1

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 2
Topic: Dont become a seagull manager

Done by: Name: Veeranna Bhusannavar Roll No: R-10-05 Article Date: 15 Aug 2011
Article

Bibliography:

http://leaderchat.org/2011/08/15/don%E2%80%99t-become-a%E2%80%9Cseagull%E2%80%9D-manager/

Dont become a seagull manager

Its harder than ever to avoid becoming a seagull manager these days. Thats when you fly in, make a lot of noise, dump on everyone, and then fly away again. Its a hit-and-run management behavior thats easy to fall into when you find yourself with too much on your plate and too little time to accomplish it. How are you doing with the double challenge of accomplishing your own work while still managing the work performance of others? If youre afraid youre seeing a little seagull behavior in yourself lately, here are three ways to get back on track with a more helpful approach 1. Make sure you know what your people are working on.
2. Identify everyones development level for their specific tasks. 3. Schedule regular meeting time.

Analysis Seagull Manager is a term used to describe a management style of interacting with employees only when a problem arises, making hasty decisions about things they have little understanding of, then leaving others to deal with the mess they leave behind. Traits The TalentSmart study showed that the most proficient and best managers do the opposite of what seagull managers do. The managers who lead the teams with the greatest amount of performance possessed three critical traits that were exactly opposite of the seagull managers dominant traits, which are swooping, squawking and dumping.

It has been analyzed that more than 150,000 managers in every industry, at every level of management, and in a wide variety of job functions, and found that superior managersthose who lead their teams to the greatest levels of performance and job satisfactionoften share three critical habits. Bibliography:
http://leaderchat.org/2011/08/15/don%E2%80%99t-become-a%E2%80%9Cseagull%E2%80%9D-manager/

These habits, or virtues of superior managers, are the polar opposites of the three distinguishing characteristics of a seagull manager: swooping, squawking, and dumping. Whereas the seagull manager creates the need to swoop in and set his team straight, the superior manager gets everyone headed in the right direction from the very beginning by ensuring that expectations are full fledged. Whereas the rare visit from the seagull manager results in a lot of squawking, the superior manager maintains a steady flow of clear communication. And whereas the seagull manager manages his teams performance by dumping on everybody, the superior manager ensures that positive and negative feedback are delivered in small.

A Massive Impact The seagull manager is an increasingly common phenomenon hovering in todays workplace. As companies flatten in response to the competitive changes created by new technology, industry regulation, and expanding global trade, they cut their management layers. The remaining managers are left with more autonomy, greater responsibility, and more people to manage. That means they have less time and less accountability for focusing on the primary purpose of their jobmanaging people. Its easy to spot a seagull manager when youre on the receiving end of their airborne dumps, but the manager doing the squawking is often unaware of the negative impact of this behavior. Employees whose manager often uses seagull-type behaviors are 30 percent more likely to develop coronary heart than employees of a manager who rarely uses these behaviors. Thirty-two percent of employees spend at least twenty hours per month complaining about their boss. More than two thirds of North Americans are actively considering leaving their current job, with their employers suffering annual losses in excess of $360 billion from this employee dissatisfaction.

Bibliography:

http://leaderchat.org/2011/08/15/don%E2%80%99t-become-a%E2%80%9Cseagull%E2%80%9D-manager/

Three ways to get back on track

1. Make sure you know what your people are working on.

Managers shouldnt be surprised at what their people are working on but this often happens because goals are unclear, or are not in alignment with overall department objectives. Make sure that everyone in your group has a clear set of 3-5 objectives and that they are mapped to a specific organizational objective.

2. Identify everyones development level for their specific tasks.

A good group of goals will include tasks that are familiar and routine to an employee plus one or two stretch goals that will require some growth on their part. Review each of direct reports goals. Which tasks can they easily accomplish on their ownand which tasks will they need help with? Their development level on each task will determine the proper amount of input youll need to provide.

3. Schedule regular meeting time. A weekly check-in for 20-30

minutes can do wonders for putting out all of the small daily brush fires that occur before they turn into raging infernos. A little bit of structured time to review how your people are doing in each of their key areas is a great way to get started. Dont turn this into a weekly evaluation though. Let the employee guide the conversation. The idea here is to create a safe space for employees to ask for help when needed. Bibliography:

http://leaderchat.org/2011/08/15/don%E2%80%99t-become-a%E2%80%9Cseagull%E2%80%9D-manager/

Even when people work together in the same building, it is still surprising to see that little conversation can occur between managers and their direct reports because of increased workload. Schedule some time to meet with your direct reports on a regular basis.

Bibliography:

http://leaderchat.org/2011/08/15/don%E2%80%99t-become-a%E2%80%9Cseagull%E2%80%9D-manager/