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Step 6 - Don't Bother Listening - or Speaking for that Matter |
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Another step in creating organizational dysfunction is lack of listening and effective speaking.
This is probably the simplest step of the twelve and involves very
little effort. For that reason, it is already widely used in the art
of dysfunctional management.
The art of dysfunctional listening begins with knowing everything.
Once a manger reaches his lofty position, he certainly knows everything
– or at least much more than any of his subordinates. So why listen to
them? When employees use the excuse of being “closer to the situation”
than the manager, it is imperative for the manager to remind the
subordinate of his vast knowledge, skill, and experience. This
technique will not only take care of the situation at hand, it will
also have the likely effect of preventing the pesky employee from
bothering him in the future to tell him things about which he already
knows.
The art of dysfunctional speaking takes on two forms. The first form
is to tell employees something once (best in an email), and then jump
all over someone who didn’t get the memo. This technique is also
employed in the art of the staff meeting, where lazy managers think
they are doing their best leading. The second is to play the
mind-reading game. Since businesses are now equipped with state of the
art enterprise management software, the clairvoyance module must
certainly be installed. When clarity is lacking, the manager is well
on his way to a dysfunctional organization. In fact, he is now half
way through the twelve steps!
What’s the result? Teamwork is undermined by unclear expectations and
the fact the employees all have a different idea of what the manager
wants. Frustration abounds when problems can’t be solved due to a
know-it-all manager that doesn’t listen, contradicts subordinates in
public, and undoes their work.
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Dysfunctional Management - 12 Steps 