This post is about team management. If you are a manager who has recently been assigned a group of people and wondering what to do with them… or a manager who wants to be made to think....
Too many of my posts lately have been of a serious nature. It’s time to unwind and relax a bit.
Started to feel as if you are wasting time reading this article already? A bit of laughter does lot more. Consider these two case studies:
CASE A: Madhavan, the humorous
Madhavan, is a manager in a textile manufacturing company. Various floor supervisors report to him. He shows them smiling face. His main fault is that he gets tense when there are stiff deadlines to be met. But he encourages his guys to joke around, even in such situations. He takes all the floor supervisors out for a “cutting” tea when they meet their monthly deadlines.
When one of the supervisors tried to get workers to go on strike demanding better food in the canteen, Madhavan blasted the guy. Couple of days later, Madhavan was back to joking with the same guy and the incident was forgotten.
On Valentines Day, a supervisor had tied a dozen red balloons in the work area. Seeing this, Madhavan had burst out laughing. On the next occasion, that same supervisor was given the task of arranging the decorations.
CASE B: Prasad, the serious
Prasad is a manager in the same company. He keeps strict distance between himself and his subordinates. They are not allowed to smile or crack jokes in front of him. He thinks that it is insulting for subordinates to laugh in the boss's presence. He prides himself on his calm reaction to all news good and bad. When his supervisors meet deadlines, he calls them to his room and shakes hands with them.
When Prasad heard of the way Madhavan reacted to the red balloons, he said “my people have far more dignity than to do such things.”
NOW…
There is a new project coming up that has stringent deadlines. Remember I haven’t mentioned anything else about these two people – their educational background, the length of time they have been managers, their previous history of meeting deadlines, the kind of equipment they have…..
Which of the two managers, do you think, will be able to get their team motivated to achieve the target?
CONCLUSIONS
I am hoping and guessing you have said “Madhavan” because he has the right attitude to motivate his people. Given a boss who has a good sense of humor, subordinates automatically associate various other good managerial qualities to him. Remember, encouraging humor and bonhomie also makes any negative attributes seem less significant (Madhavan does get tense around deadlines!)
It takes time for a newly promoted manager who expected to lead a team, to adjust. No one takes to managing like a fish to water- because fish have always lived in water.
Management is a learning process and if a manger proceeds in the right away up the learning curve, he reaches a favorable point. That is, the point where his team considers him approachable, understanding and fair.
How can a manager be laughing and cracking jokes, you ask, when that manager is not naturally humorous? It is not necessary for the manager to be humorous. But can the manager encourage his people to be humorous- i.e. less stiff and formal and more open and natural around him?
If you have a team of 10 people, chances are that at least one of them is very humorous. Encouraged, this person will,
- act as a stress buster
- relieve boredom
- defuse tense situations and
- make the office a more attractive place to be.
Having found the joker in the pack, so to speak, your task as a manger, is to make sure those jokes are not offensive or interfering with work.
There are possible additional benefits to this. When people have less stress and feel that the atmosphere is open, they may be more productive, able to give more ideas and even undertake unpleasant tasks with good humor. Isn’t the idea of working on a holiday less frustrating, if other people at work were laughing and joking and working?
So go ahead, and be the medicine man for your team. Allow a dose of humor to take away the ills and chills of a workplace.
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