======================================================================== THE ADVICE LINE: BOB LEWIS http://www.infoworld.com ======================================================================== Wednesday, October 6, 2004
LATEST WEBLOG ENTRIES ======================================================================== * Half-baked ping pong * Former peer ADVERTISEMENT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FREE DOWNLOAD: EVALUATING ANTI-SPAM SOLUTIONS InfoWorld's Special Report includes three articles helpful to senior decisionmakers involved in evaluating and selecting ant-spam solutions for their organizations. Articles include "Canning Spam", "Strong Spam Combatants" and "Email is Broken". Sponsored by Proofpoint. DOWNLOAD NOW http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B15:2B910B2 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- HALF-BAKED PING PONG ======================================================================== Posted October 3, 6:17 AM Pacific Time Dear Bob ... I have been reading you columns and advice for a long time. The reason it has been a long time is because I have learned a great deal from you through your writings. Recently you answered a letter with the following quote, "There's a larger answer, which gets to what organizations can do to prevent this kind of thing from happening, and that's to train managers in how to delegate. It won't fix the manager who delays, but it will provide that manager's boss with better tools to make sure the procrastinator stays on track. It's a lot like project management in that respect: When you give someone an assignment with a deadline, there are ways to find out they're behind before the deadline arrives." My concern is that this is just the situtation that my boss is in and therefore she delegates to me. Because of that, I have so many delegated projects that I cannot get my other projects completed on time, and day to day operational work done. I am convinced that I could work 15-16 hours a day, 7 days a week, and not make a dent in the workload. What can I do since I have NO ONE to delegate to? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. - Overloaded Dear Overloaded ... >From what you describe, the changes are good you're in an irreparable company. There simply are no good answers to your question. Here's why: The leaders of some companies understand they have limited resources. They push those resources hard, but not so hard that there's nothing left to give. Part of this recognition is making choices about priorities - they understand it's better to do fewer things well than to take on everything they can think of. Then there are the other kind. Here's what should happen in your situation: You sit down with you manager to have a discussion about priorities. The two of you agree on what's reasonable for you to accomplish. She has the same conversation with everyone else who works for her. Then she meets with her manager to have a similar discussion at a departmental level, and so on until the whole company's priorities are set and in balance. (It's actually more complicated than that because the starting point for all of this is top-down rather than bottom-up ... in the end there's a two way flow of information that results in the right assignments for everyone.) What would really happen in way too many companies is that somewhere up the chain, a manager will say, "I don't care. Find a way to get it done or I'll find ... For the full story: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B10:2B910B2 FORMER PEER ======================================================================== Posted October 2, 12:21 PM Pacific Time Dear Bob ... I've become a leader -- a boss -- fairly recently, and I confess a certain feeling it's not quite ethical to wield power. I admit that feeling is just the leftovers of having been a hippie 35 years ago, but it's reinforced by those I lead. They, too are obviously uncomfortable with a friend who's also a (often their) boss. They're not sure how to treat me and some solve the dilemma by being subtly obsequious, others by joking about my position vs. theirs. The status and power inequality IS awkward and uncomfortable. It doesn't prevent me from being a leader, but it does present a barrier for some of my former peers. Others still act and apparently feel like my peers and simply defer to my authority when that's relevant. - Newbie Dear Newbie ... It's one of the toughest transitions - from peer to manager. The relationship does change; few people are willing to acknowledge that it's changed let alone talk about the nature of the change openly and honestly. Have you considered conducting a session with your team to talk through exactly what has changed and what hasn't, to calibrate everyone's expectations to the new situation? It has a touchy-feelie encounter-group feel that makes me just a wee bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, my general rule of thumb is that when there's a large opportunity for misalignment, communication is the best answer. If you do decide to take this route, there are a few big items to make sure you include on the list: * As a peer, you were colleagues first and friends second, but there isn't that big a difference between the two except that you have to get along with a colleague during business hours while friendship is optional. As a manager, you're the manager first and a friend second, and there's a big difference between the two. * As a peer, giving bad news to a colleague is generally optional, and both parties have an equal risk when it happens. As their manager, giving bad news is required if there's bad news to give on your part. They have only your word that there's no risk on their part. * One category of bad news is a performance deficit. Like it or not, management has decided to put you in a position where if there's a difference of opinion, your opinion wins. That doesn't mean you're suddenly going to stop listening, only that there does come a time for a decision, and when that time comes it isn't always going to be a group consensus. Whether you handle this communication in a meeting like this or through some other way of getting the message across, it's important to do so. - ... For the full story: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B11:2B910B2 Bob Lewis is president of IT Catalysts, Inc., http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B16:2B910B2 , an independent consultancy specializing in IT effectiveness and strategic alignment. Contact him at [EMAIL PROTECTED] . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Advertisement - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Have you ever wished you could give every manager in your IT organization a practical toolkit of leadership techniques, the way you can for database administrators or developers? You can. That's exactly what I've engineered my IT leadership seminar to accomplish. If you're interested, visit http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B12:2B910B2 - Bob Lewis ======================================================================== ADVERTISE ======================================================================== For information on advertising, contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] UNSUBSCRIBE/MANAGE NEWSLETTERS ======================================================================== To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your e-mail address for any of InfoWorld's e-mail newsletters, go to: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B0F:2B910B2 To subscribe to InfoWorld.com, or InfoWorld Print, or both, or to renew or correct a problem with any InfoWorld subscription, go to http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B14:2B910B2 To view InfoWorld's privacy policy, visit: http://newsletter.infoworld.com/t?ctl=924B13:2B910B2 Copyright (C) 2004 InfoWorld Media Group, 501 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94107 This message was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
