Part of my job, as project manager, is supervising our team. When I first started I was adamant that we were a team, and I wasn’t really a supervisor, but a colleague. Now I’ve got more experience under my belt, and a fuller understanding of the issues we deal with, and a better working knowledge of the people in my environment I still feel the same, only with a little more of the latter/supervisor feeling.
We are a team, but I am the manager of the projects worked on by the team, and thus also function in a supervisory capacity.
It’s interesting, and frightening, depressing and exhilarating. Sometimes in the same day.
I work with a very dynamic, ethnically diverse team, so that presents some unique challenges and rewards. Getting to know my team, and I do refer to them as my team, has been hard at times due to cultural barriers (my own included), but you learn to keep your eyes and ears open and find what motivates people. Once you have that, you have a handle on the thermostat of their work environment and can ensure they have the best environment we can provide to make them work best. That’s a nice feeling; being able to identify something and deal with it. What isn’t so nice is figuring out that sometimes you just can’t reach people. And when you listen to the other voices (in and out of your head) you realise that maybe someone just isn’t a good fit…
And that’s depressing and frightening. I’ve had to issue a couple of formal bollockings because folks weren’t used to working in this environment…you ain’t in engineering school anymore son…this is an AMC, Academic Medical College. It has a different set of rules, it’s very formal and there is a fixed bureaucracy you Do. Not. Fuck. With.
My first bollocking was so successful the person wrote their resignation letter and fled the state. A quick apology and explanation fixed that and I’ve toned it down a bit since. But there’s always someone you can’t reach. I’ve never fired anyone before, and it’s a depressing thought.
I’ve also never hired anyone, and I was sat at my desk with tears in my eyes reading resumes yesterday. We had a part time programmer position open, and within a day of it being posted the applications came flooding in. So sad seeing and reading between the lines of all these resumes. I haven’t inured myself the process like Human Resource managers are supposed to…10s/CV…get my attention or I’m moving on.
Cover letters just short of desperation, 90% of the resumes had a “most recent” position ending in the last couple of months, for reasons such as “corporate down-sizing”; “managerial economic unviability” and one very honest “Massive Layoffs”. Some of these people would be great to hire, super talented, but just not for this position. We stated clearly, must be proficient in C++, html, Perl & php. No one was. It made me so sad.
And then just now I got off the phone after arranging an interview for a young woman who is going to be volunteering with us. Her husband has just got a job at a local hospital as a researcher and she is looking for work. She is taking the first step of volunteering just to get her name out there and keep her resume fresh, and to me this is an excellent sign. She asked me about the possibility of getting paid, and I had to explain that we have a hiring freeze in place, and I can’t make any promises. But. If you want to get your foot in the door, volunteering is the best way to get your face known around here. And we have many grants in the pipeline with many more to go, so there’s a chance we’ll be hiring sometime later this year.
And I could literally hear her smile grin when she spoke and thanked me for my time. I just made somebody’s day by giving them a glimmer of hope in a cold, impersonal world. She’s a long way from home, and frightened of the future, but maybe it’s not so bleak anymore.
That is a truly wonderful feeling!
Tough times… I’m hearing the same things here, although to a lesser degree (so far).
Managing people is so hard. The interesting thing was that my husband and I got our first supervisory experience at the same time, and despite being in completely different industries and environments, had exactly the same problems and frustrations.
My husband has gone on to run crews of up to ten people, but I’ve still never been in charge of more than two. In my current job I’m just in charge of myself, which I really enjoy for now, but I can’t avoid it forever… It sounds like you’ve got a great grip on it, I may come begging for hints at some stage!
Seat of the pants Cath… :)
Really?
Surely notMe too.I guess I’m a “people person”…I’ve spent time making sure I can listen when necessary. I try not to bullshit people; it can be hard being straight with someone but it’s usually the best way. I’ve also spoken with successful managers about how they do it. And there are a couple of good books like
The Prince“Good to Great” and some of the Harvard Reviews that have advice. One of my favourite quotes from one of the most successful CEOs in US industrial history, “I don’t know what I did. I think I just spent 21 years trying to figure how to do my job”.My problem was that I’d never before been in a situation where I couldn’t be friends with a labmate. So I treated my student as a buddy, because I’d always been friends with all of my labmates before. This came back and bit me in the bum when I had to lay down the law a few weeks in – she just kind of brushed me off with a laugh and a “see ya Saturday at the beach”, and I had to completely reevaluate how I treated her.
This aspect of the job can be very tough, Ian. I’ve found it helpful to solicit and accept advice from HR (shudder), but it’s important I think to find the right HR professional. If you’re lucky enough to identify that key, helpful and knowledgeable person, life gets much easier.
We’ve got about 80 people here that I’m responsible for (at least in part). Laying people off is no fun at all (and fortunately not something I’ve had to do much of over the years). But even annual performance reviews can be tough – it’s difficult to tell someone who thinks they’ve been doing a great job that no, you really haven’t, your technical skills aren’t great, your work ethic needs work, and your peers don’t consider you reliable. It’s especially difficult if, like Cath says, it happens to be someone you play softball (or go to the beach) with.
All part of the process of learning “management skills” I guess, and definitely something that employers look for (should you ever find yourself a victim of those Massive Layoffs™).
Oh, and “me three” on the ‘seat of the pants’ comment. :)
It’s interesting to read Brooks! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this new venue in your life.
I think my first experience as “leader” or boss over people who were older and the same age was really tough. I learned a lot but most of all that thing that an HR person said as advice “if you are the boss you can’t be one of the team as much as the others in the team” meaning that even if you are in the team, you will have to be the one who takes responsibility for some tough decisions that not all will like. And then it is “better” to not be too chummy with them.
More the I in team??! (mixing metaphors and therefore will go back into the lab…. where I can be friends with my lab mates… :) )
Great post, Sir. I’ve hired twice – both excellent people, one so excellent she took my job from me. I’ve fired once – a person wished on me by someone else, who just didn’t fit. I find the best thing to do is spend as much time as you can getting the right people, and then just letting them get on with it by themselves. The three Ds: delegate, delegate, and … er … you know. Thingy.
“Delegate, Defer, and Drop”. Words to live by.
Sorry for the delay in reply, but I’ve been at the National Postdoc Conference in Houston, TX, and once again, live blogging seems to be missing from repertoire…
@Cath: I learned that the (very) hard way during my first postdoc. Led to some very unpleasant exchanges with the technician.
@Richard: HR? Good God man! I haven’t found the need to sell my soul, just yet…
@Asa: Exactly my point, I think. You do need to be slightly aloof. Friendly, but not friends, as it were…
@HG: Thanks! I am all about letting people get on with their job. I need to find the balance so things don’t get pushed aside when my back is turned though.
Distance yourself, man. It makes for good prose but you can’t survive in the office as a social worker. Take the best people you can who aren’t assholes. Too many bosses in a time like this will refuse to hire the top talent begging out there, figuring they’ll move on as soon as things improve. It’s true, they will. But in the meantime, you have a chance to build something good and get some lasting friendships going. And when things improve, all bets are off for everyone anyway.
When you fire, do it swiftly. Give a warning and then the ax. You’ll win gratitude (and fear, and contempt) but not competence by doing anything else.
It does get you appreciating the value of right time/place. A good antidote to thinking you’re the shiznits & that’s why you’ve got this job. Only partly. I think that song still has the best advice — hold on loosely, but don’t let go.
Also, Ian, times like this come and go here. This is the third one I’ve seen (not counting early ‘00s). It’s just capitalism without (much of) a net. So when you see the misery stories, keep in mind that a lot of them are coming from people who don’t pay attention to the rules of the local game. Even the young ones saw a decent graduate dump in ‘02, not that long ago. They’re also broadcasting resumes instead of paying attention to what particular employers want and going hell-for-leather after the reasonable prospects, and that lack of attention is not a terrific sign.
I don’t really understand why people go amnesiac about the bad times so very easily. But they do. Within a year of things improving substantially you’ll find most people have forgotten the lessons of the last few years.