ManagementLesson 1 of 3 in the course Managing and Performing

Managerial Work: Fragmented Schedules and Conversational Management

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Managers’ work is often less orderly and solitary than people expect. This lesson explores how managers divide their attention, respond to interruptions, and spend much of their time interacting with other people.

Managers are in nearly constant action. Rather than concentrating on one task for a long stretch, they frequently switch from task to task as new issues arise. Their days include many activities of short duration, often concerning different topics.

All flashcards

Fragmented managerial work
A pattern of frequent shifts among short activities and different issues.
Mintzberg’s observations of CEOs
CEOs averaged 36 written and 16 verbal contacts per day; most activities lasted under nine minutes.
Sproull’s finding on daily activities
Managers engaged in an average of 58 activities in a day, each lasting about nine minutes.
Uses of managerial conversation
Managers use conversation to gather information, identify problems, coordinate plans, assert authority, and build relationships.
Shared meaning
A common understanding of an issue, plan, or organizational direction developed through communication.

Quiz questions

  1. What pattern commonly characterizes managers’ daily work?Answer: Frequent shifts among different tasks and short activities.
  2. In Mintzberg’s observations, how many written and verbal contacts did CEOs average per day?Answer: 36 written contacts and 16 verbal contacts.
  3. What did Sproull report about the number and duration of managers’ daily activities?Answer: About 58 activities, averaging roughly nine minutes each.
  4. How much time did Kotter’s successful general managers spend working alone on average?Answer: About 25% of their time.
  5. How can managers use speeches and presentations?Answer: To communicate organizational meaning and direction.

Based on Principles of Management by David S. Bright, Anastasia H. Cortes, Eva Hartmann, K. Praveen Parboteeah, Jon L. Pierce, Monique Reece, Amit Shah, Siri Terjesen, Joseph Weiss, Margaret A. White, Donald G. Gardner, Jason Lambert et al. (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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