Effective planning and scheduling are important aspects of managerial tasks and duties which are known to initiate success and efficiency in organizations. However, managers, very often face situations in which they encounter unscheduled and unexpected instance, necessitating their immediate attention, which could consequently disrupt their entire work schedule. It is during such instance that managers with true leadership skills and qualities will be able to demonstrate their expertise and abilities by dealing with unwarranted situations and giving them positive and optimal outcomes. This paper aims to analyse the uncertainty which managers face in organizations and how this uncertainty can be used as a beneficial tool to persuade managers to work harder. The paper also aims to explore the several situations which could be considered as unproductive but can be used by managers productively, to improve and enhance the working of the organization.
Senior managers are faced with the daunting task of managing their time effectively and being prepared to face any interruptions on the course of their clearly defined schedules and “orderly decision making” process (Pg. 131). The article illuminates the fact that such “ad hoc” behaviour which risks effective time management and requires senior managers to face uncalled situations is not “irrational” since it does exist in practicality and could “prove to be expression of a very different organizing principle” (Pg. 131).
Discussing the several reasons which have the potential to cast a “gloomy cloud” for the effective application of rational organization theory, the author argues that such situations could actually function as “silver linings” to managers in senior leadership positions, who can take advantage of them to benefit the organizational goals and enhancing their leadership potential through the available set of opportunities in such unplanned situations. For instance, in cases when senior managers are provided with only a single option, the silver lining to managers could be that the option “usually reflects” the previous preferences of senior managers in similar situations. In cases when managers are not provided with ample time to schedule their work, they could use this instance as an opportunity to set direction for the present as well as the future and can reflect the same through the last minute changes which they make concerning the urgent issues and problems at hand.
Problems for senior managers could arise when there are too many filters in the system which keeps managers shielded from bad news; however, managers could use reactions to good news to emphasize the ideals and priorities of the organization. More importantly when bad new arrives, managers can use this as an opportunity to demonstrate how the organization deals with such problems and issues in the institution and the kind of behaviour and effort that is expected from managers under such circumstances. When confronted with such sudden problems, managers must initiate appropriate steps and conduct sudden checks on the staff to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization.
Managers may encounter situations when certain issues and problems may be specifically prolonged before coming into effect. The silver lining in such cases is the potential available to managers to closely consider and weigh all the options available to managers so that they can devise strategies for the successful implementation of the project as and when it is needed. The “marinating time” provides managers the ability to be prepared for the project right from the designing to its implementation stage due to the availability of additional time which can be used constructively to shape the successful outcome of the project when it is practically put into operation. Thus, managers and leaders in senior positions could alter their outlook towards situations which they consider to be “sad” by using a radically different approach as a “silver lining” to benefit them and the goals and productivity of the organization.