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Management
At the end of last summer, my boss gave me a pat on the back for a job well done. If you looked at the numbers, I had done well. As a house painting manager, I was the second most productive crew in the company (out of 10 or so), and I had thousands in bonus pay to look forward to. But I felt defeated. I knew that I hadn't really been successful. After all, my original crew no longer existed as they had nearly all been fired, and the replacements I only worked with for a week.
I was surprisingly promoted to a management position last summer after my original boss was fired abruptly. I was assigned 3 people to my new crew and was essentially told to go forth and do great things. Two of my crew members were very fast workers, but dreadfully lazy. The other was a consistent dud round who I unsuccessfully tried to get rid of.
My mistake was that I was that I was too lenient and forgiving of incompetence early on. I was rightly seen as inexperienced and non-dictatorial by them from the start and thus my fate was sealed. Chronic insubordination and laziness was assured. It started off pleasantly enough, but by mid-summer, I would catch the crew just lazily sitting around, texting, or talking on their phones when left without a watchful eye for even a few minutes.
I brought the hammer down too late when I instituted a cell phone ban. This caused rebellion and the brief 'summer of secession' went into full swing. I asked them all to leave their phones on a bench during the workday that way I could assure that no one was using them. But sure enough, within an hour, all the cell phones were conveniently gone and back in the owners' hands. When I went to go find them and reprimand them, I found them sleeping on the roof of the house they were supposed to be working on.
I sent them all home and was soon assigned a new batch of workers. They were likable, competent, and while not as fast, much more tolerable and motivated. By then, it was too late though to really get to know them because my summer was over the next week.
Naturally, I've been thinking long and hard how to avoid a similar mess this time around. My tentative policy is simple enough for this summer.
-I'm the boss. Do as I instruct or be sent home and fired.
-Absolutely no cell phones allowed when on the clock. It's not only bad for efficiency, but dangerous as we deal with heights and machines all the time.
-Laziness/standing around is punished with immediate suspension and repeat offense = firing.
These are the 3 guiding principles of my proposed management system this year. If they don't like it, I won't be forgiving. It's too bad. There are plenty of people out there who really want the same job and will actually work for it.
So have any of you worked in management positions and deal with prickly employees? What has your management style generally been?
I was surprisingly promoted to a management position last summer after my original boss was fired abruptly. I was assigned 3 people to my new crew and was essentially told to go forth and do great things. Two of my crew members were very fast workers, but dreadfully lazy. The other was a consistent dud round who I unsuccessfully tried to get rid of.
My mistake was that I was that I was too lenient and forgiving of incompetence early on. I was rightly seen as inexperienced and non-dictatorial by them from the start and thus my fate was sealed. Chronic insubordination and laziness was assured. It started off pleasantly enough, but by mid-summer, I would catch the crew just lazily sitting around, texting, or talking on their phones when left without a watchful eye for even a few minutes.
I brought the hammer down too late when I instituted a cell phone ban. This caused rebellion and the brief 'summer of secession' went into full swing. I asked them all to leave their phones on a bench during the workday that way I could assure that no one was using them. But sure enough, within an hour, all the cell phones were conveniently gone and back in the owners' hands. When I went to go find them and reprimand them, I found them sleeping on the roof of the house they were supposed to be working on.
I sent them all home and was soon assigned a new batch of workers. They were likable, competent, and while not as fast, much more tolerable and motivated. By then, it was too late though to really get to know them because my summer was over the next week.
Naturally, I've been thinking long and hard how to avoid a similar mess this time around. My tentative policy is simple enough for this summer.
-I'm the boss. Do as I instruct or be sent home and fired.
-Absolutely no cell phones allowed when on the clock. It's not only bad for efficiency, but dangerous as we deal with heights and machines all the time.
-Laziness/standing around is punished with immediate suspension and repeat offense = firing.
These are the 3 guiding principles of my proposed management system this year. If they don't like it, I won't be forgiving. It's too bad. There are plenty of people out there who really want the same job and will actually work for it.
So have any of you worked in management positions and deal with prickly employees? What has your management style generally been?
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Comments
I found that the best way of being the boss was not to think of myself as the boss and the others as employees, but all of us as essential parts of a machine; a process. I was very friendly, as is my way, and I was only interested in getting done what needed done. I held each person responsible for their own part, and rarely had to "crack down" on anyone.
I made it clear to each person that they were essential; that they were important, and that without them the job would not get done. I took on more work myself than one man should have, and lazy would be the last way anyone would describe me when I'm working (I didn't even take breaks, and I ate at my desk). So I think that by my own example, by making everyone feel like an equal and important part of the system, and by being half-boss/half-friend... making it comfortable for them to bring their problems to me, the machine just worked. Hardly any issues.
I may have just been blessed with good employees, but... I wouldn't say that. Since I've left they have had problems. All because the person who is in charge... isn't me. Actually they had to replace me with two people to do the same work. I kinda feel bad about that, to tell the truth. Life!
Mtns