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Your first position as a manager is probably the scariest job you have ever been in, but there are some simple rules to follow and you will always be fine. My manager on the other hand has taught me a lot, and its not in the way you may think. All I have to do is the opposite to what he does now and I'd be a perfect manager!
constantly making the same mistakes...
When you get a new manager you forget that this person is only a human being and will probably make mistakes from time to time. But when you are human you learn from mistakes and take heed of what needs to be done next. Well that is what should happen... right? If you are constantly making the same mistakes and not learning what needs to be done next, you are pretty much failing at what you do in my opinion. So why does my manager keep on going and not rectifying his mistakes?
I keep asking myself this question time and time again. His ability seems to be raising more questions than answers and its becoming a concern. Here are a few of the things this manager has done in the last two months:
- Told blatant lies to his team and superiors
- Thinks he knows everything, but is proven wrong everyday, but when right likes to rub it in your face
- Keeps stamping "he is the manager of the team". This is getting tiresome now
- Does not lead from the front, which this team needs for the failing colleagues
- Didn't get to know his team
- Doesn't use the other managers in the business to his advantage
- Engages in arguments on the shop floor
- Stifles creativity and self promotion as well as aspirations
- Won't help his staff that have made mistakes
- Blame culture - doesn't take responsibility
- Respect - there is none for the experienced members of the team.
This list was originally nearly 17 points, but I think you get the drift. For so long good solid employees that keep the wheels of business turning are facing managers like this daily, and it bewilders me why senior management employee these people?
I have also experienced the following situations with his manager:
- He's in his 40s and has turned up drunk to work (including a drive to work). He's then spoken to clients slurring and finally been advised by the senior level to go home.
- Had conversations during business core times with clients about what movies he has watched.
- Disappeared for about an hour in the afternoon to play Nintendo on the toilet (he was caught yet still does it).
- He has told lies to senior managers and said the top employee is the trouble maker, and all he is doing is advising the best way to approach the team. Local advice I call it!
- This is my favourite one, he forgets everything. He then wonders why your leaving the office at 1pm for a meeting in London, or why your not in work at 8am... phoning you when your waking up in Spain on holiday with the family. How about forgetting that you need to be 100 miles away in 30 minutes for a senior management meeting!
The result has been that the team is leaving almost one a week now. They're going to other teams, promotions, other companies and the new manager hasn't even attempted to try and keep them. So in conclusion, if your finding it hard to manage people... do the opposite to the above!
By: Steal
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My boss passes personal information on to other work colleagues, then they all start slagging me off behind my back. Whispering!
I got blamed for something pretty trivial so I stuck up for myself. The person who's fault it really was was on holiday that day. So that evening one of the managers phoned her up to warn her before the next day. They basically said it was my fault. This person started on me as soon as she got into the office!
Also I asked to go on a course. My boss went behind my back by email and told my work colleagues. The next minute I am hearing she would be rubbish anyway and she is so competative, glad Im not like that!
I have been told not to wear jumpers so I have to freeze, comments about hair. My boss is a complete control freak and it has taken me 5 years to realise.
17/10/11 Sparky
I got blamed for something pretty trivial so I stuck up for myself. The person who's fault it really was was on holiday that day. So that evening one of the managers phoned her up to warn her before the next day. They basically said it was my fault. This person started on me as soon as she got into the office!
Also I asked to go on a course. My boss went behind my back by email and told my work colleagues. The next minute I am hearing she would be rubbish anyway and she is so competative, glad Im not like that!
I have been told not to wear jumpers so I have to freeze, comments about hair. My boss is a complete control freak and it has taken me 5 years to realise.
-5
Bad management is the cornerstone of british industry, its called being promoted to the highest level of incompetance. The person starts off in lower grades which they perform well in and are promoted upto the next level after they have mastered the one they are in. The last promotion is to the level they are useless at and therefore progress is halted, unfortunately as the idiot was promoted by another higher placed idiot who will not admit they made a mistake in promoting them you are now stuck with them, you can however limit the effect they have on you by leaving the company and working elsewhere not an easy thing to do but can be rewarding once achieved, especially if you have an exit interview the day you leave the company. Other avenues you can do is to make sure that the manager concerned suffers fully for their mistakes, they make a decision then ensure it is acted on and no-one limits the damage it does.
If they drink and drive then a call to the local community support officer about their habit will eventually lead to a "pull" and disqualification, not your fault if it happens they broke the law, keep record of everything and send e-mails so a date and timeline are established, and make sure their comands and decisions are acted upon so that they get the blame. Basically you have to ensure the idiot is not able to escape the consequences of their actions of lying and cheating. I am a manager of some 30 years and will have no hesitation of admitting i made a mistake in promoting someone, if i hire someone its for a temporary contract of 1 year and if they are good at the job thern its permanant if not then they are invited to leave, I keep an eye open for potential trouble especially someone who looks for a scapegoat everytime they make a cock-up, mistakes are inevitable but not learning from them is inexcusable. work with others to get this idiot fired it will bring about a better team to work with and give you a purpose and goal to be achieved.
17/07/11 Tinkerman
If they drink and drive then a call to the local community support officer about their habit will eventually lead to a "pull" and disqualification, not your fault if it happens they broke the law, keep record of everything and send e-mails so a date and timeline are established, and make sure their comands and decisions are acted upon so that they get the blame. Basically you have to ensure the idiot is not able to escape the consequences of their actions of lying and cheating. I am a manager of some 30 years and will have no hesitation of admitting i made a mistake in promoting someone, if i hire someone its for a temporary contract of 1 year and if they are good at the job thern its permanant if not then they are invited to leave, I keep an eye open for potential trouble especially someone who looks for a scapegoat everytime they make a cock-up, mistakes are inevitable but not learning from them is inexcusable. work with others to get this idiot fired it will bring about a better team to work with and give you a purpose and goal to be achieved.
12
In our organisation, the behaviour described by the OP of what his manager does, is the expected behaviour of a manager in the organization in which I work. Our managers are encouraged by senior managers to bully their staff, to lie and cheat their way to the top. Such managers have no real people skills. There is no open honesty in our firm about how the work ought to be done. There is no sense democracy in our firm, instead there is complete resentment. Come the end of the recession, this firm will lose all its staff, as it has lost all the necessary trust (fealty) between staff and management.
All managers are poor. They are selected not on their capability to run the business, but on their ability to grind their staff.
01/06/11 Sergeant Major Drill Masters
All managers are poor. They are selected not on their capability to run the business, but on their ability to grind their staff.
-8
The Boss, Yes, it also sounds to me like you have a trouble maker within your employment. Don't let these people undermind you're authority. Give these ratings an inch and they try to take a mile. Keep them below decks don't you know!
31/05/11 The Commander
-6
"I must have spent a good five minutes observing my pigeon and to be honest, I was deriving a small amount of pleasure from this."
31/05/11 The Boss
6
Jeeze, that sounds like you're talking about me, is that you Karen? See you in my office in 10 minutes...or maybe a bit more as I'm just finishing off this race on Mario Kart.
31/05/11 The Boss
-4
I have had some great managers and some Very, Very Bad ones. The good ones encouraged and used their staff to the best of their abilities. You end up doing more work but feel happier about it. I've stayed behind and worked extra for free because they made me feel I was doing something worthwhile.
The bad managers seem to feel that being a manager means working less and blaming others for their mistakes as a way of making themselves feel better. Others simply cannot do the job so hide behind bluster or hostility. The funny thing is, if they would simply ask for help, most of their team would be glad to back them up. After all, that's what working in a team is all about.
29/05/11 Hal's Had Enough
The bad managers seem to feel that being a manager means working less and blaming others for their mistakes as a way of making themselves feel better. Others simply cannot do the job so hide behind bluster or hostility. The funny thing is, if they would simply ask for help, most of their team would be glad to back them up. After all, that's what working in a team is all about.
-9
Whilst the following isn't applicable to all who enter management, it certainly seems to be the case for the majority of cases that I've seen. Its the observation of the 'transition stage' from being an 'ordinary' worker, so to speak, to entering into management. It involves the gradual withdrawal from previous activities; the 'distancing' from the usual 'gossip' and humour; the beginning of management speak; possibly the withdrawal from their Trade Union; the sycophantic, 'brown nosing' moves up a few gears; the decline in their own self-awareness as they become figures of ridicule, losing any respect that they previously had; their seeming increasing enthusiasm for all those elements of the company/job that everyone else knows makes little, if none whatsoever, difference to the primary activity of their company, other than justifying meaningless and expensive management roles. Such is the ascent of the sycophant to the heights of management - pitiful creatures who will slime their way through life, priding themself on their achievements, whilst really achieving very little, having 'sold their soul to the devil'.
19/05/11 miserablemoaninggit
4
Told blatant lies to his team and superiors
Far too many managers (at all levels) want "good news", so that is what they hear, regardless of the fact the proverbial ship is sinking
Thinks he knows everything, but is proven wrong everyday, but when right likes to rub it in your face
Of course he does, he is a manager...
Keeps stamping "he is the manager of the team". This is getting tiresome now
He obviously knows his deficencies, so tries to cover them up.
Does not lead from the front, which this team needs for the failing colleagues
It's safer leading from thr back.
Didn't get to know his team
Lazy
Doesn't use the other managers in the business to his advantage
Stupid
Engages in arguments on the shop floor
Lacks any management skills or common sense
Stifles creativity and self promotion as well as aspirations
Like I said, insecure
Won't help his staff that have made mistakes
Stupid
Blame culture - doesn't take responsibility
He obviously knows his deficencies, so tries to cover them up.
Respect - there is none for the experienced members of the team.
Stupid and impolite
19/05/11 Timelord
Far too many managers (at all levels) want "good news", so that is what they hear, regardless of the fact the proverbial ship is sinking
Thinks he knows everything, but is proven wrong everyday, but when right likes to rub it in your face
Of course he does, he is a manager...
Keeps stamping "he is the manager of the team". This is getting tiresome now
He obviously knows his deficencies, so tries to cover them up.
Does not lead from the front, which this team needs for the failing colleagues
It's safer leading from thr back.
Didn't get to know his team
Lazy
Doesn't use the other managers in the business to his advantage
Stupid
Engages in arguments on the shop floor
Lacks any management skills or common sense
Stifles creativity and self promotion as well as aspirations
Like I said, insecure
Won't help his staff that have made mistakes
Stupid
Blame culture - doesn't take responsibility
He obviously knows his deficencies, so tries to cover them up.
Respect - there is none for the experienced members of the team.
Stupid and impolite
-11
ok so you have an under performing manager. Not a lot new there. The problem is that twenty years ago he would be fired, moved aside, demoted or made redundant. Today our ridiculous employment law means that it is the responsibility of the company to train him and improve him. He cannot be fired or moved downwards to a role that suits his ability and personality. This is bad for everyone, himself, his staff and his company. Nobody really wants to do a job that he is not good at. I feel sirry for all concerned not least the man who was promoted beyond his ability and other than walking away with nothing i.e. resigning has no chance of escape. Strong employment laws can be a very bad thing!!
19/05/11 toots
-7
The best definition I've read of how the vipers' nests that are called big businesses work!
19/05/11 MikeP
-2
"Had conversations during business core times with clients about what movies he has watched."
I have chatted during business core time with a client about fishing (in which I have no interest) because the client loves it and I want the business.
19/05/11 charmbrights
I have chatted during business core time with a client about fishing (in which I have no interest) because the client loves it and I want the business.
-4
Being a good manager is about leading the team from the front, providing inspiration and mentoring others, and taking the full responsibility for their own and team members' mistakes. These managers are lucky if they make it to middle management. Then they get shipped out...by....
Great management. Those that get a seat on the Board, Being a great manager is about sycophantic brown nosing of senior management on the way up, plagiarising other team members' ideas, stabbing them in the back by passing their ideas off as their own, fiddling heir expenses and skiving off to play golf with strategically earmarked contacts with clout from within the firm who controls who gets promoted and who doesn't. Creating a stream of new problems and then being seen as the only person who can and does solve them; over using meaningless business jargon at meetings you've called to discuss the last meeting outputs - just to impress attendees with your insight and knowlege (ignorance, in other words), buck passing to the point that everyone who is anyone actually does believe that their own mistakes originally eminated from someone else when they didn't.
18/05/11 Grumpy xx
Great management. Those that get a seat on the Board, Being a great manager is about sycophantic brown nosing of senior management on the way up, plagiarising other team members' ideas, stabbing them in the back by passing their ideas off as their own, fiddling heir expenses and skiving off to play golf with strategically earmarked contacts with clout from within the firm who controls who gets promoted and who doesn't. Creating a stream of new problems and then being seen as the only person who can and does solve them; over using meaningless business jargon at meetings you've called to discuss the last meeting outputs - just to impress attendees with your insight and knowlege (ignorance, in other words), buck passing to the point that everyone who is anyone actually does believe that their own mistakes originally eminated from someone else when they didn't.
-11
No1
Where do you go?
Finances?
Stay at home in cold? Try not to
Go abroad?
How many days?
Which flight goes when?
Are you going with others?
A wedding invitation and they won't give you annual leave?.
Christmas break? I love it but I go to drink shows, etc
It's sad when rely on a few weeks for fun
Last year I visited and attended 30 new places in uk in my work had best of both worlds from Scotland to devon to Wales to Bristol etc.