The management writer Rosemary Stewart explained that any job is subject to a range of demands and a series of constraints. Inevitably, you will encounter demands on your time from your peers, your manager, your organization, and your staff members, as well as dealing with the external demands of, for example, legislation. And you may also be constrained by budget, resources, location, policy, or regulations.
Since management is all about planning, organizing, and controlling, it is clearly important for you to find ways of working successfully within the constraints, and in response to the demands, of your job.
Demands and constraints can be defined as follows:
Demands – Demands are things that someone must do because people, the system, or legislation, require it.
Constraints – Constraints come from both inside and outside of the organization and limit what can be done.
It is natural to feel intimidated by all these things that are outside your control, but having recognized them, you can work with or around them. As a manager, you will be faced with a number of different types of demands and constraints. Being able to identify them will help you to decide how best to deal with them. Some issues are easier to cope with than others, and this can depend on factors within your own organization.
Managers inevitably impose demands upon themselves by having high expectations about what they can achieve, and the standard that they can reach.
In addition, Rosemary Stewart identified five more demands that managers face:
Manager imposed demands – Your boss is likely to expect things of you that you will be unable to ignore.
Staff imposed demands – Your staff members will want and expect you to spend time with them, giving advice or training.
Peer imposed demands – Other managers within the organization will often require information, support, or assistance from you.
System imposed demands – Your organization will have its own set of systems that cannot be ignored. These will include budgets, reports, and meetings.
Externally imposed demands – Your customers, suppliers, or other stakeholders may require information or action from you.
The attitudes and expectations of those around you will constrain how you, as a manager, are able to act. This is about what people expect as a result of the action being taken, and how they are likely to respond to it. It also includes the general attitude that employees have towards you as their manager, or the work that has to be done.
Stewart also identified five additional constraints that limit a manager's course of action:
Limited resources – All resources are limited in some way, and as a manager, you will have to work with, and make the best use of, the type and amount of resources that are available to you.
Legal regulations – Legal regulations are a constraint on everyone. As a manager, you have a responsibility not only to act within the law, but to ensure that your team does, too.
Processes and equipment – You will be constrained by the processes and equipment available to you. This applies equally to the quality and to the type of resources available.
Diverse teams and locations – You may be working with a number of teams, some of which may not be at the same location. You may also find that you have to work with other departments, suppliers, or customers who are geographically remote.
Policies and procedures – Every organization has its own policies and procedures, and you will have to work within them.
It might be helpful to consider how the demands and constraints of a manager's job differ from those of your current or previous non-managerial role. Being a successful manager involves juggling conflicting demands, and working within constraints in order to meet the needs of the organization.
Constraints can be the physical location of teams, technological limitations, and regulations applied to the industry as a whole. Other managers may be constrained by limited resources, organizational policies, or people's attitudes.
Demands can come from bosses, employees, and customer demands. They can also come from peers, the system, and the external environment. Of course, some of the toughest demands may come from you, yourself!
Demands and constraints will not go away. In fact, they are part of the challenge of management. But if you know what you are dealing with, then you are on the way to tackling them successfully.