MANAGERS ARE SITE DISASTER OFFICIALS


As a manager, you are an important disaster "official" on the site. You are often the one who decides if an emotional incident is a disaster, or just a quick-fix problem. You determine if policy-level criteria have been met to implement procedures for intervention. You determine when an incident is a disaster or just an annoyance. Managers are somewhat like FEMA on the job site. Despite the variety of incidents possible in a workplace, managers must make assessments that could help or disrupt employees. No matter what is happening, you may be the constant, common-denominator in a swirly system. Your employees will look to you to validate that they are in a disaster zone, real or perceived. Just like the Skinners and their neighbors, you will be standing in the midst of the after-effects of emotional damage and will have to make the tough calls. No matter if the event or incident is small or large in scope the manager is the one that everyone turns to for help and guidance. It would be useful if you had a great windbreaker jacket with big yellow letters on it that stated you were the OFFICIAL and you had all the power to make things right. FEMA professionals get good jackets. But of course managers don't get cool jackets even thought they have similar job tasks with less power. In fact management not only do not get cool jackets, they are consistently blamed if things do not go well and people are not taken care of immediately. Employees can quickly become like the Skinners' distressed neighbors and group together to become a cranky mob. But, there you are, standing in the middle of the chaos as your company's first responder , and everyone is looking to you for leadership. You may be having feelings also, but your emotions must temporarily be put aside. Your feelings must be tucked away. The manager has to symbolically put on the FEMA jacket and walk into the midst of the chaos with a good plan. You have to have the mind set and the tools to walk into the spinning emotions of others and remain the stable influence. Are you ready? Because no matter the level of emotional energy in the workplace, you are the one who will be faced with managing it. You may be in the middle of a company crisis and experiencing your own emotional issues and will still be expected to keep the company on task. The smallest emotional issue such as annoyed IT workers who can't work because there is temporary technical downtime caused by a squirrel who inconsiderately fried itself in the electrical box will fall to your leadership. Big events, like the unexpected death of a beloved colleague who dies horribly in a freak car accident will require your strength of leadership presence. Likewise, a natural disaster like an earthquake or fire, or man-made catastrophe such as a terrorist attack, will fall on your skills to manage. And, not surprisingly, statistics indicate these events happen more than you would like to think. According to Albert Marcella, a specialist in the area of Information Technology (IT) Emergency Contingency Planning, there will be more problems in the future. His research shows that:

  • Computer downtime costs US businesses $4 billion a year

  • 20% of all small to medium- size businesses suffer a major disaster every five years

  • Companies now have to think about the loss of life of key employees

  • Customers expect supplies and services to continue no matter what

  • Shareholders expect management control to remain operational through any crisis

  • Suppliers expect their revenue streams to continue.

In other words, the show must go on! Life continues. Work progresses. Sometimes it might seem like you are managing alone. In fact, you just might be managing alone. Small incidents come and go and you cannot run to administration with every emotional fluctuation. Bigger events will have a life of their own. Just like the official declarations of emergencies from agencies that control help and assistance may or may not arrive in a timely fashion, you may isolated in your management situation. The factors may include administrative ignorance, resistance or simple absence. You may have to make the call yourself. If there is a huge event, your isolation may be technical due to losses of power, technology or communications streams. You may not be able to call in your mentors or managers. You may be the whole game!

In fact, you may be without help or information for days, especially if there is no electrical power. No power could mean no communications. It could also mean no work. But it doesn't ever mean no human emotions! Managers are there in the field managing human emotions, as well as products and technology, while administrators are absent or desperately scrambling to keep the entire business alive . So if the emotional event is small you will be expected to manage it alone and not bother the higher-ups. If it is huge, you may also be alone for a variety of reasons. Sometimes during a large incident the administrators are the folks who are trying to drive the ambulance at top speed to get things back to function while you are alone, dear manager, in the back of the rig giving everyone on your staff CPR.




Emotional Terrors in the Workplace. Protecting Your Business' Bottom Line. Emotional Continuity Management in the Workplace
Emotional Terrors in the Workplace: Protecting Your Business Bottom Line - Emotional Continuity Management in the Workplace
ISBN: B0019KYUXS
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 228

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