當昔日的職場好友變成頂頭上司,多多少少面臨尷尬。擔心踩到職場地雷?又怕失去真心的朋友?——擺正自己的位置,放平自己的心態(tài),做到良好的溝通,給彼此適應的時間。
測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識:
erstwhile以前的;從前的;往昔的['??stwa?l]
coze友好的談心;聊天[koz]
awkwardness尷尬;笨拙['??kw?dn?s]
scenario方案;情節(jié);劇本;設想[s?'nɑ?r???]
teasing戲弄['ti:zi?]
a good rule of thumb好的做法,好的標準
grumble抱怨;嘟囔['gr?mb(?)l]
cutting corners投機取巧
fudge胡說;謊話[f?d?]
off the record非正式的;非官方的
grace period(行動、責任等的)寬限期
How to manage your erstwhile friends after promotion (519 words)
By Emma Jacobs
The good news: you have been promoted. The bad news: you are managing your peers, including people you would describe as friends. So how do you manage those with whom you shared personal confidences?
Liana Davey, psychologist and founder of 3 coze, an executive team consultancy, recommends having a “reset conversation” with team members, along the following lines: “I will never consider not being your friend, but as a manager I have to set our relationship. How do we make it work?” By posing a positive question it leaves no room for the relationship to fail.
The awkwardness of this scenario, she believes, puts empathetic people off applying for promotions, whereas “it wouldn't even cross the mind of a driven person willing to steamroller over their former peers”.
Robert Sutton, professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University, as well as author of Good Boss, Bad Boss, warns that a bit of teasing from your team is inevitable, although if it goes on for longer than a couple of weeks you are in trouble.
The first few months should be spent listening to your colleagues, advises Katy Tynan, management expert and author of Survive Your Promotion.
“Unfortunately many new managers don't get proper training, so they think they need to assert their authority and boss people around on day one.” They spend more time trying to tell people what to do, and not enough time listening and learning.
A good rule of thumb, Ms Tynan says, is to spend the first 30 to 60 days in learning mode. Meet the people on your team, work on getting a solid understanding of the skills and motivations of team members, rather than their attributes as a friend.
There needs to be a bit of social distancing between yourself and your former peers, advises Prof Sutton. The friendship can survive and it might make you a better and more empathetic manager because you care about their wellbeing. But you need to be clear-headed about the possibility of calling out team members over a problem or, even worse, firing them.
It works both ways: as a former peer, you are more likely to get blame and grumbling directed at you, he says.
What if you know your friends are cutting corners? You have to make a judgment on how it affects their performance, says Prof Sutton. You have to call people out on the big things, rather than the small fudges.
Ms Tynan advises having an “off the record” conversation with the friend to let them know that, as their peer, that behaviour was not your concern — but now you are the boss, you are going to have to deal with it.
Give them a grace period to clean up their act, but let them know that if they keep up that type of activity, you will have to deal with it on the record. If they do not fix their behaviour, you must act.
However, she adds, make sure you are also recognising as much (or more) the good things people are doing, and not just focusing on the negative.
請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容,完成以下自測題目:
1.Which is not right about the promoted people who don't get proper training?
A.have enough time to listen and learn
B.assert their authority
C.boss people
D.tell people what to do
答案(1)
2.How long it will take to spend to be on the learning mode?
A.10 to 15 days
B.15 to 40 days
C.30 to 60 days
D.35 to 60 days
答案(2)
3.Which is not right about when you are promoted?
A.social distance
B.fire peers
C.clear-headed
D.care about peers' wellbeing
答案(3)
4.Which is not right about what new managers should do?
A.call people out on the big things
B.rebuke the subordinate when having mistakes
C.give a grace period to clean up
D.not focuse on the negative
答案(4)
* * *
(1)答案:A.have enough time to listen and learn
解釋:通常新上任的經(jīng)理在沒受到過良好培訓的情況下,很容易錯誤的在上任第一天去指揮員工,展示他們的職能。
(2)答案:C.30 to 60 days
解釋:經(jīng)驗告訴我們,在剛上任的前三十至六十天左右,是最好的學習時機。
(3)答案:B.fire peers
解釋:當你新上任時,應該做到與前同事保持適當?shù)纳缃魂P系,要能夠顧慮到下屬的想法以及保持清醒的頭腦從而考慮犯錯下屬的去留。
(4)答案:B.rebuke the subordinate when having mistakes
解釋:新上任的經(jīng)理應該要在員工犯了一些大的錯誤時再去職責,不能一味的關注小的事情。要給他們足夠的寬限期,不能只是在乎員工的負面表現(xiàn),也要及時提倡員工做事的積極一面。