I need someone to smack me upside the head

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m taking two days off work and it’s driving me nuts.

I work in broadcasting.

There are seven people in our department. I am one of the managers, and we have a director above us.

I have a sneaking suspicion I am becoming indispensible.

There is stuff that I do that no one else knows how to do well. In fact, I reminded my co-worker yesterday she would have to change an order if a revision came in from a client. She got this puzzled look on her face, then realized I would be out and someone else would have to handle it. Because of my particular job function, I have a working knowledge of orders for commercials that no one else has. I know who can run where, and who can’t run in a particular show. We have a report that helps others access this information, but since I put the report together, the knowledge is ingrained within me so I don’t even have to think about it. I accumulate vacation time like mad because I hardly ever take a week off at a time. The last time I did was three years ago, and we were moving into a new house.

I hate coming back after a few days off because I feel disoriented. I have e-mails to go through, paperwork to follow up on, and phone calls to return. It takes me a day or two to settle back in the groove.

If I do something wrong that affects on-air, I will take the blame, of course, but people don’t say, “Oh, ivylass screwed up.” They say, “The x department screwed up.” Even though it was ultimately my fault, to the rest of the company, the entire dept looks bad. Even when it isn’t our fault we get initially blamed. There was a big blow-up last year that was completely not our fault, but at the beginning, all the fingers were pointing at us.

Because of this, I feel it is my job to chase down information that I shouldn’t have to chase down. My thought is, “Well, I should have asked the question.”

The other manager and the director tell me I’m nuts. Of course, I can take vacation. Of course, if we are not supplied the information, it’s not our fault. But if we piss off an advertiser because I didn’t ask the question and we run their spot wrong, we risk losing the business. So it is my fault. (AAAARRRGGGHHH!!!)

Please, help me deflate my ego. Please help me get it through my thick skull that it’s okay to take some time off, the company is not going to collapse. That the work will be taken care of. That I do not need to take responsibility for everyone else’s work. That if someone in the department screws up, even though I am a manager, it’s not my fault (as long as they have all the relevant information, of course. And even then, I should have double checked or reminded them.)

Crap.

2

:Smack!!:

well… you did ask for it…

:smiley:

3

Ah yes. The joys of management. Always a two edged sword.

For example: being indispensable. It certainly helps to build job security, not a trivial accomplishment in this economy. Yet on the flip side it will inhibit one’s ability to be promoted, or to be asked to take on additional responsibilities.

[big boss]
“We can’t promote her to the vacant director’s position. Her whole department will fall apart without her. We’ll have to go to the outside to fill the position.”
[/big boss]

Yes you should be able to take vacations without worry. In fact, my philosophy has always been that my department should be able to run completely independent of my presence. If not, then I’m not doing my job correctly. I’m accountable for their ability to do their jobs. That means I need to provide them with the tools and training to allow them be successful on their own.

I respectfully disagree. As a manager, you are accountable, and that means in the end that it is your fault. Sometimes not of course. There are always isolated instances when in spite of your best efforts and preparation, a well performing specialist unexpectedly screws up.

Management accountability is the recognition and acceptance that one is answerable for whatever happens within an area of activity, regardless of cause. Accountability is exclusive to the management function. Accountability is not concerned with cause or blame or who did what to whom. Finding out what went wrong and who was at fault might be useful learning tools for preventing recurrences in the future, but they’re not a part of assigning accountability. One is accountable regardless of circumstances. You know who is accountable for a result before something goes wrong.

Even though accountability and responsibility are listed as synonyms in the dictionary, in terms of management accountability they mean different things. Responsibility is the fulfillment of specified tasks or assignments and satisfaction of job obligations as delegated by a manager to a specialist (subordinate). A manager delegates responsibility to a specialist, but retains accountability.

Each manager is accountable for the success of their direct subordinates. The specialist is not a scapegoat. If there is a failure in the results, then the problem is with the manager, not with the specialist. It is up to the manager to ensure that the specialist is successful. If one of your specialists screw up, you can’t turn around and point to him and say “it’s your fault.” You have to point to yourself and ask “where did I fail; what did I do that did not allow this person to be successful?” The lack of qualified personnel or an ineffective subordinate, are both the result of an ineffective manager.

Now, ivylass, I do not intend to imply that you are ineffective. On the contrary, you sound like a pretty good manager. I just want to suggest that you have control overt this scenario, and have the ability to change it if you want.

4

never make yourself indispensible.
You’ll never get promoted away from your current position, simply cos they can’t afford to let you leave that position.

Maybe you’re like me: problems with delegating?
I cling very much to the motto: if you want something done well, you have to do it yourself.

Not necessarily true, ofcourse, as it only requieres decent training for somebody else to get as good as you are.

Are you a bit of a control-freak, maybe?

make sure there are always always always 2 others that know exactly what you know.
Share knowledge, the company’ll run smoother if everyone has the same informtion, and more importantly, the same amount of inormation.

5

SMACK
So print out a copy of the report and go on vacation!

6

Thanks for the smacks, people.

Algernon, you raise some good points about responsibility and accountability. If I understand you correctly, then the error may be someone else’s repsonsibility, but I am accountable for it.

I think I am a bit of a control freak, in that I don’t easily trust others to get the job done. I feel if I delegate anything, then I’m being lazy. (Why did you tell so-and-so to change the commercial? You should have done it yourself!)

kunilou, the others in the dept have access to the information, so that’s not a problem.

I guess I want to be more carefree about taking some time off and knowing things will go smoothly in my absence.

I think I need to step back and stop trying to catch everyone’s mistakes. I need to trust my co-workers more to do what I ask. If I pass along the information and they still mess up, my ass is covered. They are adults, not children, and I should not have to ask them and remind them and doublecheck to make sure it’s been done correctly. If I’ve asked for information and it’s not forthcoming, I do not need to keep asking.

I guess it’s how we train others to react to us. “Oh, we don’t need to worry about that, ivylass will catch any mistakes.” Well, ivylass is busy with her own stuff, so I may not catch it. If they learn that, then that will be one less thing I have to worry about.

I need to relax. As someone very wise once told me about my business, “It’s not brain surgery. When we mess up, nobody dies.”