New Supervisor/Manager

Salshun_sl said:

So I guess my grunt work paid off, I'm getting the bump up. Of course, I'm nervous about walking that line between being a fair leader vs. not being an ego driven shithead. I know I can't continue being on buddy-buddy terms with certain people, but for the most part they're all great people and I want to continue being a guy they can talk to about the future of Marvel movies as we do, but also be the the supervisor that can show them where they excel and where they have opportunities to grow. No bullshit this is the height of my career nervousness. I'm less worried about how I feel or look, more worried about how I can make them kick-ass employees. They really have it in them, I know it.

For anyone that ever had to deal with being "the boss", how did you make the most of it?

Click to expand...

What industry are you in?

I was given the choice to become a Manager but turned it down as my company has a technical career path which is equal to management.

I was the boss once. Fuck that.

Good luck with being buddy-buddy with a few people and trying to maintain boundaries, I'm sure you'll find even the best of friends will undermine you when it benefits them. Trust me.

Salshun_sl said:

So I guess my grunt work paid off, I'm getting the bump up. Of course, I'm nervous about walking that line between being a fair leader vs. not being an ego driven shithead. I know I can't continue being on buddy-buddy terms with certain people, but for the most part they're all great people and I want to continue being a guy they can talk to about the future of Marvel movies as we do, but also be the the supervisor that can show them where they excel and where they have opportunities to grow. No bullshit this is the height of my career nervousness. I'm less worried about how I feel or look, more worried about how I can make them kick-ass employees. They really have it in them, I know it.

For anyone that ever had to deal with being "the boss", how did you make the most of it?

Click to expand...

Never speak again of your political, religious or any other views that can be used against you. It will come back to haunt you if friendly co-workers suddenly don't get their way. Honestly the easiest thing to do is to take care of your best workers and let everyone know it. You cut the dependable people slack when needed or are having an off day. Reward productivity and not personality. If it's busy expect all out effort and over the top production, when it's slow take it easy on them.

Also know that as a boss, some people are going to bitch to you a lot. And the ones that don't bitch to you directly, will bitch about you to anyone that will listen. You're under constant scrutiny, unless everything is running perfectly. Your employees will always wonder they aren't in your position because they could 'definitely' do a better job. You work 50+ hours a week and they're barely able to make it in for 40? Doesn't matter, you're still a piece of shit compared to them.

It gets really tiring at times, but it will hopefully be worth it in the end. Don't ever expect the employees to understand what's going on with you. In their mind, you make more money, so shut the fuck up. Also, don't run around bragging about new gadgets or whatever you've purchased. That never helps.

Ugh. Management.

It really depends who and how many you supervise. Regardless, going from peer to manager is extremely difficult no matter what. Be prepared to set boundaries. You have to learn to be friendly but not a friend to people and always watch what you say.

Palum_sl said:

Ugh. Management.

It really depends who and how many you supervise. Regardless, going from peer to manager is extremely difficult no matter what. Be prepared to set boundaries. You have to learn to be friendly but not a friend to people and always watch what you say.

Click to expand...

good luck if you are managing the same people you are budy budy with already you are fucked bro. but in all seriousness like the guy above me said set clear boundaries and make some new friends. Yeah they will hate on you for not being budy budy with them any more but thats the breaks.

Salshun_sl said:

So I guess my grunt work paid off, I'm getting the bump up. Of course, I'm nervous about walking that line between being a fair leader vs. not being an ego driven shithead. I know I can't continue being on buddy-buddy terms with certain people, but for the most part they're all great people and I want to continue being a guy they can talk to about the future of Marvel movies as we do, but also be the the supervisor that can show them where they excel and where they have opportunities to grow. No bullshit this is the height of my career nervousness. I'm less worried about how I feel or look, more worried about how I can make them kick-ass employees. They really have it in them, I know it.

For anyone that ever had to deal with being "the boss", how did you make the most of it?

Click to expand...

The only thing that matters is the bottom line. If you don't deliver, they'll find someone else who will. That being said, my style is to be loose and joking. We recently hired a new employee, and he's told the rest of the staff he finds it unbecoming. So what? I can still act friendly, I've had friendships with employees, but they know if they step out of line, I'll clip their nuts. There has to be a separation between what goes on at work and what happens after. Even when times get rough, I still joke. I learned it in b-school, no matter what life hands you, find a way to have fun. If you can't do that in a business environment, the grind will kill you (literally). I've seen so many Managers get heart attacks at 50 from the stress.

I'm with Lyrical here. When I was "management" I tried to keep the atmosphere loose and relaxed. Happy employees are productive employees. You do have to walk a fine line because subordinates will always push the limits of the leeway you give them. The times I would have to bring the hammer down on someone I was buddy-buddy with I always approached in a way to turn it around on them. "Why are you putting me in a position to have to discipline you?" or "Come on man, you know this shit needs to get done and if you aren't pulling your weight I'm the one who gets chewed out by the big boss." I found it was way more effective if I could get them in the mindset that they were letting me, a buddy, down personally rather than it being me yelling at them for not doing their jobs.

With that said you do have to accept the fact that there will be employees who just flat out don't like you now either because they hate all management or they begrudge your promotion for whatever reasons they may have. That happened to me with a couple of guys but really if that is going to be their mindset they aren't worth having as friends/buddies/whatever.

opiate82_sl said:

I'm with Lyrical here. When I was "management" I tried to keep the atmosphere loose and relaxed. Happy employees are productive employees. You do have to walk a fine line because subordinates will always push the limits of the leeway you give them. The times I would have to bring the hammer down on someone I was buddy-buddy with I always approached in a way to turn it around on them. "Why are you putting me in a position to have to discipline you?" or "Come on man, you know this shit needs to get done and if you aren't pulling your weight I'm the one who gets chewed out by the big boss." I found it was way more effective if I could get them in the mindset that they were letting me, a buddy, down personally rather than it being me yelling at them for not doing their jobs.

With that said you do have to accept the fact that there will be employees who just flat out don't like you now either because they hate all management or they begrudge your promotion for whatever reasons they may have. That happened to me with a couple of guys but really if that is going to be their mindset they aren't worth having as friends/buddies/whatever.

Click to expand...

This is very dangerous with the wrong personalities though. One of my managers is a very 'buddy buddy' type of manager, but he doesn't know how to be straight with people without being angry. A lot of people simply can't work with him because they don't "know when he's serious" until it's too late - best case is they are just not as productive as they should be. worst case they come crying to HR. I'm very loose and joking as well, but the difference iseveryoneknows when it's time to shut up and fix problems and it's not because I'm angry, it's because there's not an ounce of humor in what I'm talking about. I wasn't always as straightforward as I am now, but over time I felt it was just more honest and simple to simply be brutally honest with people, even if they don't like it, then try and get people to 'come around' while being 'light hearted'.

You have to be very disciplined to do it properly I think. Otherwise you should be just business at work because you will only cause yourself problems.

opiate82_sl said:

The times I would have to bring the hammer down on someone I was buddy-buddy with I always approached in a way to turn it around on them. "Why are you putting me in a position to have to discipline you?" or "Come on man, you know this shit needs to get done and if you aren't pulling your weight I'm the one who gets chewed out by the big boss." I found it was way more effective if I could get them in the mindset that they were letting me, a buddy, down personally rather than it being me yelling at them for not doing their jobs.

Click to expand...

This is in line with my style as well. I follow the thought of "don't make me manage you". If folks do their thing, do it well, and produce results I won't be in on their business and give them leeway. If they start slacking or not producing I just turn up the heat and let them know what I expect each week and if they accomplished it. When it is laid out black and white like that they can have a hard time arguing. Either they cut it or they don't. All it takes is a few weeks of scrutiny on their day to day and they either shape up or self select out.

Salshun_sl said:

For anyone that ever had to deal with being "the boss", how did you make the most of it?

Click to expand...

Best way to keep people motivated is to form a vision on what you want your team to accomplish, then set long term goals and explain to them clearly how it impacts the business. I work in Operations / Logistics and manage ~200 people, including a small engineering team spread around the globe. It's tough. I try to keep out of the drama and personal lives of my employees as much as possible, and make it clear to the employees that I have no interest in their life outside of work. Getting dragged into the personal lives of your employees opens you up for potential large headaches later on when you have to make tough decisions.

When I first became a supervisor in an area, I did the following to set myself and my group apart:

- Keep higher standards than the other groups in the business. My area was always cleaner than the other areas. My team was always working harder and always outproduces the other teams. Don't ever settle for anything less than perfection.
- Encourage feedback from your team. Don't be afraid to change processes / procedures for better workflow. Your guys know the job the best and usually have figured out the easier / fastest way to do something.
- Get up and walk around and check on your team everyday. This is the largest mistake I see supervisors make in the Operations world. Most sit at their desk all day and wonder why nothing gets done. Make it a point to give positive feedback to each employee at least once a week as you're walking by.
- If someone screws up, don't immediately tear into the employee. Try to find out why they made the mistake. Its way too easy to pawn the blame off on to the person instead of the actual root cause (start with the 5 Whys).
- Communicate business goals regularly with your team. Did you guys hit a goal? Let them know.
- Reward your team regularly. $100 in pizza goes a long way towards employee morale.

Ultimately your job as a supervisor is to act as a force multiplier for your team.

I've been in a leadership position for the past 6 years and moved into the jefe grande position earlier this year. I have a team of about 64 employees (restaurant business so I'm not sure how this will relate to the IT world) Somethings I've picked up along the way are.

-Get to know your team personally. Facebook is a good way for this. It's let me know when my employees are upset about work (those who gripe about it online anyway) or if they're going through a rough patch in which they maybe need a softer touch at work. NEVER use what they post against them.
-Feedback Feedback Feedback. Letting people know that they're appreciated is one of your strongest tools.
-Be clear about your goals and expectations. I use meetings for this so no one feels singled out. Specific goals per person can be put forth during reviews, formal or informal. Always start with their strengths and then move on to opportunities for growth.
-Be aware of of your employees personal goals within the company. A lot of times they'll come to you if they're looking to move up themselves or if someone really shines try to nurture they're growth. One of my current supervisors is a guy that I saw a spark in and pushed him to move up because I knew he'd be great at it. I told him they're would be a position opening up and I'd like to see him go for it.
-Never promise anything. That goes without saying I think. Somethings will simply be out of your control, at least in a company with regional management. My first few years with my company was filled with promises of promotions that never came to fruition and that can really put someone in the dirt.
-Get out on the floor. Work next to somebody (but don't impede their work). Guys who spend the day reading emails tend to get bad reviews from their crew.
-Be aware of diversity. Hiring, other managers. It's kind of crap but if the top is filled with white hetero males it can be damaging to moral in some employees. You have to think about who's best for a position but you also need to think on how the rest of your employees will react to it. They may be more hesitant to voice their feelings on a subject if they feel outnumbered.
-Hiring can be a bitch. I've hired two people in the past that had great resumes and great interviews but I neglected to call for a reference. Both those two ended up being utter shitheels and it took me a long time to get rid of them since it's particularity hard to simply fire people in some corporate settings. One guy I actually had to contact a regional lawyer to figure out how to get him out. Luckily he dropped a racial slur on the job that week. Hiring can be you're most powerful tool.
-Explained above but reward your team. Buy them Chipotle for lunch/dinner. Gift cards. Fun little team activities like contests. Employee happiness is great.
-If someone does need a corrective action be 100% up front with details (time/date/what specific rule was broken or disregarded). Try to end it in a positive light and try to have it be an "opportunity for growth." Although don't use the corporate language for that. Sounds phony.
-Firing people sucks. I'm still not good at this (except for the previously mentioned incident). Someone might just be bad at their job but they're still humans. Don't let people drag the team down though. Attendance is the biggest problems I've encountered but then again that's the easiest problem to fix.

Barraco Bisi_sl said:

Any managerbro tips for someone who's entire team works remotely? (I have people in India, Philippines, and USA).

Click to expand...

I've been working in this position for almost 6 years (next month) and all of my staff is across Canada. Biggest things I've learned are show them early that you know what it is they are doing while they work, if things aren't done there are ways to know and you hold them accountable. Beyond that as posted above, give them slack when they need it, and if they fuck up absolutely hold them to it.

That said, I don't have an issue still being friends with people. When we're blowing shit up in L4D or playing D3, having a beer is time away from things and no work talk. During work, we keep it work related (mostly, if it's slow and work is done we'll chat about just about anything sans politics for obvious reasons). As long as you can set those expectations clearly and have transparency, haven't really had an issue with people claiming favoritism or anything when one team sucks compared to others.

Certainly possible to be a boss that people like/respect vs. the ego driver mfer, both can get results but I think ego driven results in worse retention.

Hiring can be a bitch. I've hired two people in the past that had great resumes and great interviews but I neglected to call for a reference. Both those two ended up being utter shitheels and it took me a long time to get rid of them since it's particularity hard to simply fire people in some corporate settings. One guy I actually had to contact a regional lawyer to figure out how to get him out. Luckily he dropped a racial slur on the job that week. Hiring can be you're most powerful tool.

Click to expand...

This cannot be emphasized enough. One of our sites was reducing a bit so we made the decision to offer them positions at another place that had space at their current salary, worst decision we've ever made. There was a reason they were reducing and it is now months later and HR/legal is allowing us to start the caf/firing process. If you're hiring someone also into a management position, I would recommend calling people they report to as well as people they supervise to get a fair take on things whether or not they are listed as a referral.