How much management is Just Right?
Oct. 10, 2007 by ravishan
As I sit here in my office on a Friday afternoon rather than out there enjoying the nice weather and a round of golf (of course, taking a half a vacation day off in Attrack!!!) I am beginning to wonder about many things… My calendar is beginning to look like Steve Machuga’s… I am recounting the various activities that I am involved in because I have to, and then there are others that I have been asked to intervene in. So, the natural question for me is, am I getting too involved in various ITS activities? How much of involvement is just right? I am sure some of you have the same question…
So I thought I will explain a few things. First off, the unusually large number of meetings that I am in or activities where I am involved in are due to two things. I am doing both my job and Mike Roy’s. I am also involved in recruiting the next Director of Academic Computing and Digital Library Projects. These are significant drain on my time. But the important thing is, I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have met so many faculty members in this role, some of whom I have not met in a long time and others who are new. Granted, that no one stopped me from meeting the faculty members before, but the opportunities didn’t present itself as easily.
This also gave me some real good idea of the role of the Director of Academic Computing as expected by the community, which will come in handy when we have the new Director.
In this dual role, sometime I struggle to strike the right balance between the two managerial roles. No matter how hard one tries to compartmentalize the management and say when I meet with the academic computing staff, I will behave like their Director, but in other settings I will be the Associate VP for ITS. I will be honest to let you know that I don’t know how to do this… If you do, please let me know.
In this particular case, I am obviously going to be more involved in decision making in areas that I normally would not (because it would be the Director of Academic Computing who would). This may give the appearance of “over-management”, which turns out to be a very subjective thing.
In my role, I am expected to have a good idea about the general direction ITS is taking, and the projects that we are working on. When I go to meetings all around campus, people ask me about various things. Whereas it is impossible to know every single activity that is going on in ITS at any given time, I like to have a general idea. Because, I hate it when I get asked a question and I have no idea that we are engaged in such an activity… I am sure some of you have heard from me on this.
The fact that I am eager to know what is going on is a part of my job and it should not be construed as my attempt to interfere. On the other hand, based on what I know and what I see or hear, I may have an opinion on whether it is being done most efficiently. Again, that is my job! In the current situation, where I am hearing from everyone as to how busy everyone is, and the fact that the budget is getting tighter and tighter, efficiency is the name of the game.
And then there are things that I have been explicitly asked to get involved by others in ITS. I try to make sure that all avenues have been exhausted before I sign on. There have been a few instances where staff members come to me to talk about a particular issue and request that I don’t intervene. I usually use my discretion to decide if the reported issue is something that needs my attention and get involved if necessary.
What exactly is the right level of management? It is an age old question and it is very subjective and is a matter of perspective. I feel that we are all doing a reasonable job managing our staff and activities. But, remember, that is just my perspective. And I am sure you have your own perspective and asking you to share it through a blog is a bad idea!!! On the other hand, my doors are always open…
management is always a balance between keeping your people happy, keeping upper management happy, and keeping your customers happy. this is no easy task. it is my belief if the people one manages are happy (their needs are being met), then everything will take care of itself.
it seems that we have a very talented group of people who work well together. certainly everybody pulls their weight, and then some. however, there is a limit as to how much work can be taken on before problems start to occur. one function of management is to shield their people from more work than they can handle. again, my working in different companies has given me some perspective. “improving efficiency”, in most cases, was an upper management buzzword for reducing headcount (though never amongst themselves), and in having more work. this did not result in good times. we must be careful not to give in to the opinion, that all we have to do is be more efficient, in order to do more.
personally I think it’s good that you show interest, it benefits you and it benefits us, on several different levels. learning from each other is the key for success.