Quite obviously, many things that can only be remotely accomplished through formal channels can easily be bestowed as favors among friends, “short-cutting” the process. On the whole, the study has been quite enlightening where myths and misconceptions about the manager are concerned. It has clarified that managers are truly the link-pins in the organization, and that experiences thought to be exceptions are on the contrary more prevalent and common than any particular manager may think. The study convincingly enhances our view of the true value of managers, and further proves that managers are indispensable agents of change and catalysts of progress. Reference: Yuki, G. (2006) Leadership in Organizations, Sixth Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall. Read More