Category: Organizational Behavior

Do parents make better managers? I sure think so. There are lots of similar responsibilities in both roles. Each trains you and prepares you for the other in a cyclical manner.

And apparently, according to a Forbes.com article, researchers from Clark University and the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC, agree:

According to new research, parents–at least those committed to family life–actually perform better in the office. …

Those who were committed to family life achieved significantly better reviews. The reason: Parents learn to multitask, handle stress and negotiate, says Marian N. Ruderman, research director at the Center for Creative Leadership, and one of the study’s authors.

“In parenting roles you get a chance to do a lot of the same things you do as a manager,” Ruderman says. “You get to hone your interpersonal skills. You learn how to develop other people. It’s another opportunity to learn from experience.”

Ah! Exactly what I said!

There are some caveats, though. “After all, employees are not toddlers,” says the Forbes.com article. (No, not toddlers. Maybe more like teens. Ever try to settle a petty dispute between coworkers?)

There isn’t direct evidence of causality between being a good manager and a good parent, however. But someone who’s a good manager typically is a good parent, and vice versa. Tammy Allen, a psychology professor at the University of South Florida, adds: “the best employees are probably those who are engaged in all life roles,” whether it be as a manager or a parent, employee or spouse. “It’s just indicative of someone who’s an active, engaged individual.”

In another study by Ajilon Office, an executive administrative professional staffing firm, says that “77% of American women believe that being a parent helps prepare one for being a more effective manager.”

Although the study focuses more on women’s perceptions of how being a good parent means being a manager, the results raise some salient points:

• “The top parenting skill that helps out the most at work is communication according to 50% of women.”
• “Whether it’s being constantly on the go with children’s extra curricular activities or working on three different projects at once, women rank the ability to multi-task as the second most important parenting skill that helps at the office.”
• “More than a third of women decided that learning to be flexible as new projects arise and priorities shift is the workplace skill that’s refined most at home while parenting.”
• “Another 23% of women believe that the ability to handle workplace conflicts, whether it’s between co-workers or with clients, is the top managerial skill that comes from raising children.”

See? Mommy’s not just a manager at work; Mommy’s a manager at home too.

Ever get close to burning out from a heavy workload? Your boss is pushing you to complete twenty tasks this week, yet you know you can only handle five or six. So you stay late and dine on coffee and pizza, trying desperately to finish at least ten.

And after you finish ten tasks (sans sleep and a healthy meal), another twenty tasks hit you next week, giving you a total of thirty. Deeper and deeper you sink as the weeks drag on.

Sound familiar?

As a former manager, I often heard about cases like this from my team. Heck, I experienced cases like this myself. Over time, I developed a way to compensate for these unrealistic & heavy job workloads. I had to; I would have gone insane had I not.

1. First, it’s important to realize that it’s not always possible to complete all the tasks you’ve been assigned. Your boss may make you think you can. Even you may think you can. But c’mon, be realistic. Look at all that work. If you feel that troubling pinch in your gut, then trust your gut: you have too much work.
2. Second, let your boss know. Not all managers are able (or willing) to help you lighten the load, but you still need to alert your manager about this condition. Give your boss a chance to fix it if possible.
3. Third, find out the source of all these tasks. Someone asked for this work, so go seek that person out. Ask that person how urgent and necessary this work is; chances are, some of it can be postponed or done by someone else with more time.
4. Fourth, prioritize your tasks. After speaking with the sources, you’ll have an idea of the urgency and importance of each task. This can allow you to prioritize each of the tasks and do the most urgent and most important first. Ideally, your manager should help you with this, but if he/she is not able to, do it yourself.
5. Finally, do the work. Do them in priority order. Realize that some of the items won’t get done. If you can, set clear expectations with your team and the sources of work. This isn’t always easy, as many will argue and try to coax a higher priority for their task. But hey, there are only so many hours in the day. The more they argue, the less time you’ll have to finish everyone’s tasks.

In my opinion, your direct manager or project manager should handle this kind of task prioritization for you. That person would/should also have the power to delegate and balance the workload across the team, which is something you may not have the authority to do.

Unfortunately, managers aren’t always able or willing to do this. If that’s the case, hopefully these tips will help.

What have you done to handle a heavy job workload?

During his lecture “Top Ten Mistakes that Entrepreneurs Make“, Professor Jeff Pfeffer said something that made me go, “Ah!”

If two people agree on everything, then one of them is redundant.

It’s a quote from a colleague of his. What he’s saying is that constructive conflict is good, even necessary, for highly-functional teams. When team members disagree, each is forced to defend his/her position. In doing so, facts are surfaced, assumptions are challenged, alternatives are analyzed, and everyone walks away more enlightened than before.

To put it another way: two heads are better than one, right? The more diverse your team is, the greater the variety of solutions they can offer. If everyone in your team thought the same way, however, then why do you need that team? Why not just keep one person and fire the rest?