Monday, June 13, 2005
Lesson 1: The Pre-Emptive No
Things have been kind of quiet in these here parts, but I thought you all could use some more of J.C. Dithers' management tips. You'd have to pay good money in some sort of namby pamby management seminar to get stuff like this, and now it's free to you just for visiting "Our Life on the Funny Pages!"
For the purposes of this management workshop, I present the following scenario:
By just dismissing Bumstead out of hand, I did not need to spend precious time considering whatever it was he was going to say. Additionally, if you use this "pre-emptive no" enough, your employees will stop asking you for anything. No more squirrely questions like "Can I have a raise?" or "Can I have Monday off? My wife is having a baby."
I find that the pre-emptive no is one of the best tools to have in your management tool box. And I know from tools, let me tell you!
Be careful, though. If you are a novice at the pre-emptive no, it may backfire. For instance, your employee comes in. You use the pre-emptive no, but your employee says, "Boss, I was going to ask if I could work this weekend -- for no extra money." In fact, your more sly employees might say something like this in response to the pre-empitve no. What do you do?YOU ARE THE BOSS! You have the perogative to change your mind. So, you say, "Well, in that case, Employee X, I reverse my decision. Come in this weekend and work on your TPS reports."
Never let your employees gain the upper hand. You are the boss.
And, in response to all the comments I am sure you fellow bloggers will have: NO. (It works in all fields of human endeavor, see)
For the purposes of this management workshop, I present the following scenario:
By just dismissing Bumstead out of hand, I did not need to spend precious time considering whatever it was he was going to say. Additionally, if you use this "pre-emptive no" enough, your employees will stop asking you for anything. No more squirrely questions like "Can I have a raise?" or "Can I have Monday off? My wife is having a baby."
I find that the pre-emptive no is one of the best tools to have in your management tool box. And I know from tools, let me tell you!
Be careful, though. If you are a novice at the pre-emptive no, it may backfire. For instance, your employee comes in. You use the pre-emptive no, but your employee says, "Boss, I was going to ask if I could work this weekend -- for no extra money." In fact, your more sly employees might say something like this in response to the pre-empitve no. What do you do?YOU ARE THE BOSS! You have the perogative to change your mind. So, you say, "Well, in that case, Employee X, I reverse my decision. Come in this weekend and work on your TPS reports."
Never let your employees gain the upper hand. You are the boss.
And, in response to all the comments I am sure you fellow bloggers will have: NO. (It works in all fields of human endeavor, see)
