Week 5 Part 1

This week we were mainly in the classroom. Craig teaches Manager Academy twice a year for the new incoming managers. Each day we covered various topics to help us further our development as managers.

Day 1

What is a leader? A manager?

Throughout time, different theories have been created and alternated by others. Each becoming more complex incorporating the previous one. Below are the various theories we broke down to help apply to the way we run our units.

Great Man Theory- some people are born into leadership and some are born to follow. We know nowadays you cannot be born a leader so we made a list of people we thought were good leaders: Teddy Roosevelt, Gandhi, Jonathan Daniels, MLK, Jimmy Carter, Jesus, Alexander the Great, Susan B. Anthony, and Craig Smolenski.

Trait Theory- leadership is a mental thing. We are not born to lead but born with certain traits that enable us to work with people. They can be broken down into three categories: mental, social, and physical. It was easy for me to come up with mental and social traits but I didn’t believe there were physical traits for a leader. The rest of the group agreed so we wrote some of the stereotypes, even though they have all be proven wrong.

Mental traits Social traits Physical Traits

-Problem-solving -Outgoing -Tall

-Passionate -Good listeners -Strong

-Compassionate -Good speaker -Attractive

-Honest -Open-minded -Male (most of history)

-Intelligent
-Humble

Behavioral Theory- certain behaviors lead to certain responses. It can be task or people oriented. Sounds like Pavlov’s dogs, right? Well, it was created by Pavlov so it would make sense. We kept the same categories from the traits theory to dig deeper under the surface.

Mental Social Physical

-Analyze -Lean in (to listen) -Posture

-Excitement -Engaging -Uniform- presentation

-Empathy -Eye contact -Appropriate body language

-Listening -Not interrupting -Animation- talk with hands

-Recognition -Giving instruction

-Foresight -Confidence

-Inclusive

Contingency Theory- different situations require a different approach. You have to know when to put the hammer down and control the situation. There is a good and bad time to use different traits we mentioned above. Lastly, honesty is crucial because it builds trust and loyalty which goes hand-and-hand with integrity.

Transactional Theory- more about motivating others through reward and punishment. Rewarding them by promoting them or giving them raises, allowing them to take the time off they need, and helping them reach their goals. On the other hand, not everyone remembers what they are supposed to do and may have to be punished for it. This could include progressive punishment or become less flexible with them.

Transformational Theory- reliant on interaction. This is what we go by today because it brings together the other theories I mentioned above. This method creates a higher level of trust and an increase in motivation among the employees. We find different ways to learn from situations to prevent future mishaps or make a process more efficient. As a group, we came up with a list of “buzzwords” that are used in the work environment to promote employee motivation, loyalty, and work ethic.

Buzzwords:

-Buy-in -“First one is free”

-Multitasking -Team building

-Sense of urgency -Synergy

-Efficiency -Quality standard

-Game plan -Sit down, be humble

-Teaching moments

At the end of the day, we learned managers should have at least six tools in their handy dandy tool box. The most important tools include empowerment, motivation, delegation, accountability, participation, and feedback. It is up to you how you utilize each specific tool to complete your project, many times you will need multiple of them. What will you use to accomplish your goals?

Day 2

Problem Solving

We started out the day working with dominos. I was not prepared for this complex thinking at such an early point of the day, but thankfully we had teams. Craig had us put the dominos together in three different patterns, more difficult with each one. He compared it to real life problem solving, some issues may be easier and others require thought and teamwork to bring about a positive result. Since we were already engulfed in a team environment, it was easy to ask for help, the number one problem when it comes to problem-solving. We took turns sharing our strategies and piecing the puzzle together. One of the tips given was to find a group you can trust and network, eventually networking their network. Use the cycle of input to help formulate new ideas and solutions to problems you may be facing in the work environment.

Cycle of Input:

New ideas

          /     \

/        Possibilities

       |         |

Solutions  ------ Association

Further into the lesson, Craig challenged us to ask each other "why" or "so what" five times. This sounded so familiar because someone in my life already likes to play this game with me... Asking "why" allows us to figure out the impact of a situation what process went into finding a solution or understanding the meaning behind something we don't think about too often. It might seem annoying at first but try asking yourself "why" first so you could easily explain it to someone who may ask you the same question later.

An acronym Craig gave us to help with fixing problems was FIXIT. So simple to remember. We need to focus our attention on what needs to be addressed, changed, or fixed. Identify the real problem, the root of it all. If a product isn’t being produced quick enough, is there a missing ingredient? A malfunction in the oven or whatever machine? Or is the employee in need of better training? Once you identify the root, examine the details surrounding the problem. Let’s keep the example from before, say the employee needed more training. Work with them to help achieve a more efficient process, maybe they need to touch on their knife skills. Invent the solution. Give them time to practice and gain the confidence they need to perform the task again at the pace you want. Finally, test out the solution. Let’s see these new and improved knife skills.

Day 3

Interviews

We went over the types of interviews and the dos and don’ts when it came to questions you could ask. The two types of interviews question include traditional and behavioral. “Can you stand for long periods of time” or “are you able to lift 50 pounds without help” are traditional types of questions that could be asked during an interview. On the other hand, behavioral questions allow stories to be told. They are more along the lines of “tell me when you handled a negative situation” or “tell me a time you made an improvement in the company you worked for.” When a potential employee brings a resume, it opens a door for them to go more into depth and explain what is on their resume. This may bring more insight to the employee but it is important to stay away from asking about disabilities, marriages, kids, and religion. There are many other topics among this list but these are common ones people may want to ask but cannot. There are ways to go around straight up asking if they are disabled such as asking them to walk you through a workday in their shoes. This question can be asked to any type of applicant, disabled or not, because it is good to know how they think they would complete tasks throughout the day. Consistency is key.

Day 4

Writing a Successful Nomination

Never take your hard working employees for granted, and never let them feel that way either. UGA offers several awards for employees around campus: student employee of the year, circle of excellence, customer service, unsung hero, and newcomer are just a few of the awards given to the hard workers of this beautiful campus. Awards are a great way to build loyalty and morale, they can lead to pay raises. “Take care of your employees and they’ll take care of you.” Craig suggested starting in October/November to notes of employees you want to nominate. Why should they receive an award? Tell a story.

The department is better because of them, resulting in a lasting impact after they are gone. We read an article about the last student employee awards, both so astonishing to be about a student. They made connections and reinvented programs to become more efficient. Their impacts lead to a greater organization after they graduated.

We all came up with someone we would nominate and practiced writing a nomination letter. After hearing others’ letter, I knew I needed a little more practice. I had the storytelling part down missed the whole “nominating” part. Here is what I wrote:

“No matter where I may be in the dining hall, Hurley manages to find me to give me a warm hello. He takes out of his schedule to check on me to make sure my day has been nothing but the best. Due to his stellar memory, he knows I love to hike and even remembers where I have been so far. One afternoon he pulled up a chair and sat next to me as I ate my lunch. He asked what I had in store for the rest of the weekend. Making an educated guess, he figured I would be out adventuring the beautiful sights of Georgia. Hurley is like an open magazine for National Geographic, he knew all the special places in Georgia to visit. He started out with closer locations, places I could check out after work one day if I wanted. I could tell there was more thought going into his process. The kind soul kept in mind not only the good places but the safe places I could venture to by myself. He didn’t want anything bad to happen to me. Turning the pages of the magazine, he then suggested places farther out that would be an easy day trip to reflect and take in the nature around me. My travel expert confidently encouraged me to experience the beauty of Georgia at its fullest. This one of a kind dishwasher could easily be mistaken for a National Geographic Tour Guide.”

It may not be the best nomination but I think it is a story worth telling.

Day 5

Emergency Preparedness

We joined many other managers on staff to go over safety precautions in the work environment. The new concealed carry law in Georgia would become active July 1 and brought many questions to the surface as far as the safety of the staff and the students. We were guided to ask these questions to the Legal Affairs Office because they were in the works of interpreting and enforcing the law.

Take a guess as to how many bomb threats occurred in the past year. 7,629. Guess how many had real devices involved? 60. Personally, I think one is too many but our world today is full of people who have different views on life than I do. We were told the University of Pittsburgh had around 150 bombs threats in a span of a semester. That’s about 2% of the yearly threats. Scary to think this was on a college campus and very thankful it wasn’t mine.

Being prepared individually is important. Think about what to do in emergencies prior, making the situations easier when they actually happen. Know the correct procedures for emergencies and make sure your employees are aware of the proper procedures in place when an emergency takes place.

We had a group discussion about different situations we have been in and what we did in the moment. Thinking about it and living it are two different things and could include different options when it comes to acting upon something. I stepped up and spoke about my experience with the armed assailant at my school. Definitely an evening I won’t forget. Though it didn’t end up being anything serious, the thought was scary. I was working the front desk of a residence hall/dining commons. My supervisor’s supervisor came back behind the desk answering phone calls left and right, unusual for her. Her body language was a dead giveaway, I knew something was wrong. Then she mentioned gun over the phone. I never would have thought this situation would occur on my campus but we had to act upon it. Law enforcement had already been contacted and on their way to the building. Several residents were coming to the desk asking for their packages. I couldn’t tell them any information yet until we confirmed our action plan. Luckily I knew all the residents that came to the desk and told them to go up to their rooms. They trusted me and knew I meant well whatever it was I was trying to get across to them. Then we pushed the button. The button that said to evacuate the building and take cover because there was an armed assailant in the area. The next thing I know, the law enforcement gathers in front of the desk, giving us directions. They were suited up in heavy duty bullet proof vests and carried huge guns. I had never seen guns that big unless it was a movie. Our hearts were racing but we had a job to do. Protect the students and ourselves. After gathering the stragglers that didn’t evacuate the building we tucked them away in a lounge near the desk and in the back hallways. I closed the desk, shut the lights off and hid under the desk. I knew very little at the moment and it’s hard to keep your mind from jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst of the situation. I waited. We waited.

We had three buttons in the back and I could then say I have been present for all three types, whether they were drills or real life situations.

UGA has created a special app that allows you to text police if you can't call them. For example, if you’re getting a ride home in an Uber and it suddenly becomes uncomfortable or even dangerous, you could text the UPD information about the situation and they will come to the rescue. This app includes a feature to virtually follow friends. Let’s say Emily is walking across campus at night by herself. Though the app she can request I “watch” her get home safely. If she doesn’t make it in a timely manner, we both receive notifications to check in with each other to verify her safety. How neat is that?!

We were shown what the AEDs on campus look like. They are very high tech! It is voice prompted and guides you through the proper steps. A heartbeat can be read through the shock pads so don’t worry, it won’t shock the person unless they need it. An AED needs to be used within 2-5 minutes of the cardiac arrest, after that, brain damage can occur. Scary. So what if you’re not certified and don’t know what to do? Well this AED walks you through it and there is also the Good Samaritan Law. Essentially it is a law that protects you if you’re giving emergency assistance and cause harm to the injured person. Harm meaning breaking a rib or two while doing chest compressions. If the person tries to sue you for doing that to them, you are protected (in Georgia) for acting in an emergency to save their life. This is a broad interpretation of the law, I’d google it if you want to know what all it covers.

Wow. What a week! I feel like I went through a manager boot camp. So much information all in one week but each lesson topic could apply to a plethora of situations as a manager. Being an intern, I know I will take the lessons outside the classroom and outside the dining halls, implementing them into my professional life as I reach my goals.