Beyond 254

False enTITLEment

Sometimes when I watch people in Corporate America, I notice something different about some people who have titles. It seems like the bigger the title, the bigger the ego.

I notice that when certain people reach the level of manager, director or higher their ego inflates. They feel that their title enTITLEs them to act a certain way because of their position. It seems like some managers want to reign down their terror on their staff, creating a very hostile and unproductive environment. Other corporate leaders, feel that people need to adapt to their volatile mood swings. Have you ever been fearful to talk to some managers, because you do not know what kind of mood they are in? Management teams that promote an environment of fear, hostility, gossiping and backstabbing create a poisonous atmosphere for their organization. This type of poison flows through the corporation and creates employees who lack creativity, work ethic and ambition. These behaviors create low morale that can paralyze an organization. Sometimes you wonder why some companies are in a constant state of struggle and others seem to thrive and prosper. I think, in some cases, it all stems from how a company treats its employees. Companies that offer better pay, good benefits and most importantly a positive work environment will naturally attract the best and the brightest. The law of giving applies in this situation. The more companies give out to employees and their community, the more they will receive. They will attract the best people. Their employees will work hard and be more creative, which in turn will help the bottom line.

Of course, not everyone in a management position lets their ego get out of control. But for the other management teams, they need to learn to think of others and let go of their ego. I once heard Dr. Wayne Dyer say that EGO stands for "Edging God Out." In today's society, it looks like out of control egos are the standard and accepted in corporations across the country. Corporations need to understand that egos will hurt, instead of help their organizations. They need to address these egos immediately before they paralyze their environment and cripple their company.

Can’t You People Read: Part 2

It seems as if people never learn. Today, I spent all morning putting out fires. My managers kept asking questions about a high priority project. All of their questions and concerns were addressed in earlier status reports that are sent daily. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt and understand that they are probably bombarded by all kinds of information each day. But to me, I would think that you would try to remember the information about an important project. I went through this same scenario a few months ago, when managers did not take the time to read about critical project status. It is frustrating, because it seems like I am wasting my time going over things that were already discussed and mentioned in previous reports. So many times today I wanted to say, “If you would read your status reports, you would know better than to ask these questions” (sorry, that was my ego talking!). But of course, I stayed polite and responded to their questions. In the midst of the frustration, I am thankful that I had the information to respond. It gives me some sense of peace in the center of all this chaos.

Tip of the Day:  Make sure you save all correspondence. If someone ever tries to claim that they did not receive an e-mail from you about a certain topic, just forward the original e-mail that was sent to them. Once they see that the original e-mail was addressed to them, it usually keeps them quiet for the rest of the day. At least they know that they cannot use that excuse anymore.

Why Can’t You Do Your Own Work?

Have you ever worked with someone who has time to meddle in your assignments or projects, but can’t get their own work done? I am currently going through this situation.

Last month, I sent a document to one of our director’s for her approval. In order to move forward with this project, we need her approval, but for some reason, she has not reviewed the document. Even after many requests, she has not moved forward. She does not have time to finish her work, but she has time to meddle in my projects. She has a history of being delinquent on requests. A while back, there was another document that needed her approval and it took THREE months until we received approval. The document was only seven pages! Then, what really irritated me, not long after she approved it; she started pressuring our team for status. I felt like saying, “If it did not take you three months to approve this document, this project would be a lot further along.” But, I kept my mouth shut, because I might need to use this statement in a much more pressing situation. I always say know when to choose your battles. Without her approval, we are at a standstill and everyone knows this. But no one seems to be bothered. I wonder what would happen if I held a document for three months, would everyone be so understanding.

Watch Your Back!

You have always been told to watch your back when walking alone at night or in a dark parking garage. If you don’t, a stranger can come from behind and attack you. But, it is worse, when we have to watch our back at work. To protect ourselves, from people we know, who could cause us harm.

During the last couple of months, I have been working on a very important project. The sponsor of this project is one of our department directors. From the beginning of this project, the completion date was listed as the beginning of the month. While on a conference call, I discovered that the deadline was actually the end of the month. In order to obtain some clarification, I sent an e-mail to the Director asking her the proper end date; she e-mailed me back a response detailing the reason for the different dates. I assumed all was good and did not give this much thought any more. But a few days later, my assumption that “all was good” turned out to be wrong and revealed a more sinister turn of events. Unbeknownst to me, a simple e-mail about a date clarification was used by this person to somehow sabotage me. This woman went behind my back to my director stating that I was not serious about this project, because of this question I asked. The only reason I found out, was because my manager told me. When I found out, I was livid. I thought this person was one of the few decent people working at this company. She went straight to my department director (she did not even go to my manager, she went straight to the higher level) about an assumption that was not even true. In order to follow proper protocol, I told my manager my side and sent her a copy of the e-mail. No where in the e-mail did it state that I would “slow-up” on this project because of the later end date. Nor did my actions suggest that I was not taking this project seriously. Now, someone looking at this from the outside could say that I was doing something else that helped her draw this conclusion. But, I was talking to her on an almost daily basis and holding conference calls with the team weekly concerning the status of this project. So, I do not know how she came to the conclusion that I was not serious. But, I did learn some things from this experience:

• Save all your e-mails – You never know when a situation will arise where you will need proof of your actions.
• After a verbal conversation, follow up with an e-mail to summarize what was discussed.
• Make sure to document and date all incidences. Also, during meetings of any kind, take notes and make sure to include the date.
• Once a backstabber has been identified, make sure to copy your manager on all correspondence to this person.
• Keep all your personal and private matters to yourself, you never know if you are confiding with a decent person or a backstabber/gossiper.

Case of the Dueling Directors

Have you ever been in a situation when upper management does not have a clear, unified vision? Recently, I received opposing viewpoints from two different directors on the same project, in one day.

This project I am working on is one of my highest priority projects (I am currently managing around 10 projects at one time). One day, one of the director’s called (we will call Director1) and wanted to add a new feature that would totally change the design and add a lot of rework to the project. This new feature was not mentioned in the beginning, but later mid way through the project. This new feature caused me an extra week of re-work as I tried to obtain more background information. After the week was over, I set up a conference call to discuss the new design with the team and the other director (we will call Director 2). Director 2 asked me why I added this new feature. I stated that Director 1 wanted this new feature and told me it was mandatory. I told Director 2, I was just following orders. Director 2 disagreed with the addition of the new feature (added by Director 1) and told me to cease and desist. Director 2 told me that she will inform Director 1 of this decision. The two directors battled it out and the new feature was thrown out. But it irritated and frustrated me, because I wasted a week of re work that potentially caused a delay. Not to mention being placed in the middle of two battling egos.

I guess from my perspective, I should have made sure both directors were onboard with this new feature before I put in all the extra re-work. But my question is, shouldn’t upper management communicate with each other and agree to a vision before it is released to the rest of the team?

Poor Communication: Breeding Ground for Confusion

The confusion that occurred earlier this week, when the VP of my department was concerned about one of my projects, got me thinking. If the directors at the highest level were communicating with their bosses, this situation could have been avoided. Where there is no communication, confusion is the direct result.

My suspicion concerning the events this week leads me to believe that my department VP was getting false information about this project from another VP. Both directors under these VPs were obviously not communicating the project information I was giving them. I provided project status to these two directors, as well as the managers under them. My question is why was this information not communicated up to the VPs? But as I mentioned earlier this week, did the VPs pay attention to the information in my executive summary? Anyway, going back to the topic at hand, it is the job of these directors to make sure the information flowed up. I did my part by communicating to the team members, managers and directors with bi-weekly status reports and updates. But for some reason, the communication link was broken and panic set in.

I learned that if there is a break down in the communication chain, the first thing that management will try to do is blame you. Luckily, I did everything I should have on my end, by making sure the managers and directors were copied on important project issues. Plus, I SAVED all of my e-mails, in case I needed proof to back up the information that I sent out. So when you do everything in your power and have the proof to back it up, the only person they can blame is themselves. But, I doubt that their ego will allow that.

Can't You People Read!

Today I had a frustrating yet humorous experience. This experience showed me that upper management is not paying attention nor communicating important project information with each other.

Earlier this morning, I received an urgent letter from the VP of our department about the status of one of my projects. I found this letter quite perplexing, because he and the other executives should be aware of the project status for the following reasons:

• Meetings are held twice a week and the department directors, managers and team members are in attendance.
• Prior to each meeting, I send an agenda that details all the completed project tasks and status of new and ongoing issues.
• After the meetings, I send out a follow-up of the tasks discussed and any new issues.
• All directors, managers and team members are included on the agenda, meeting follow-ups, plus any other issues that arise.
• A summary of this project is included in my weekly executive summary that is reviewed by the company VPs, President and CEO every week.

So, you could understand my surprise when my department VP contacted me with this urgent e-mail asking for status. Then to make things even more frustrating, my department director got into the act and started to ask for status about items that were mentioned in prior e-mails addressed to him. One of those e-mails was sent earlier that day. Also, this director has received all the agendas and follow-ups, plus attended some of the meetings.

This is one case where I know I have done all I could to keep people informed. I was so frustrated by this that I wanted to scream, “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE, CAN’T YOU READ!”