[monkeyman#1]

I have no words of wisdom to offer. I do however wish you the very best in your new posistion, and I have no doubt that you will be a great boss. I know that I for one would be happy to be a part of your crew. Good luck Frankatriot:

 

[John Markl]

Deja Vu all over again....

Seems we had a very similar thread several months ago.....and after consideration, the OP decided that his loyalty was to "the crew", and turned the management position down.....

 

[wolfstrike]

Do you have any advice on how to do this without all the guys hating you?
Or is that possible?
any suggestions on a smooth transition?

if you're in California you fire the whole crew, then hire people who only know you as the office supervisor

 

[supertek65]

John,
I was hoping you would post here as I respect your opinion and advice.
fish scale and all!
I will put this out for all to read.

in April 2011 on my way home i saw a fire or smoke on the side of the road.
looked over the edge and a semi was on its side burning in flames, I have had bad experiences with fire so i had 3 commercial fire extinguishers.
ran down the hill and tried to put the fire out.
the driver was pinned and screaming, he was burning to death in front of me.
I was standing in diesel on busy railroad tracks and small explosions were going off all over, the smoke was thick and HOT!
I tried to get them both out, the passengers feet completely melted away in his boots. the driver eventually quit screaming. some others came and we got the passenger out, I pulled him out by the bones that were his feet. I dream every night of the driver as he melted away in front of me!
My boss who has owned the company for 40 years and is a multi millionaire, the one the guys say he hates pipefitters! came to my house made me take an additional paid week off, paid for my mental health bills and told me he would pay for my wife and me to go on vacation anywhere!
He hugged me said some words of encouragement and said he would pray for me and the crash victims.

I will have absolutely no problems putting the company first!

I am not afraid of losing friends, I am afraid of being a poor leaader!

Frank

This will be where it gets interesting.

In March of '10, I hired a guy from another company to be my service manager. He had the same title at his previous employer. Over the next year, he brought over 5 more guys from that company.

It was a disaster. First, the service manager curried the other guys loyalty to HIM, not the company. Second, all the guys he brought over did their work the same way they did it at the last place, and essentially refused direction to upgrade to our current standards. Whenever we had a meeting to discuss issues, he'd go out in the shop the next morning, light up a smoke, pull up a bucket to sit on, and begin railing on to the guys that "John was on the warpath again"....and it became a matter of "his guys" all trying to undermine "my guys".

Then it got even more interesting. He had been cajoling me to hire an office gal that worked there as well. The one I had was leaving due to a pending divorce. So, I hired her. Best hire I ever made. But, in a bizarre fashion, he turned on her within weeks.

Why? because she worked in the office, and immediately showed loyalty to me and the company and how we wanted things done. She hired in mid-May....He walked out in mid-July (2011)......and the last tech he brought over left several weeks ago, so we're totally purged of that cancer.

3 of the 5 guys are back at that same old company, one is at a new start-up, and one is out of the trade.

To be successful in management in ANY company, you must understand that your loyalty must be to the company first. As management, it is your charge to implement the desires and objectives of the ownership/stockholders.

Going for "Miller Time" with the guys at 4:30, is no longer an option.

 

[supertek65]

thanks Monkeywrench!!!
you got that computer figured out now???????

I have no words of wisdom to offer. I do however wish you the very best in your new posistion, and I have no doubt that you will be a great boss. I know that I for one would be happy to be a part of your crew. Good luck Frankatriot:

 

[supertek65]

i cant even spell kwit!!!!!!!! see!!!!!!

Seems we had a very similar thread several months ago.....and after consideration, the OP decided that his loyalty was to "the crew", and turned the management position down.....

 

[supertek65]

not a bad idea!
we only have 13 guys!!!!! lol

if you're in California you fire the whole crew, then hire people who only know you as the office supervisor

 

[bigtime]

John,
I was hoping you would post here as I respect your opinion and advice.
fish scale and all!
I will put this out for all to read.

in April 2011 on my way home i saw a fire or smoke on the side of the road.
looked over the edge and a semi was on its side burning in flames, I have had bad experiences with fire so i had 3 commercial fire extinguishers.
ran down the hill and tried to put the fire out.
the driver was pinned and screaming, he was burning to death in front of me.
I was standing in diesel on busy railroad tracks and small explosions were going off all over, the smoke was thick and HOT!
I tried to get them both out, the passengers feet completely melted away in his boots. the driver eventually quit screaming. some others came and we got the passenger out, I pulled him out by the bones that were his feet. I dream every night of the driver as he melted away in front of me!
My boss who has owned the company for 40 years and is a multi millionaire, the one the guys say he hates pipefitters! came to my house made me take an additional paid week off, paid for my mental health bills and told me he would pay for my wife and me to go on vacation anywhere!
He hugged me said some words of encouragement and said he would pray for me and the crash victims.

I will have absolutely no problems putting the company first!

I am not afraid of losing friends, I am afraid of being a poor leaader!

Frank

A good supervisor is fair, consistent, technically competant, and does not run away from problems, but towards them. You dang sure got the last one. :cheers:

 

[supertek65]

thanks Big!!!!!!

I dont even know you and that choked me up a little!!!

Frank

A good supervisor is fair, consistent, technically competant, and does not run away from problems, but towards them. You dang sure got the last one. :cheers:

 

[knave]

I have no words of wisdom to offer. I do however wish you the very best in your new posistion, and I have no doubt that you will be a great boss. I know that I for one would be happy to be a part of your crew. Good luck Frankatriot:

DITTO!!!:cheers:

You gonna miss the chillers tho?

 

[supertek65]

thanks Evan!
I will still get to walk by a chiller every now and then! sad face

DITTO!!!:cheers:

You gonna miss the chillers tho?

 

[supertek65]

thanks to all you guys!!!!!!!!

 

[valdelocc]

Yeah, there was a time in my life when I decided to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, but then I had to ask myself, "Have I been offered this position?:grin2:

 

[Swiss78]

We just got a new service manager here at the company I am with. He has only been in the field for a few years but somehow made his way up the ladder. He is pretty knowledgable, but since he has become the service manager he knows everything. If you do something that is not the way he would do it, it is wrong, even it is right. I have been a service manager before and I always treated my guys as if I was still in the field. I was moved from tech to lead so they all knew what was expected, but I treated everyone fair, and didn't let the power get to my head.
Biggest advice is to not let the corporate big shot attitude get to your head. Remember that you used to ask the same questions, so don't get mad if they are now asked of you, or to you. And always remember there are things that you don't know and many different ways to things right.

 

[flange]

I can assure you, as someone who came from the field, that you will miss the work. Being a boss is much different than being a worker. You will quicly find answers to your questions you didnt even know you asked. Thnigs will come to light that make you now "understand". You will now understand why your stupid boss made the decision that you didnt agree with. you will understand why the sales guy sold the job the way he did, even though it wasnt exactly right. Just know that at some point in the very near future, your perspective will change, allowing you to "see" things you never did before. That day will be a defining moment for you. How you proceed from then on will determine if you sink or swim.

On a lighter note, I got the distinct pleasure of working today on a shutdown and had a blast. I actually got the pleasure of cutting chit with an oxyacetylene torch and turning wrenches, never once having to stop to answer a phone call in eleven hours. Its a ***** when the guys make plans to head to the damn polar bear plunge, and a last minute job comes up. Had three, needed a fourth, so I suited up. Ok, had enough for the year now I guess, lol.

 

[secorp]

How many here have made the switch from the field to the office?

Do you have any advice on how to do this without all the guys hating you?
Or is that possible?
any suggestions on a smooth transition?

Klove hit the nail the hardest, you no longer care they are no longer your friends. You still need to garner there respect but not with friendship. If they do not perform it is your job to find out why and correct.

That single thing is the hardest part of the job making the switch from one of the boys to leader. Lots of people fail at this aspect more than any other part of the job. also you will have a new kind of tired. head tired more emotional than physical. your phone will become your new best friend, A great phone should be your first best hire.

You will be an arse just part of being the boss, do not try to avoid it.

 

[supertek65]

this is good advice! thanks!

I am a perfectionist as many good mechanics are!

I hope to learn a way to curb this without lowering my standards?

We just got a new service manager here at the company I am with. He has only been in the field for a few years but somehow made his way up the ladder. He is pretty knowledgable, but since he has become the service manager he knows everything. If you do something that is not the way he would do it, it is wrong, even it is right. I have been a service manager before and I always treated my guys as if I was still in the field. I was moved from tech to lead so they all knew what was expected, but I treated everyone fair, and didn't let the power get to my head.
Biggest advice is to not let the corporate big shot attitude get to your head. Remember that you used to ask the same questions, so don't get mad if they are now asked of you, or to you. And always remember there are things that you don't know and many different ways to things right.

 

[supertek65]

thanks,

things are getting tight around here right now!

I see us losing accounts because we were too high.
losing work because we were a little high etc!

if they bid it lower, the guys will have to do it a little faster.

if they bid it higher, we do not get the work and guys will go home!!!!!!!!

I can assure you, as someone who came from the field, that you will miss the work. Being a boss is much different than being a worker. You will quicly find answers to your questions you didnt even know you asked. Thnigs will come to light that make you now "understand". You will now understand why your stupid boss made the decision that you didnt agree with. you will understand why the sales guy sold the job the way he did, even though it wasnt exactly right. Just know that at some point in the very near future, your perspective will change, allowing you to "see" things you never did before. That day will be a defining moment for you. How you proceed from then on will determine if you sink or swim.

On a lighter note, I got the distinct pleasure of working today on a shutdown and had a blast. I actually got the pleasure of cutting chit with an oxyacetylene torch and turning wrenches, never once having to stop to answer a phone call in eleven hours. Its a ***** when the guys make plans to head to the damn polar bear plunge, and a last minute job comes up. Had three, needed a fourth, so I suited up. Ok, had enough for the year now I guess, lol.

 

[supertek65]

I dont know?

looks like Flange has done a good job of keeping relationships?

or am I wrong?

are all the relationships over???????????????

Klove hit the nail the hardest, you no longer care they are no longer your friends. You still need to garner there respect but not with friendship. If they do not perform it is your job to find out why and correct.

That single thing is the hardest part of the job making the switch from one of the boys to leader. Lots of people fail at this aspect more than any other part of the job. also you will have a new kind of tired. head tired more emotional than physical. your phone will become your new best friend, A great phone should be your first best hire.

You will be an arse just part of being the boss, do not try to avoid it.

 

[klove]

I dont know?

looks like Flange has done a good job of keeping relationships?

or am I wrong?

are all the relationships over???????????????

I have very good relationships with the guys that work with/for me. Problem is that there's a bazillion different things that go into any given relationship and everyone is different. Or you can look at it as simply as I do - treat others the way you want to be treated.

I can't even begin to tell how much ground that one rule covers, because the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear it is to be nice and treat folks kindly and find a way to pay them what they're worth, even if they're not worth it, simply in hopes that they'll straighten up. And give folks chance after endless chance. These are parts and pieces to the puzzle. Something else to remember - and that you'll find out - is that even though others want you to treat them fairly, they're not willing to treat the company as they'd want to be treated. They want fair, but a lot of folks aren't willing to reciprocate. Why? Because all boss's/supervisors/owners/etc are out to screw them without question. Don't believe me? Go back and look at some of the latest threads that have been going on here.

The other side of that coin is when you figure out that it ain't always about money or just being a nice guy. Sometimes being fair to one person (or the rest of the crew) means doing something negative to someone else, like telling a man that he's either going to have to carry his load or drag up 'cause he's bringing the morale down for everyone when he doesn't shoulder his weight (for no good reason). In other words, pay me all you want - I don't tolerate it well when other folks are making good money to sluff off and it causes me to have to carry their share of the load, especially if he's the supervisors buddy.

Lot's of different perspectives to view things from, and you as the service manager/supervisor/boss/etc. are going to have to learn to play the instrument that you have, and they just ain't all the same. Some folks get a harp, and some get a kazoo. You have to make the most music with what you're given, or you get to try and build a harp if you're fortunate (like flange and myself).

Best advice I can give is to be consistent, reward effort, don't play favorites (everybody's going to know who the alpha dog is without it being flaunted), and don't be afraid or hesitant to confront your issues regardless of what/who they might be or how much you wish they'd just go away. The good guys will see these things and applaud them. Those are the ones you want on your side when it gets heavy. You now set the standard - set it high, yet attainable.