Category: life

Drama or kerfluffle?

No matter your line of work, you’re bound to run into some office drama from time to time. It’s simply unavoidable. In higher ed, with all our petty academic politics, student crises and buffeting from forces outside our ivory towers, the drama level can ascend to amazing heights.

So, how do you cope? How do you avoid getting caught up in all the hubbub of the drama kings and queens and stay productive — or sane?

Here’s a tip that’s helped me deal with the drama: How we choose to perceive a situation can help alleviate some of the stress associated with it.

For me, I’ve chosen to think of office drama as mere kerfluffle. I don’t know why I’ve chosen that word, but it works. It diminishes the level of angst and urgency in my mind to something silly, which is what most dramas are.

A kerfluffle — defined as a “disturbance” or “fuss” by Dictionary.com — is a silly word, a comical word. Calling a situation a kerfluffle deflates the drama from it and makes it seem less, well, dramatic.

Maybe you should think of the dramas in your office as kerfluffles. Or maybe you prefer foofaraw or hullabaloo. Whatever works for you.

If all else fails, you can always hit the drama button.

Letting go

Once upon a time, part of my job here at the university was to act as news and features editor for our alumni magazine. I like to think I was pretty good at it, and I enjoyed the work.

Letting_Go_by_TheMadScientistThen I got promoted into a new position. With the new job came added responsibilities, and I had to make some decisions about my level of involvement in certain projects. The magazine was one of them. Reluctantly, I relinquished the beloved editor role to another staff member.

I tried to back off. But sometimes I found myself offering unsolicited advice to the new news and features editor. Usually, the advice would be along the lines of “This is how I used to do it.” Occasionally, my advice was useful. Usually, not.

The funny thing about this is that our alumni magazine is a much better publication now that I’m not as involved. I’m not sure if there’s a correlation to my diminished role in that publication and its subsequent improvement. It can be humbling to realize that sometimes your interest or involvement in a project or program may actually be impeding progress. But you can think of it another way. Not that you were impeding progress, but than now, by relinquishing a level of control, you are empowering others to do great work.

Sometimes it’s hard to let go of a project we love. It can be tough to give up a pet project or a job we are so used to doing on our own. But as managers and leaders, an important part of our job is to let others do more. And it’s important for us to grow by letting go.

Are you standing in someone’s way because you’re too involved in a project or a process? Try letting go and letting someone else give it a shot. The results may pleasantly surprise you.