Miguel looked at me, then back to the schedule on his desk. He put the pen down and let out a sigh.
“It’s not going to get any better, is it?” he asked. We had been talking about the 12 hour days he had been putting in since becoming a manager. I didn’t say a word. Miguel continued.
“But, it’s my responsibility. I feel guilty if I’m not here and something goes wrong.”
“Miguel, you are in charge of this work area, running two shifts on staggered schedules. What if I told you, we were planning to ramp up production in two months, to add another shift to run 18 hours per day? What would you do, then?” Miguel’s eyes got wide. I raised my eyebrows in response. “What are you going to do then?” I repeated.
“Well, I don’t know, you would have to get a different manager for the other shift.”
“Miguel, you are the manager for this work area. Everything that happens here is your responsibility. I will not have another manager so you can blame each other for things going wrong. I want one person to be responsible for the area. That’s you.” I stopped to gauge his reaction.
“Well, how am I going to do that?” Miguel responded.
“That’s what I want to know, how are you going to do that?” -TF
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Thanks for those who responded to our survey. It only takes about a minute. We will keep the survey open until October 19. The results will help us finalize an online program we are set to release in the next three weeks. -TF
If I’m not paying attention, I catch myself doing the same thing: working long days, thinking it will results in having controle over the situation. What is it that makes people do this? Are we afraid of losing controle is we delegate? Let’s find out ;-))
Knowing how to properly delegate is a key skill for a manager to have. It give the manager time for other tasks or even a good night’s sleep and gives other employees the opportunity to show their management potential.
This is great stuff. What a no nonsense challenge to get done what needs to get done and stop looking for an avoidance path. I am sure I would fail this at first but perhaps I could learn….