Four Popular Ways to Mismanage Layoffs: I

The news of spreading layoffs, production pauses, and bankruptcy-driven closures is by now upsetting almost everyone and every organization. Sadly, the mismanagement that leads to the need for such drastic actions is being replicated in the way managers deal with layoffs. Here are the first two of four fairly common ways to bungle layoffs, emphasizing the personal perceptions of decision makers.

Procrastination

Management delays action to repair the financial damage, hoping that "things will turn around when <whatever> happens."

Usually, in procrastination, management can no longer repair the company's finances even by doing a major layoff. Because of delay, organizational survival is now threatened. They're willing to consider layoffs only when the alternative is total business failure. Employees have actually figured this out months ago, and some of the best people have already departed or are already searching for jobs.

If you're in a position to do something about this pattern, remember that the earlier you act the better. Waiting rarely helps. And the longer you have already waited, the more important it is to act immediately. Don't worry about getting it perfectly right. It's far more important to make a start than to make a perfect start.

If you aren't in a position to do anything about the layoff procrastination, you have three basic options: you can exit the company voluntarily, you can stay but prepare for a possible exit or layoff, or you can do nothing. Most choose the latter. Preparing for a layoff is probably wisest for those who can't move on. But if your personal situation permits it, exiting voluntarily can be an excellent choice, especially if you're among the first to exit, because once the layoffs begin, competition for available jobs elsewhere might be more rigorous.

Denial

More insidious Denial and procrastination
are costly in themselves,
but they can create some
even more costly
synergistic patternsthan procrastination is denial, because management fails to see the need for reconfiguration. Spending, expansion, and even acquisitions often continue as if future projections were both accurate and optimistic.

In procrastination, the nagging feeling that all is not well has a benign effect — it can make managers cautious. In denial, by contrast, caution is less common — the organization might actually go into a power dive.

As an employee, denial is difficult to recognize, because your main sources of information are the very people who are in denial. But if you examine closely what they say about the parts of the company with which you are personally familiar, you might catch a glimpse of reality.

While denial and procrastination are costly in themselves, they can create some even more costly synergistic patterns. We can be in denial about whether we're procrastinating, and we can procrastinate about examining our actions for symptoms of denial.

We'll examine two common tactical errors associated with layoffs next time.  Next in this series  Top    Next Issue

Are your projects always (or almost always) late and over budget? Are your project teams plagued by turnover, burnout, and high defect rates? Turn your culture around. Read 52 Tips for Leaders of Project-Oriented Organizations, filled with tips and techniques for organizational leaders. Order Now!

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:

There Is No Rumor Mill

Rumors about organizational intentions or expectations can depress productivity. Even when they're factually false, rumors can be so powerful that they sometimes produce the results they predict. How can we manage organizational rumors?

Films Not About Project Teams: II

Here's Part II of a list of films and videos about project teams that weren't necessarily meant to be about project teams. Most are available to borrow from the public library, and all are great fun.

Hyper-Super-Overwork

The prevalence of overwork has increased with the depth of the global recession, in part because employers are demanding more, and in part because many must now work longer hours to make ends a little closer to meeting. Overwork is dangerous. Here are some suggestions for dealing with it.

Guidelines for Sharing "Resources"

Often, team members belong to several different teams. The leaders of teams whose members have divided responsibilities must sometimes contend with each other for the efforts and energies of the people they share. Here are some suggestions for sharing people effectively.

Hill Climbing and Its Limitations

Finding a better solution by making small adjustments to your current solution is usually a good idea. The key word is "usually."

See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness and Managing Your Boss for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming February 27: Brainstorming and Speedstorming: II

Recent research into the effectiveness of brainstorming has raised some questions. Motivated to examine alternatives, I ran into speedstorming. Here's Part II of an exploration of the properties of speedstorming. Available here and by RSS on February 27.

And on March 6: A Pain Scale for Meetings

Most meetings could be shorter, less frequent, and more productive than they are. Part of the problem is that we don't realize how much we do to get in our own way. If we track the incidents of dysfunctional activity, we can use the data to spot trends and take corrective action. Available here and by RSS on March 6.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenFNyGxYAgtbuSbkEwner@ChacYhHQROjfBdjHlUljoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.