Are You A Boss?

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Phil Waters

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Are you in charge of any employees? You could be at any level, even if you outrank just one person. The question I have for you is - do you care if you are respected and/or liked by those under you? Or do you just want to get the job done with no regard for the consequences of someone respecting or liking you?

I ask this because the person directly above me and two steps above a multitude of good, hard-working people seems to have a communication problem. She sends out orders that, in fairness, have to be sent out - i.e. instructions about placing credits on accounts with a view to looking after the company's revenue etc - but the way she communicates these instructions would not be out of place in a Scum-esque borstal.

She could get the message across and be liked or respected but I do not think she possesses the necessary management skills to do both so she sticks to bullying.
 
I have been a boss for 9 years now, I firmly believe that if my staff like me as a person they will work for me as a boss. Everything I ask them to do comes with a please and thank you. I know some colleagues who are more bullies and they are not respected by the other managers in my area or by their staff but thankfully they are few and far between
 
Respect is something you earn, it's not a God given right that goes with a position. I work for somebody (1 line removed thank heavens) who can only communicate with me through screaming increasingly. Luckily she makes herself look stupid and I'm not adverse to the odd caustic comment in retaliation which draws her in even more. Although she's got a temper on her, she's not naturally given to conflict, and thus tends to come off second best. So long as you're not that desperate about your job, it removes the ultimate sanction from them, and once a bully can't play that card, it gets difficult to threaten staff. I'm slightly lucky in so far as I can occasionally invoke a procedure for refusing an instruction, and have done so, which really annoys her as she's never encountered someone who just refuses to obey before, as I understand it.

You do get the odd pyscho of course who gets off on being hated and actually confuses it with being a good manager. Such types usually have a wider pathological neurosis and it isn't difficult to spot the source cause. I've only ever worked for one, and senior management should have intervened much earlier and removed her. Instead they waited for her contract to run down, and didn't renew it. During this time though it caused a lot of distress and everyone got damaged to a greater or lesser degree. A Pyrrhic victory ultimately, but not one of my happier times.

You do get another type as well who suffers a personality transplant the moment they get a small promotion and go from being amenable to autocratic and aggressive with it. I've encountered that a couple of times, and resolved it once when there weren't any witnesses around :D He never did it again, but continued to pick on others.

My own experience of management was that I preferred to be liked, but didn't crave popularity to the point where it became all consuming. Provided I could coralle the anti's into a manageable and predictable little coven, I could handle it, so long as I was able to carry the majority and more important elements with me.
 
A good boss wants to have the respect of his or her workforce, their trust, and their confidence is his/her ability to make good decisions, both for the job and for their own good. I had around 100 trainees and a standing staff of between 35-50 men and women, depending on how much oil was being pumped that year! I made it clear, I hope, that I'd always want my staff to come to me with job problems, but that I'd expect them to be fairly autonomous, too. In other words, I trusted them to use THEIR good judgment, their skills, their knowledge. You don't want employees who see you as a teat on which to nurse, taking no responsibility for their own actions, good, poor, or seriously bad.

Clear communication, verbal and written, but particularly written where standing instructions are concerned (so they're there to refer back to) is very important. Clear communication doesn't mean barking things out like a 1950s Carry On comedy sergeant-major, neither does it mean trying to be liked at all costs.

One thing I found when I was promoted to managing staff - you're very suddenly on the other side of the tracks. You're not 'one of the girls' (or boys) because you have to represent sometimes unpopular higher management decisions. You want to keep your staff onside, but you can't face two ways at the same time. You have to meet the needs of management, but at the same time you need to encourage your staff to see you as still open to talking with them - not just AT them. Doing small things like bringing in a box of cakes, biscuits, etc., letting a worker go home early if their main project's done, etc., helps to keep the atmosphere cheerful, but occasionally there's the need to put on a serious (but never angry) face about why someone's standards are slipping or they seem to be always miserable with their work. No shouting, no rudeness is ever required, although registering concern and possibly some tough talking eventually might be.
 
Good replies and I shall add further thoughts on the subject tomorrow when I have more time.

An Capall is a legend.

I'd be interested to hear Brian's views seeing as he has sat on a large company's board.
 
Earlier in my management position, I was very concerned about this. I even put my staff through a well-respected procedure analysing my managemnet style. It came out generally very positive but one of my older staff was quite negative.

I sat down with her and discussed her concerns and it turned out she thought I was extremely caring and a very good line manager but she felt I could do things differently. We explored some of her ideas and I explained some of my decisions and we left the meeting with an understanding: If I said "jump" she was to ask "how high?".

Seriously though, we did discuss a lot of things and I left with a better appreciation of what staff were expecting of me and I set about balancing their expectations with my remit.

I also remember one day one of my staff approached me in private and said, "You and I are going out for lunch today!" I thought I was on to my Nat King. It turned out she wanted to tell me that I had become irritable and and that my staff were unhappy with the way I was snapping at them. I wasn't aware of it and it did coincide with a very difficult period in my life outside work. After a few weeks she gave me a kiss and said how much my staff appreciated me being back to my old self again.

I learned a lot about myself in those weeks.
 
It depends on the member of staff. I do expect everything that I want done to be done, when I've asked for it. If it doesn't materialise I always try to determine why before becoming irate about it, if necessary. If they have a good reason I might not necessarily be happy, but I won't take it out on them.

Do I care what they think about me - I can't say I give it too much thought. People who dislike me tend to be the people who are unable to produce a good reason in the situation above and thus see an unhappy side to me. Most people only do it once.
 
It sounds as if your irate and unhappy attitude puts your staff off coming to tell you why they may not be able to do what you've 'told' them to do, simmo. Don't you discuss a possible deadline, or help that may be required, first? Don't you invite your staff to ALWAYS come to you if they have any problems meeting their projects' demands - BEFORE things aren't done the way you want them?

Grasshopper: that sounds cute, but it's unrealistic. Most organisations and businesses require managers to go through a line of verbal of written disciplinings, warnings, etc. The days of acting like some Victorian overlord are pretty much over.
 
krizon, it was as told to me by a mucker of mine, when he worked for an American boss.......in the oil industry........in Bulgaria.......in the late 80's. I think the employment regulations may have been marginally less equitable, in said circumstance.

Regardless, I thought I'd reprise it here, as it always makes me smile. It wasn't meant to be taken literally, but thanks for the interest. :)
 
Its not always what you communicate but how you communicate

This should always be face to face where possible (emails, memos are for cowardly bosses) and there should always be an element of explanation

A good boss will always appreciate that whilst he/she has the authority they also have a duty to build a team with a common purpose which annot be achieved if members do not understand the goals or the reasons for the goals

you dont have to aim to be respected or liked (some will never do so regardless) but adhere to the above (and other principles) and that will happen

Three other absolutely essential principles which even supposedly well qualified bosses forget

1. never undermine your staff

2. never criticise your staff in public

3. never delegate responsibility without authority

Ive managed staff continuously since i was 21 BTW
 
Originally posted by krizon@May 17 2007, 02:19 PM
It sounds as if your irate and unhappy attitude puts your staff off coming to tell you why they may not be able to do what you've 'told' them to do, simmo. Don't you discuss a possible deadline, or help that may be required, first? Don't you invite your staff to ALWAYS come to you if they have any problems meeting their projects' demands - BEFORE things aren't done the way you want them?
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It sounds wrong then. My staff are more than happy to come to me with any problems that they have.

Yes. Timescales are agreed on the basis of when I need it and when they can do it.

Yes. Generally when irateness and unhappiness is required it is because they have made no attempt whatsoever to comply with my wishes and there has been no barrier other than those of their own making (ie, they couldn't be bothered). That does make me irate, but as I indicated if you had read the post :P , I try to ascertain why it wasn't done (on the basis that the discussion prior to the event ensured that it was perfectly achievable) before becoming irate. There could be any number of reasons why it wasn't done.
 
Why would I want them to like me? It is not like they can afford to socialise with me on their wages.





I'm kidding.
 
A boss should only want to command respect. Everything else falls into place, if his/her staff respect him/her.

If the boss commands no respect, it doesn't really matter whether you like him/her or not.
 
Originally posted by Grasshopper@May 17 2007, 04:42 PM
A boss should only want to command respect. Everything else falls into place, if his/her staff respect him/her.
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That's not strictly true. If you are respected by an utterly useless fuckwit, then they are still an utterly useless fuckwit. Good management may disguise the fact that they are an utterly useless fuckwit, perhaps replacing it with a visage of an extremely incompetent fuckwit, but underneath it all they are still an utterly useless fuckwit. But at least they respect you.

They might even be able to be coached/trained/whatever you want to call it up to a genuinely higher level than UUF, maybe even to the level above EIF, but in the majority of cases they won't make it past incompetent fuckwit. Who respects you.

And you lose that respect when you sack them. :P
 
Simmo, the first question I would ask is; what are you doing with an utterly useless fuckwit in your employ?

Chances are, if you are tolerating one, the rest of the staff don't respect you anyway.
 
Maybe simmo likes employing them so he can feel superior? Some people confuse bossiness with being a boss, and enjoy it when there are people they feel they can shout at.

You know I read your posting, simmo, because I asked germane questions. norty Tip: enrol yourself in a course in communication skills, darling - then you'll express yourself better, and won't need to inflict your bad temper on your terrified underlings. They don't actually respect you, they're just scared of losing their pitiful little jobs. :P to you, too!
 
Originally posted by clivex@May 17 2007, 03:10 PM
Its not always what you communicate but how you communicate

This should always be face to face where possible (emails, memos are for cowardly bosses) and there should always be an element of explanation

A good boss will always appreciate that whilst he/she has the authority they also have a duty to build a team with a common purpose which annot be achieved if members do not understand the goals or the reasons for the goals

you dont have to aim to be respected or liked (some will never do so regardless) but adhere to the above (and other principles) and that will happen

Three other absolutely essential principles which even supposedly well qualified bosses forget

1. never undermine your staff

2. never criticise your staff in public

3. never delegate responsibility without authority

Ive managed staff continuously since i was 21 BTW
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Bloody hell :D I'm in danger of agreeing with Clive, but I think i did once before on another issue
 
When I'm working with a cashier I send them home at least a half an hour early and they can take as many breaks as they like at whatever time suits them. In return I go out of the shop whenever I want and suffering from a bad hangover the other day I spent 7/12 hours I was rostered at home in bed.

Its all about a bit of give and take.
 
Originally posted by Gearoid@May 17 2007, 09:06 PM
When I'm working with a cashier I send them home at least a half an hour early and they can take as many breaks as they like at whatever time suits them. In return I go out of the shop whenever I want and suffering from a bad hangover the other day I spent 7/12 hours I was rostered at home in bed.

Its all about a bit of give and take.
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Yep, sounds just like my shop :laughing: There are no set times for breaks and an hours lunch break on a Saturday is just unheard of. As long as the shop is quiet we all come and go pretty much as we please. Treat others how you would expect to be treated yourself. I know the cashiers like me because there are some who refuse to work with certain managers yet they'll jump through hoops for me. Unlike some managers, I pull my weight, I don't rant and rave, I don't swear, I can deal with tricky punters, I know how to do my job and for all those things they respect me.
 
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