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On Your Own? Lessons From a First-Time Manager
by Marisa Urgo
Let's face it, library school trains you to be a librarian, not necessarily a manager. There are classes on AACR2, DIALOG, legal reference, database development, HTML, and collection development, but many students don't receive the training (or even the exposure) needed to manage people. As a result, many librarians find that they are woefully unprepared when they move into administration. This is unfortunately not just a library-specific problem; most managers, in companies, nonprofits, and academics, come into management without even basic training. Some few organizations do provide training for new managers, and some provide educational opportunities, but librarians are not alone when they find themselves on their own as a first-time manager.
The most difficult challenge managers face lies in effectively managing personnel. People problems (and they are problems!) can suck the time and energy out of you, and leave you with little time to do anything else. These are also the kinds of challenges that are difficult to anticipate and difficult to train for. There are, though, a few training resources you might want to keep in mind, especially if you want to go into a management position with some interpersonal skills training:
Also note that various schools, like Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford, have non-degree programs for management training.
It's been my experience, however, that most organizations, especially public library systems, don't believe they have the financial resources to provide this type of training. This is unfortunate, because so many productivity, retention, and people issues in libraries grow out of mismanagement of personnel issues. When first-time managers are left to their own devices, these issues will make their transition to new and challenging work even more difficult.
Learning From Mistakes
When you find yourself inadequately trained to deal with new challenges, you're on your own, and the most you can do is learn from mistakes -- yours and others. Here are a few mistakes I made and lessons I learned as a first-time manager:
Lesson 1: Take the time to learn every nuance of health insurance, training, leave, and other policies.
My first management position was at a information services consulting company, on a government contract. I soon realized that my employees saw me as a bridge between them and senior management, or, to put it another way, between them and "The Rules." As a result, I needed to know all of The Rules. Many staff members came to me for information on policies and procedures, and they expected answers. I lost credibility with one employee when I admitted I didn't really know much about the nuances of long term disability insurance. I should have been able to at least pull out a sheet of paper describing the policy, or said I would check into the details and get back to them soon.
Lesson 2: Never communicate your personal opinion on anything -- ever.
I can't begin to tell you how much I regret telling one of my subordinates that I didn't like rap music. This, too, came up during my first management position. Someone in another division had been twice reprimanded for playing music loudly. The third time, they were let go. The subject came up among some of the other managers, and my subordinate heard me say that, not only did I think the music was too loud, but I didn't much care for it. Oh my! What a mistake! My assistant immediately ran to my supervisor and said that I was creating a hostile environment. When my supervisor asked her why, her response was: "She doesn't like my music." This came even after I had given her an excellent performance appraisal, because, quite frankly, she was an excellent employee.
Well, I shouldn't have worried. We talked it over, and she felt better, but I learned my lesson. At work, you will never, ever hear me discuss a personal opinion of any kind on any non-work-related subject. This is a difficult practice for me, but I'm getting better at it every day.
Lesson 3: Understand that some people will never be happy, and that they will challenge you.
Not more than a week into my first management position, the contracting company changed its work hour policy from an eight hour day to a nine-hour day. Since I was the one who had to communicate this news, I discovered that I was also the primary focal point for my employees' anger. I had an employee challenge me, saying that she was going to ignore the new change and go about her life. Following this, I made a bad mistake...
I went straight to my management and attempted to move the responsibility up to them. Since this employee had no interest in respecting any authority on the contract, this was ineffective. To my management, it also made me look like I didn't have control of the situation. (To be honest, I didn't have control of the situation!) It took a while for me to realize that I could have control if I just seized it, convincing myself that I could simply act the part. I finally found the backbone I needed, and this is what I did:
- I notified my management that I was going to document when the
employee left every day, cc'ing the employee on this e-mail.
- Two weeks later, I sent a report to management suggesting some
courses of action. Later, my manager told me that my insights and
suggestions had made a positive impression on senior management.
- I invited the employee out to lunch, not wanting to come across
as the hostile party. She declined the offer.
- I kept the other employees busy with new research projects and
stricter deadlines. I began to offer work incentives -- gift
certificates, unscheduled days off, etc. -- whatever was in my power
to offer. This kept them busy, and made the problem employee's
constant complaining appear to be exactly what it was, constant
complaining.
- After three months of detailed note taking, I told senior management that I was letting the problem employee go. They and human resources finally gave me the go ahead, and I had the agonizing responsibility of firing my first employee.
I soon left that job (the hours and location were awful) for something that offered me a little more flexibility and was closer to home, but I will never forget that challenge. The most important lesson I learned was to always keep control, and to have patience.
Advice is just the start. Most management books will give you "approaches" and "practical applications." Some personnel management courses will train you to understand your management style or provide other techniques for working with your innate skills. However, at the end of the day, you will have to just take on the job, make mistakes and learn from them.
Marisa currently works for Computer Science Corporation as a Knowledge Broker. Recently, she was Manager of the Knowledge Acquisition Center for Raytheon Company.