Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
I'm a Big Ole Meanie!
I don't really need a hug, I can manage, but I would *love* some commiseration.
I'm a senior manager. But at the end of the day, there's not some magic separation between staff and management - it's just the role we fulfill and what's expected of us, not who we are. I understand how the managers I have had over the years have felt now.
I have a newish employee who is very, very young. We deliberately wanted a junior, somebody who had the right skills and some basic experience, but who we could mold and shape. We also wanted some young energy into a company where we all work insanely hard and are passionate about what we do.
She is driving me insane. She is the truly cliche i-Gen. She plays with her iphone and texts her friends constantly. She tries to chat at length about personal issues with me when I'm in the middle of important tasks. She gets stuck on a task she's been given and instead of coming to ask me she just leaves it until I come to check in with her - which might be awhile if I'm busy. (Everytime she does come to see me she starts with "I'm so sorry to bother you..." so I think she genuinely thinks the right thing to do is wait). The thing is, she actually does a great job when she applies herself. There's certain tasks I've given her that she's gone ahead and done perfectly. She had picked up our complicated computer system fast. So I'm actually happy with her overall. She just needs to focus more and work a lot faster. She was great at first when I had heaps of training time with her, but now it's been a couple of months I have to focus on other very important aspects of my job and can't devote everyday to her.
The level of micromanagement required is driving me insane. But I still think she has potential. I just feel like a big ole meanie having to send stern emails or have serious talks about her commitment and focus. Argh.. :( Nobody wants to be that person! don't get me wrong, I'm doing it - I'm doing what's needed. I think it's fair to her to ensure she's redirected appropriately, the last thing I want is for her to be blindsided by any of this. I'm clear on expectations. And we have good communication, and so far she is actually responding well to feedback and working hard to improve. But despite it all, I'm fairly certain she tells her friends what a mean boss I am. Monday I'm in meetings so don't have time to supervise closely, so I've sent her an email with a fairly strict list of tasks she needs to do, and also reminded her that it is completely inappropriate to be playing with her phone etc when she still has work to finish. So I feel bad as I know she is about to walk into work tomorrow and be very surprised (she has a very cruisy attitude). Ah well, tough love. Perhaps it's preparing me for parenthood!
I'm a senior manager. But at the end of the day, there's not some magic separation between staff and management - it's just the role we fulfill and what's expected of us, not who we are. I understand how the managers I have had over the years have felt now.
I have a newish employee who is very, very young. We deliberately wanted a junior, somebody who had the right skills and some basic experience, but who we could mold and shape. We also wanted some young energy into a company where we all work insanely hard and are passionate about what we do.
She is driving me insane. She is the truly cliche i-Gen. She plays with her iphone and texts her friends constantly. She tries to chat at length about personal issues with me when I'm in the middle of important tasks. She gets stuck on a task she's been given and instead of coming to ask me she just leaves it until I come to check in with her - which might be awhile if I'm busy. (Everytime she does come to see me she starts with "I'm so sorry to bother you..." so I think she genuinely thinks the right thing to do is wait). The thing is, she actually does a great job when she applies herself. There's certain tasks I've given her that she's gone ahead and done perfectly. She had picked up our complicated computer system fast. So I'm actually happy with her overall. She just needs to focus more and work a lot faster. She was great at first when I had heaps of training time with her, but now it's been a couple of months I have to focus on other very important aspects of my job and can't devote everyday to her.
The level of micromanagement required is driving me insane. But I still think she has potential. I just feel like a big ole meanie having to send stern emails or have serious talks about her commitment and focus. Argh.. :( Nobody wants to be that person! don't get me wrong, I'm doing it - I'm doing what's needed. I think it's fair to her to ensure she's redirected appropriately, the last thing I want is for her to be blindsided by any of this. I'm clear on expectations. And we have good communication, and so far she is actually responding well to feedback and working hard to improve. But despite it all, I'm fairly certain she tells her friends what a mean boss I am. Monday I'm in meetings so don't have time to supervise closely, so I've sent her an email with a fairly strict list of tasks she needs to do, and also reminded her that it is completely inappropriate to be playing with her phone etc when she still has work to finish. So I feel bad as I know she is about to walk into work tomorrow and be very surprised (she has a very cruisy attitude). Ah well, tough love. Perhaps it's preparing me for parenthood!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
911
Such an odd thing. Earlier today, I was watching and old movie that happened to remind me of 9/11. The movie was The Towering Inferno. Usually I find old movies fairly poor overall in terms of scripts and content, but this movie is deserving of it's Oscar nomination.
When I watch tv, I almost always end up googling. I can't help myself. Sometimes I have the tv on, my laptop on my knee, and am looking up other things on my iPhone at the same time. My mind is a constant train of thought, and being able to satisfy those thoughts with research is very enjoyable for me. So here is how my train of thought went:
Hmm, rescuing people from levels above the fire, interesting
At the twin towers, lots of people were trapped but there wasn't time to be rescued.
I don't remember who those people were - which company was on the *top* floor?
Hence, I googled "The World Trade Center". When a website for the WTC came up, my immediate thought was "Oh wow, they kept the site up as a tribute all of these years, how amazing!" Only to realise that no, it's a site advertising the "new" WTC and looking for tenants. So I went to Wikipedia instead. And read through the entire history of the WTC. And surprisingly, as I neared the end, I suddenly realised that I was crying.
I wasn't in the US at 9/11, nor were any of my loved ones taken from me. In fact, I have never personally been to the US (yet). I would never presume to understand what people have been through. Everybody's experience is to a varying degree, and so many people were impacted by that event.
That night is so vivid to me. My Dad was flying out to the US on a business trip, and he needed either my brother or I to drive him to the airport (we were both in high school and had both just got our licences). So instead of going to bed or watching tv, we sat up late around the table talking while waiting to leave. Suddenly he gets a phone call, leapt up, and running towards the living room told us what had happened. This was in between #1 and #2.... so we flicked on the tv and were watching when the second happened. I stayed up all night that night in front of the news.
When I watch tv, I almost always end up googling. I can't help myself. Sometimes I have the tv on, my laptop on my knee, and am looking up other things on my iPhone at the same time. My mind is a constant train of thought, and being able to satisfy those thoughts with research is very enjoyable for me. So here is how my train of thought went:
Hmm, rescuing people from levels above the fire, interesting
At the twin towers, lots of people were trapped but there wasn't time to be rescued.
I don't remember who those people were - which company was on the *top* floor?
Hence, I googled "The World Trade Center". When a website for the WTC came up, my immediate thought was "Oh wow, they kept the site up as a tribute all of these years, how amazing!" Only to realise that no, it's a site advertising the "new" WTC and looking for tenants. So I went to Wikipedia instead. And read through the entire history of the WTC. And surprisingly, as I neared the end, I suddenly realised that I was crying.
I wasn't in the US at 9/11, nor were any of my loved ones taken from me. In fact, I have never personally been to the US (yet). I would never presume to understand what people have been through. Everybody's experience is to a varying degree, and so many people were impacted by that event.
That night is so vivid to me. My Dad was flying out to the US on a business trip, and he needed either my brother or I to drive him to the airport (we were both in high school and had both just got our licences). So instead of going to bed or watching tv, we sat up late around the table talking while waiting to leave. Suddenly he gets a phone call, leapt up, and running towards the living room told us what had happened. This was in between #1 and #2.... so we flicked on the tv and were watching when the second happened. I stayed up all night that night in front of the news.
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