KNOW WHEN TO MANAGE LESS, NOT MORE
Some managers often attempt to do too much, and in so doing, they complicate matters and make unnecessary work for others. In part, this particular tendency arises from conscientiousness: the manager who believes that he or she must always be doing something can readily get in the employees' way. If some managers could develop a sense of when to do less, it might be easier for some employees to get their work done. However, doing less, perhaps even doing nothing, does not sit well with managers who have a conscience about completely fulfilling their responsibilities. What these managers fail to realize is that sometimes the most valuable approach they can take to earning their pay is to do nothing.
The manager is there to make it possible for the employees to get the work done as efficiently and effectively as possible, to facilitate productivity by providing resources and assistance, removing obstacles, and generally ensuring that the people who do the work are reasonably contented and headed in the right direction. The manager is a planner and a facilitator, looking ahead to where the group should be going. The manager is also a problem solver, but the need to deal with problems is not necessarily constant.
We have all heard and probably used the terms firefighting management and management by crisis, implying that such a reactive mode of operation is ineffective in that one seems always to be jumping from crisis to crisis without taking time to look ahead and plot a reasonable course. As a continuing mode of operation, firefighting management is a poor route to follow; it produces stress in the manager and frustrates employees, and it is invariably far from optimally productive. Yet, a certain amount of firefighting management will always be necessary, so the manager will find that the occasional crisis is unavoidable.
The capacity for firefighting must always be available. Consider real firefighters; they are not always fighting fires, but they are always available and prepared. They may often keep busy with secondary or supportive tasks, but sometimes they are unavoidably idle, simply "hanging loose" in case a fire occurs. Some managers create problems and confusion because they are incapable of "hanging loose" when they are not immediately needed. They could-and should-spend a fair amount of that time on planning or otherwise examining future possibilities. What they should not do, however, is involve themselves in activities that draw in other staff members and intrude on the work these others should be doing. And they should not be generating change simply because they feel they should be actively "managing" all of the time.
Some managers do not spend enough time "hanging loose," or, if you will, constructively "goofing off." Given organizational cultures, however, those who do manage to stay out of the employee's way when their help is not needed must do so creatively, unobtrusively, and constructively.
Think about this: If the manager can be spared for committees, seminars, management meetings, and various other distractions, then he or she can certainly "lay back" from time to time and resist the urge to bother employees who may not need bothering. An effective manager is one who selects, trains, and supports good people, then stands aside and lets them do their job-while remaining available to supply help when help is needed. A well-prepared group of employees who can function as a team because of thoughtful preparation and support does not require constant help "managing" all that it does. Get the group started right, and be there to help when help is needed; never step in and meddle with apparent success simply because you have time on your hands and feel the need to be (or at least look) busy. An effectively functioning team knows exactly which way to be going most of the time. As an anonymous saying goes, "There they go, and I must hasten to catch up with them-for I am their leader."
Learn that in management, as in other fields of endeavor, there are times when less is more. And there are times when less hands-on management produces more effective performance.
This issue of The Health Care Manager (Issue 37:3, July-September 2018) includes the following articles for the reader's consideration:
* "Attaining Gender Parity: Diversity 5.0 and 10 Best Practices for Global Health Care Organizations" advances best practices for global health care organizations to attain greater gender parity, approaches that can be used in both overall strategic planning and in day-to-day management of health care institutions.
* "Preprocedural Checklist for MRI Patients Undergoing General Anesthesia: A Process Improvement Plan to Enhance Reimbursement" addresses the development and application of a preprocedure checklist created to improve documentation and standardize workflow.
* "Self-care Habits of Nurses and the Perception of Their Body Image" reports on a qualitative, phenomenological study undertaken to explore the self-care habits of nurses in the hospital setting and how these habits influenced their perception of body image.
* "Why Seek a Doctorate Prepared Nurse to Join Your Team?" advances the belief that a doctor of nursing practice degree-prepared nurse can strengthen the health care team by providing a skill set that includes the ability to translate evidence into best practice, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with all members of the interprofessional team.
* "Examining the Benefits of the 340B Drug Discount Program" describes a study pursued to identify the stakeholders who have benefited because of the 340B Drug Discount Program and discuss the apparent drivers of recent changes to the program.
* The Case in Health Care Management, "The Oil-and-Water Employees," asks the reader to suggest how a department manager might cope with the ongoing difficulties presented by 2 employees who exist in a near-constant state of mutual antagonism.
* "Developing a High-fidelity Simulation Program in a Nursing Educational Setting" describes a project undertaken to create a simulation program including faculty development and curriculum integration of simulation-based experiences based in part on the International Nurses Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning Standards of Clinical Simulation: Best Practice.
* "College Students' Knowledge Concerning Oropharyngeal Cancer, Human Papillomavirus, and Intent Toward Being Examined" undertaken to assess college students' knowledge of oral/oropharyngeal cancer and the relationship of human papillomavirus to oropharyngeal cancer, to facilitate the design of tailored messages for promoting oropharyngeal cancer prevention on college campuses.
* "A Trial Study of Static Telepathology in Iran" undertook to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the conventional pathology and static telepathology systems by examining a total of 82 cases randomly selected from 4 pathology centers, first based on light microscopy and after 2 months based on static images.
* "Human Papillomavirus and the Nurse's Role in Education and Prevention" addresses a 34-question, 4-section survey intended to measure knowledge of human papillomavirus (HPV), HPV vaccine, and HPV screening and diagnosis, concluding that nurses play a critical role in educating young people about the benefits of the HPV vaccine.
* "Assessing the Effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning as a New Approach on Health Care Provider Ethical Reasoning Development in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences" addresses the effectiveness of problem-based learning in teaching ethics to medical students and the apparent effects of doing so on their ethical reasoning.