I am frustrated on so many levels today  – for myself and for people who are important to me. Everyone of these frustrations revolve around workplace environments and every one of the current situations – were and are completely avoidable.  I know I have spoken about management before – but I have to get this out there – there are far too many people in managerial positions who have absolutely no business being responsible to and for a team of workers. NO BUSINESS!

We spend a minimum of 5 of our 7 days a week in the work environment.  The significance of that is astounding.  We should be able to at least understand and support the direction/vision of our vocations.  We should have some type of passion for what we do – at the very least our passion should be to do our tasks with excellence.  That excellence should be recognized, encouraged and supported. More importantly,the PEOPLE that work toward that excellence should be recognized, encouraged and supported. Does that happen in your workplace? It didn’t happen for me in mine either.  There is NO excuse for this! NONE!

Let’s look at some examples. A building administrator telling her team of grade level teachers to “compete with each other for better test scores, better lesson plans”.  What?  Compete?  How about we work as a team?  How about we are encouraged to share and then that sharing is appreciated and reciprocated?  An administrator who leads a competition will only, ever, get a group of teachers who bicker and create drama. And I am sure we all want to spend 5/7 days with that group of people.  Ask yourself who ends up really suffering in this picture – the teachers for sure, but the classroom of children who have no longer become the priority.

Or this:  time for state assessments (and OMGEEE that is a topic all in itself from the perspective of teacher, student and parent). Results come in and the administrator  says something to the tune of “what is going on here, our scores are lower than last year – what has changed?”  For real?  Ever think that the students in the classroom changed?  Maybe their ability to learn is different?  Or perhaps just their ability to test is different?  Because, we all know that all students are exactly the same and take a standardized test the same way!  I think not! In the meantime, professional people are brow beaten, feel worthless and lose their desire to follow their passion in life. My heart hurts for teachers.

Then there is the manager who tells his staff to do their jobs a certain way, only to have that way criticized when the task is complete.  Who said to do it that way?  Really? You did Mr/Ms Manager! How confusing is it to daily approach your tasks, with an attempt to do them with excellence, to only find out that all of the rules have changed AFTER you complete the task. Of course, you could be working for the person who says get the plans together for us to complete this number one priority and when you do, he/she says,nope, never mind we are not doing that and why is it you don’t have the #4 priority completed on my desk?

Or how about this – moving to a new project…. but who knows what that project entails, or better yet what is expected of me as I interact with this project?  What are your expectations Mr/MS Manager?  I can’t read your mind… especially if you are not on the job.  Oh you weren’t expecting me yet?  Not my problem – talk to the other Mr/Ms Manager!  I am then forced to be on company time with NOTHING  to do!  I feel so valued in that situation.

I am angry today – not just frustrated – I am angry that we treat our people like this.  Management is not hard – it just takes time. And effort. And compassion. And commitment. Not apart of your personality – then do not aspire to be a manger. You can’t effectively manage people in a vacuum.

Don’t even get me started with HR offices… just remind yourself of this – they are not in place for your (the employees) protection or assistance.

Management is simply parenting in another venue.  Seriously – transfer your parenting philosophy to adults.  These are people.  They need to feel valued and encourages as well as needing to clearly know the workplace boundaries.  They need clear, let me say it again, CLEAR, communication.  People need to know your expectations of them.  As a parent, would you let your children do whatever and go wherever they wanted and when they were finished ask them -”what were you thinking? “  Of course not.  Would you expect your child to potty train themselves?  How about learn how to drive alone? Maybe they could learn the finer arts of table manners on their own.  Of course, our society would never put up with this.  And we shouldn’t either – not if we CARE about our children – I mean staff members….

There are so many things we can do to support and show value to our staff.  They all don’t have to involve a monetary commitment – but really our budgets should reflect what is important to us.  And there should be nothing more important to us than our people.  If your people feel valued, they are more likely to be both content and voracious about the mission/vision of your industry/institution. Once your team is valued – they become engaged in the workplace, once they are engaged they are empowered to make all your dreams come true.

I could go on and on about this topic – this is happening everywhere – it happened to me- and I am watching it happen to people that I love.  It has to stop. If you are a manager – do something in your little world to make a difference.  Not sure what to do…. Please contact me and I will share what has worked for me!

PS Managers – You are supposed to take the “bullet” for your team!  That is why you make the “big bucks”!

PPS Of course, I am free of this disgrace right now, because I am gleefully unemployed – lol!