Do you subscribe to any particular productivity system?
No. Well, before I started this job, I read a lot of books on management styles and some on productivity, but they didn't really help too much. You’re never prepared for what's coming, honestly, and I think you deal with it day by day.
How do you process your email?
I deal with the easy responses as fast as I can, and then if something is really hot, I do those before anything else as they come in. I probably watch my email more than I should. It comes through on my phone, on my computer, I check it first thing in the morning, I check it before I go to bed. When I retire, the one thing that I'll never do again is check email. It will be done. I will never check a single email. I feel like everything needs my attention, and I need it to slow down on that for sure. I need to feel like sometimes they can sit. I think I'm getting a little better at not responding to everybody within the first five minutes, which is what I did for a long time.
What’s the best process or system you’ve set up for yourself or your department/office?
Since we went to COVID, I would say it’s the weekly meetings. That has probably been the most productive — keeping relationships up. Besides that I have this rule for myself — and it's very difficult to stick to — and that is to stay in the moment. It doesn't really mean much to some people, but it means a lot to me. I have a lot of things going on in my brain and I have to mentally say, “Stop that, and focus on this conversation.” So staying in that moment is important. I think it makes people know that you care about them, that you really care about whatever they're talking to you about, and that goes a long way with relationships. You know, just knowing, “I'm here for you and nothing else at this moment.” I can tell you one thing I'm trying to do that I haven't gotten to yet. I'm trying to set up something like a Google document with each person that I meet with that has what they're doing that week and some of the questions I would ask in a Zoom every week. Then when we have our meetings, it's more, “How are you doing? How are you behind, or can I help you with something?” I can get a lot of the regular questions answered in that Google doc ahead of time.
How do you make time and space for big picture thinking?
Oh, so I have notebooks for that for sure. My Outlook is my details. But most of the big picture items are listed in a notebook, stuff that needs to be taken care of, or that I need to process for longer than a day, you know? If it’s something that’s months of work, that’s always in a notebook. I'll have the concept and then brainstorming pages and then, maybe I’ll write out paragraphs and then go back to brainstorming again. I really try to focus on those long term and then do research and build that in again.
What tips would you offer to a new manager?
You really need to take the time to understand the big picture of your area and down to the details of your departments. Take the time in the beginning to understand the dynamics, the politics. What's important to that program? What's important to the different teachers? Taking that time makes such a big difference in not going in the wrong direction and not creating friction with your staff or your faculty. Sometimes, you think you understand, but you really are just doing the details. You're not looking through their lens. You have to be able to look through their lens to be able to steer that ship. Your goal should be to steer the ship and help them get to the end that they're looking for. But I think a lot of us are so busy with the details and we take off running. Before I started my job, I asked a lot of people what we were doing wrong and what we were doing right. I went to managers, to the staff. What could we do better, what works for you, what have you had problems with for the last, you know, however many years? Also, what's important? Because I had assumptions about what was important, and it really wasn't.
What is your approach to guiding or coaching those who report to you?
Being in the moment and listening. If you can be in that moment with that person and have that relationship and listen to what their real concerns or wants are, you can guide them in the right direction. You can help them get to where they want to be. But I think we get so focused on the details of the day-to-day and it really takes away from that possibility. So when you're having your weekly meetings, be in that moment, don't come with an agenda. Sometimes, maybe just come with questions.
------------------------------------------
Something to think about:
“Start measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.”
—Alan Watts
Commentaires