Old trusted battleaxe back in play

[Alacrity59]

The head of your department has been axed/canned/tossed out. Perhaps you were good buddies with him / her. Someone with decades of experience is being brought in. He knows bugger all about what is being done in your department.

OK I'm the new guy . . . what do you want to hear from me? I don't know if you are someone I want in my department yet. . . How do we move on to getting things done? And we do need to get things moving or I'm out on my ***.

Give me a kick . . . I need some practice. What did you do in this situation?

Mike

 

[Spivey]

Your best bet is to be as open and communicative as you can. Your new employees will want to be in the loop as much as they can be in order to feel secure. If they don't feel secure in their jobs, their performance will suffer.

Clearly there are changes that need to be made and clearly you are there to make them. It might be a good idea to have an open discussion with the team in order to get their view on what might need to be changed. You may stumble across a few important nuggets that will help.

I hope that helps. Best of luck to you.

 

[Alacrity59]

Your best bet is to be as open and communicative as you can. Your new employees will want to be in the loop as much as they can be in order to feel secure. If they don't feel secure in their jobs, their performance will suffer.

Clearly there are changes that need to be made and clearly you are there to make them. It might be a good idea to have an open discussion with the team in order to get their view on what might need to be changed. You may stumble across a few important nuggets that will help.

I hope that helps. Best of luck to you.

every bit helps. I'm hoping they hated the person I may replace.

 

[Spivey]

every bit helps. I'm hoping they hated the person I may replace.

Well, there's always that.

Most likely, you'll get a mixed bag.

 

[Stubblefield]

every bit helps. I'm hoping they hated the person I may replace.

That is your best bet. If they did, you will have an easier time.

Among your subordinates, Who actually makes things happen?

 

[proxymoron]

And here I was thinking you'd decided to 'open' up your marriage.

 

[raisindot]

While the "team meeting' approach may be good for day 1, you really need to meet one-on-one with your new direct reports to get a better understanding of what they do and, more importantly, to set expectations for their performance...and yours. Don't bring past performance reports into discussions. Treat them all as if they were new employees, focus on their strengths and aspirations, and let them know that you're all for them having profesional growth and job satisfaction, but this all begins with getting the job done, which has to be the highest priority.

Unless you've got a thoroughly incompetent and stagnant team, chances are the problems are the result of unfocused and unaccountable management. So, rather than think, "Which of these people should I be thinking of getting rid of" instead think about what you can do to remotivate them, gain their trust, and get them focused on solving the problems. The worst thing you can be is the "rubber band manager" who comes in, decided to make quick changes that don't change anything, and then gets pulled away before anything meaningful results.

Jefff in Boston

 

[Spivey]

While the "team meeting' approach may be good for day 1, you really need to meet one-on-one with your new direct reports to get a better understanding of what they do and, more importantly, to set expectations for their performance...and yours. Don't bring past performance reports into discussions. Treat them all as if they were new employees, focus on their strengths and aspirations, and let them know that you're all for them having profesional growth and job satisfaction, but this all begins with getting the job done, which has to be the highest priority.

Unless you've got a thoroughly incompetent and stagnant team, chances are the problems are the result of unfocused and unaccountable management. So, rather than think, "Which of these people should I be thinking of getting rid of" instead think about what you can do to remotivate them, gain their trust, and get them focused on solving the problems. The worst thing you can be is the "rubber band manager" who comes in, decided to make quick changes that don't change anything, and then gets pulled away before anything meaningful results.

Jefff in Boston

Jeff, will you move to Texas and be my boss?

 

[Jim]

All I can add is good luck!

 

[perry]

Don't do what my new boss did. First team meeting he says we will discuss changes as a group.. "Everything we do will go through this room." Second team meeting he announces huge changes in the department and tells us this is the way things will be done. And from that point forward, no one has trusted him. We do what he says out of fear, not respect.

And if there is someone in the department that lots of folks feel doesn't pull their weight... don't put that person in some sort of leadership role.

We had been without a boss for four months and had done just great. He comes in, makes huge changes just for the sake of making changes, without really understanding everyone's strengths and weaknesses, and most of us can see a decrease in the level of service we provide.

 

[quixand]

Can't offer much advice regarding management stuff... but as a person who's worked under the management positions for the past few years (before going back to school, and now while working through it), there are really 2 things that matter to me in a manager:

• he needs to be accountable and responsible for his own decisions (and his instructions to us!). If he were to give me an bad instruction, and then make me take the fallout alone, he would lose my trust, and more importantly my earnest cooperation. From that point on I will do what is necessary to not get fired, but that's as far as I'll go. I will also probably start looking for another job...
  
• as the team leader, and whether or not he's got the charisma to really be a leader or not, he must take care of his team. Failing this, I will start taking care of my own behind, at the cost of getting the job done (or done better).

Most people are honest, and want to get the job done well. It's a satisfactory feeling. Letting them do it, and making it very clear that getting a job done well (or better than specified) is something that will be at the very least appreciated, and if possible rewarded, is a very good motivator for any team.


I've had jobs where I could produce 800% of a shift's normal production rate, and all I got for it was people breathing on my neck when I only did 600% (and effectively reduced the worth of my labour to 1/8th of the pay rate...). Realizing this, I slowed down to about 95% and all of a sudden, when my labour isn't any better than anybody else's, my knowledge and expertise was taken seriously and I get all the special and sensitive projects... I thought this was stupid. I told my bosses that this was stupid. I actually told the CEO that this was stupid (and he agreed!), and in the end everybody was content to let me do the regular 100% or do special projects (instead of doing a combination of high output and special projects, which would have been perfect with me), because otherwise raising my wages and/or my status would offend the more senior employees... Lost my respect right there.

In the end I worked out a deal with my department's manager where I worked mostly evening and nightshifts, where there was much less supervision, and I could work fast, give a high output, and go home after doing 250% of the normal shift output, getting paid for the full shift...


My point is, the bottom line for an employee is that his manager takes care of him, and owns up to his own mistakes instead of shifting the blame to his underlings. Beyond that, keeping an objective mind where your workers can complain to you even about your own actions (and not get heat for that) is always good.

 

[DunEdinRanger]

I thought the Mother In Law was back in town!

It depends on the circumstances of why the person is being removed from the position.

When I hire students, I always tell them

* You're going to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to make them - just don't make the same one twice. And I'd rather you made a mistake in favor of customer service, than one which leaves them feeling less than pleased.

* You were hired not to be yes men, or rubber stamps, but to think and give your ideas on how we can better solve problems, and help our customers. I want you to speak up and voice your opinions, and even to tell me when you think I am wrong.


Hope this helps.