University supervisors and team leaders face additional challenges in times of economic difficulty. The resources in this site were created by U of M Human Resources staff to provide information and resources to help with communicating, managing, and organizing the work in times of rapid change and budget crisis.

Communicating during budget challenges

Even highly functioning work teams are under added stress during times of budget challenge. In such times, communication is more critical than ever. Leaders need to be skilled at sharing information, managing rumors, and delivering bad news. This section provides tips and strategies to help.

• Being a Transparent Leader (pdf)
• Communicating Effectively (pdf)
• How to Conduct a Difficult Conversation (pdf)

Managing in challenging times

This section addresses challenges in dealing with the technical issues associated with the University’s current budget challenges. It provides resources to help interpret labor contracts and manage staff effectively.

• Delegating Effectively (pdf)
• Handling Stress (pdf)
• Helping Layoff Survivors (pdf)
• Stages of Accepting Change (pdf)

Organizing the work

Resources in this section will help you manage tasks and work processes. Look here for practical tips such as “how to say no” and models to help you assess and redesign the workload.

• Establishing Unit Priorities (pdf)
• How to Prioritize (pdf)
• How to Stop Nonessential Work (pdf)
• Organization Design Model Overview (pdf)