Arontius of Bygelswade

.....Ralph mentioned the other day that Time Management is something I do for a living. I was thinking about that today as I worked with my Team in getting ready for a Project Certification. I had representatives from all the various Codes who took part in the installation. I had a set process to outline everyone's responsibilities, when they owed me that information, and in what format they were to deliver that information to me. I acted as the traffic officer who made sure everyone was going in the right direction and at the right speeds.

.....The Traffic Officer comparison is actually fairly decent as when people who owe me 'stuff' do not deliver, I am then required to 'enforce the rules', and if necessary, give out infractions (mainly reports to upper management).

.....People rarely ignore the rules and I rarely have to 'report' people. Unless I am making sure they have the priority help they need in order to deliver. The basic structure of this concept though is based on the fact that all of these people are PAID to provide the products they owe me. They do this to make a living. No one simply 'refuses' to provide their products or services when needed. They don't just decide they are going to do something else just because I want something now and am being 'mean' to them. This is a very fundamental difference between a modern job and a volunteer organization.

.....I'm sure Ralph knows this very well. The hard part is really the fact that what motivates people in my modern job (being paid) certainly doesn't work when asking or expecting volunteers to do something in support of an organization such as the Barony or the SCA. They are not getting paid as this is their hobby. In the majority of cases they are actually paying out in time, effort and money to this hobby. And being told to provide a particular service at a particular time has to (and will (and should)) take a lower priority to what they do for a living in the modern world.

.....So, time management in a volunteer organization means that you not only have to prioritize the needs of your organization, you have to take into account the priorities of the volunteer's modern life (which will be higher than your organization's needs on occasion (as it should be)). You can't just order something to happen and expect it to happen without taking modern life into account. At that point your volunteer may just decide that he or she has a higher priority and will make sure it happens first, to your organization's detriment.

.....It takes extra effort and additional sensitivity to lead volunteers. Which is why it is a good management training tool. If you are a leader or manager of any degree in the SCA, you need to make sure to put that on your modern resume. And ensure that you treat it professionally, because I think it is better training for a manager's position than many similar positions in the modern world.

.....Which is why I'm thinking that maybe Ralph's analogy should be turned around. My SCA training is a good education in Time Management and Management in the Real World (tm), but I'm not so sure that my Time Management training in the PSNS & IMF world is such good training for management in the SCA world.

.....It's good fodder for debate though.

.....It's not good training for a Baronial Polling though. Which is far more emotionally based than I ever thought it would be. I'm actually glad it is not a vote at this point as I'm not so sure I'd want to see my Popularity Score. :-) But I certainly do not envy Their Majesties having to make a decision. I thought that being this was the third time for me it would be pretty easy to have a pragmatic attitude towards the whole affair. A little more difficult than I thought.

.....Although the Baronial E-list has become very quiet, there continue to be surprises, mainly involving what people think of your perceived strengths and weaknesses. Which are oftentimes surprisingly different from what you thought they were. :-) I've had people come up to me in support whom I would have flat out said wouldn't have supported me if their lives had depended on it. Then you turn around and people you would never have expected come up to you with misunderstandings they've been harboring against you for a long time for things you thought were dead, buried and forgiven a long time ago. These are really frustrating because often you didn't even know you had to defend yourself against them in the first place.

.....Or the people who decided for some reason that they really do not like you and no matter what you do that opinion is not going to change.

.....To be honest though, most people seem to be somewhere in the middle. Which is probably the good news. No matter what happens though what has been said can not be unsaid. So things have changed. Will that be a good thing? I need to buy a new crystal ball, mine isn't working well right now. :-)

.....I'm starting to see the Master Ralg view of life, something really close to an attitude of taking things completely on your own terms and no one elses. I think I should have learned more from him directly when I was still his protégé. I thought there were times when he was very gruff, and even bulldoggedly unconcerning of what others thought of him at times if he thought the situation warranted it. But his attitude can be very good armor against negativity. A nice armor to have when you need to move forward and get a Project done. Especially when you know intellectually or intuitively that your path is the correct one.

.....It's not exactly a new belief, it is simply knowing yourself well and believing in yourself. Confidence, and maybe a little intellect as well.

.....Zen-Ralgism I think I'll call it. Should we name it a religion? Or a discipline (like a martial art akin to Tai Chi)? :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.