Management Skill: Dealing with Interruptions

As a manager, and particularly if you are new to the management role

, you may feel you can't get your own work done because you have so many interruptions from your team members. People always seem to be walking into your office and interrupting your train of thought because they have a question or need information or help.This is, in fact, part of your job as a manager, so it's important that you have some strategies for doing it effectively and not letting it derail your own schedule.Here are three techniques to help you make interruptions a coaching opportunity as well as reduce the amount of your own time they take up.1. Help then get to the point quicklyIf someone shows signs of going into too much detail, giving you the "play by play" of how the situation arose, first simply hold up your hand in the universal "stop" signal, and interrupt. Tell them you do see there is a problem, and ask just exactly how they want you to help. Then simply wait for an answer. This forces them to get specific about the help they need, which they may not even have considered before coming to you.2. Help them identify the solutionAsk them what they think they should do. Then, once again, wait for the answer. Sometimes people do have some idea of what the solution is, but it never occurs to them to either mention it to you or just try it, because they automatically feel they should hand over the issues to you as their manager.But when you ask them for their ideas in this way, you are encouraging them to think things through and also to offer their ideas. This is a way of actually developing your people's skills as well as finding solutions to problems.3. Make it part of the dealOnce you've begun encouraging people to find solutions in this way, make offering a solution part of the "contract" when they come to you for help. In other words, make it understood that when they come to you with a problem, they must be prepared to offer a potential solution at the same time. They may not be the best solutions, but they are a starting point for finding a solution that will actually be used.Implementing these ideas will not stop the interruptions, but it will help you deal with them more effectively and efficiently, from both time management and professional development standpoints.

Management Skill: Dealing with Interruptions

By: Helen Wilkie

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