The Self-Assessment Library

Life In Organizations

Change and Stress

HOW WELL DO I RESPOND TO TURBULENT CHANGE?

Listed below are a set of statements describing characteristics in a managerial job. If your job had these features, how would you react to them? Use the following rating scale for your answers:
I = This feature would be very unpleasant for me
2 = This feature would be somewhat unpleasant for me
3 = I'd have no reaction to this feature one way or another; or it would be about equally enjoyable and unpleasant
4 = This would be enjoyable and acceptable most of the time
5 = I would enjoy this very much; it's completely acceptable

I regularly spend 30 to 40 percent of my time in meetings.
1 2 3 4 5
A year and a half ago, my job did not exist, and I have been essentially inventing it as I go along.
1 2 3 4 5
The responsibilities I either assume or am assigned consistently exceed the authority I have for discharging them.
1 2 3 4 5
I am a member of a team and I have no more authority than anyone else on the team.
1 2 3 4 5
At any given moment in my job, I have on the average about a dozen phone calls or e-mails to be returned.
1 2 3 4 5
My job performance is evaluated by not only my boss, but also by my peers and subordinates.
1 2 3 4 5
About three weeks a year of formal management training is needed in my job just to stay current.
1 2 3 4 5
My job consistently brings me into close working contact at a professional level with people of many races, ethnic groups, and nationalities and of both sexes.
1 2 3 4 5
For many of my work colleagues, English is their second language.
1 2 3 4 5
My boss is from Germany and has only been in this country for six months.
1 2 3 4 5
There is no objective way to measure my effectiveness.
1 2 3 4 5
I report to three different bosses for different aspects of my job, and each has an equal say in my performance appraisal.
1 2 3 4 5
On average, about a third of my time is spent dealing with unexpected emergencies that force all schedule work to be postponed.
1 2 3 4 5
On average, I spend about a week every month out of town on business.
1 2 3 4 5
I frequently have to work until 8 p.m. to get my day's work completed.
1 2 3 4 5
When I have a meeting with the people who report to me, at least one or two will participate by phone or electronic conferencing.
1 2 3 4 5
The college degree I earned in preparation for this type of work is now obsolete, and I probably should go back for another degree.
1 2 3 4 5
My job requires me to absorb 100 to 200 pages per week of technical materials.
1 2 3 4 5
My department is so interdependent with several other departments in the organization that all distinctions about which departments are responsible for which tasks are quite arbitrary.
1 2 3 4 5
I am unlikely to get a promotion anytime in the near future.
1 2 3 4 5
There is no clear career path for me in this job and organization.
1 2 3 4 5
During the period of my employment here, either the entire organization or the division I worked in has been reorganized every year or so.
1 2 3 4 5
While I have many ideas about how to make things work better, I have no direct influence on either the business policies or the personnel policies that govern my division.
1 2 3 4 5
My organization is a defendant in an antitrust suit, and if the case comes to trial, I will probably have to testify about some decisions that were made a few years ago.
1 2 3 4 5
Sophisticated new technological equipment and software is continually being introduced into my division, necessitating constant learning on my part.
1 2 3 4 5
The computer I have in my office can be monitored by my bosses without my knowledge.
1 2 3 4 5

Source: Adapted from P.B. Vaill, Managing as a Performing Art: New Ideas for a World of Chaotic Change (San Francisco: JosseyBass, 1989), pp. 8?9.