Managerial Authority is Not an Excuse to Waste People’s Time
Don’t be a Hoarder
Managers need to remember one thing above all else: they don’t do the work. Their employees do. A manager’s job is to help them do it easier and better.
It’s easy to forget this. It’s easy for managers to start believing that their employees are there to support them. They’re not. It’s the other way around.
If you fall into this thinking, you start to value your own time more than that of your people. You start to sacrifice your team’s time for your own convenience.
On the wall of my office, I have a sign that reads, “Managerial authority is not an excuse to waste people’s time.” It may sound obvious, but it’s a good reminder that our people’s time is precious. With every request, we need to be a good steward of our people. After all, they do the work. And sacrificing the time of those who do the work, for someone who doesn’t, seems like a poor strategy.
In Paul Graham’s Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule, he highlights how managers force employees into their own routines, heedless of the impact it has on their creative output. While managers are used to days broken up by meetings, this doesn’t lend itself to making things or solving difficult problems. Quality development needs dedicated periods of focus. You can’t…
