Free Article By Paul Glen of C2
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Panic -- and How to Prevent It
(Originally published in Computerworld)
The year ahead isn't shaping up to be a good
one for IT, to say the least. As we settle into the recession here in the U.S.,
budgets are increasingly going to reflect the worsening business conditions.
That means a year or more of tough times for all of us. The sad reality is that
more of us will be looking for work in the next 12 months.
And for those with jobs, it's not going to be
so pleasant either. When times get tough, people feel stressed out, frazzled and
nervous. That's not unreasonable. When people are faced with a combination of
resource limits, personal insecurity and demands for productivity, emotions run
high. There are no easy jobs left. Those of us lucky enough to be employed have
stressful jobs now.
For managers, this represents a significant
challenge. Stressed-out knowledge workers do not perform at their best. Just
when we need people to focus and produce, they are distracted by the ugly
reality outside. You really can't expect people who are worried about their
personal financial security to completely shut out those thoughts in order to
concentrate on their work. But knowledge work requires exactly that sort of
composure.
To a degree, distraction is unavoidable. But as managers, we
need to do our best to help people stay on track and do that which is completely
unnatural: keep their eyes off their fears and on their work.
Doing this requires careful thinking about the emotional state
of the staff. Now more than ever, we need to realize that we are not managers of
stuff, but of people who do stuff. We don't manage tasks; we manage the people
who do those tasks. And people have emotions that affect their performance.
The most important emotional state to pay
attention to right now is panic. We have to help keep stressed-out staffers from
becoming a panicked mob. Stress may be unavoidable, but panic is not.
As a consultant, I've seen lots of
organizations and project teams under pressure. Some have been composed and
focused; some, stressed out; and others, panicked. What's interesting is that
the facts surrounding their work are often similar. They are all under time and
resource constraints, and many are facing the same personal insecurity. But they
respond differently.
I've noticed that one of the key differences is in how the
managers of these groups respond to those facts.
Managers who deny reality generally don't fare too well.
Telling people, "There's no problem here; what are you worried about?" usually
convinces the staff that you are either an idiot or a liar. Neither is a useful
image.
Managers who try to tell their people what they should or
shouldn't feel about reality generally don't fare well either. Telling people
"You shouldn't worry about this" usually gets them worrying.
Managers who panic themselves are the most likely to induce
panic in their people.
The teams that do the best seem to be those whose managers
openly acknowledge reality and meet it with determination rather than
trepidation. And how you respond is more important than anything you say. When
you establish a common frame for reality and convince everyone that you see the
same challenges they do but are willing to take them on, you demonstrate the
best response.
© Copyright 2009 by Computerworld Inc., One Speen Street, Framingham, MA, 01701. Reprinted by permission of
Computerworld. All Rights Reserved.
