Page 281 - Fundamentals of Management Myths Debunked (2017)_Flat

280 Part 3 • Organizing
• Use physical exercise. A large body of evidence indicates challenges. When she was offered the job as senior account
that noncompetitive physical exercise can help you to release supervisor for Dancer Advertising in Tampa, she jumped at the
tension that builds up in stressful situations. These activities opportunity. Now, after four months on the job, she’s not so
include aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming, and riding certain she made the right move.
a bicycle. Physical exercise increases heart capacity, lowers At Taylor, she worked a basic 8-to-5 day. She was easily
the at-rest heart rate, provides a mental diversion from work able to balance her work responsibilities with her personal
pressures, and offers a means to “let off steam.” responsibilities as a wife and mother of two children—ages 4
and 7. But her new job is very different. Clients call anytime—
• Practice relaxation training. You can teach yourself to
reduce tension through meditation, deep-breathing exercis- day, night, and weekends—with demands. People in Dancer’s
es, and guided imaging. They work by taking your mind off creative department are constantly asking for her input on proj-
the sources of stress, achieving a state of deep relaxation, ects. And Dana’s boss expects her not only to keep her current
and releasing body tension. clients happy, but also to help secure new clients by preparing
and participating in presentations and working up budgets. Last
• Expand your social support network. Having friends, family, month alone, Dana calculated that she spent 67 hours in the
or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet when stress office plus another 12 at home working on Dancer projects.
levels become excessive. Expanding your social support Short on sleep, frazzled by the hectic pace, having no time for
network, therefore, can be a means for tension reduction. It her family or chores, she’s lost five pounds and broken out in
provides you with someone to hear your problems and to hives. Her doctor told her the hives were stress-induced and she
offer a more objective perspective on the situation. 50 needed to sort out her life.
Dana really likes her job as an account executive but feels
Practicing the Skill the demands and pulls of the job are overwhelming. Yesterday
she called her old boss at Taylor Books and inquired about
Read through this scenario and follow the directions at the end coming back. His reply, “Dana, we’d love to have you back
of it:
here but we filled your slot. We could find something for you in
Dana had become frustrated in her job at Taylor Books—a marketing but you wouldn’t be director and the pay would be at
chain of 22 bookstores in Georgia and Florida. After nearly least a third less.”
13 years as director of marketing, she felt she needed new If you were Dana, what would you do? Be specific.

Performance Pros Experiential Exercise
To: Tina Sanchez, HR Director
From: Aaron Scott, President
Subject: Employee stress management program

Well, Tina, we’ve made it through the initial phases of our constraint. Could you put together a brief (no more than
restructuring efforts. The changes haven’t been easy on one page) outline of what you think this program should
any of us. But we’ve still got a long way to go, and that’s include? Also, note the benefit(s) you think each suggestion
where I need your assistance. To help minimize the pres- would provide. I’d like some time to review your sugges-
sures on our software developers and sales staff, I think we tions over the weekend, so please get me your report as
need to develop an employee stress management program soon as possible.
that we could implement immediately. Due to finances, This fictionalized company and message were created for educational
we don’t have a lot of excess funds to spend on fitness purposes only, and not meant to reflect positively or negatively on manage-
equipment, so you’re going to have to work within that ment practices by any company that may share this name.

CASe APPLICAtIOn 1
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Compartmentalizing Departments: Split and Merger

ultan Qaboos University (SQU) is the oldest and the 1986 to about 18,000 students in 2015. Similarly, the university’s
only public university in the Sultanate of Oman. Since its Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (DEEE)
S establishment in 1986, it went through a huge expansion. of College of Engineering went through major expansion and
51
The Student enrollment significantly grew from 500 students in several changes.