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Should I just quit?
Derrick
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Sigh. Another, but yet worse, day at work.
Quick backstory- I've been with this company for a little over a year. By all accounts, I've done very well. I was offered a promotion to management and I took it.
Apparently this was a big mistake.
I work for a company that contracts out and so every site is in a different area. The new site that I'm managing is just terrible. Apparently the last manager left 3 months ago and things have gone to shit since. There is no guidebook to show me how the site should be run. Trying to place a simple purchase order is an exercise in which of these 3 or 4 order forms am I supposed to use, and what the fuck does that acronym mean anyway?
Not to get too specific, but there are just things like that everywhere, and everything is disorganized. The guys that knew the site as employees are leaving (one was supposed to work this week but apparently changed his mind). I have a massive stress headache and it feels like this is going to be a regular thing.
I just want my old job back, at this point. Does anyone have any tips about how to do that?
I feel like that's not a likely scenario and I should quit. I've only been in the new job for a week. I just feel like I don't have time to actually learn and sort things out with everyone constantly on me for this or that.
I don't know what to do. I'm scared of being unemployed again.
Quick backstory- I've been with this company for a little over a year. By all accounts, I've done very well. I was offered a promotion to management and I took it.
Apparently this was a big mistake.
I work for a company that contracts out and so every site is in a different area. The new site that I'm managing is just terrible. Apparently the last manager left 3 months ago and things have gone to shit since. There is no guidebook to show me how the site should be run. Trying to place a simple purchase order is an exercise in which of these 3 or 4 order forms am I supposed to use, and what the fuck does that acronym mean anyway?
Not to get too specific, but there are just things like that everywhere, and everything is disorganized. The guys that knew the site as employees are leaving (one was supposed to work this week but apparently changed his mind). I have a massive stress headache and it feels like this is going to be a regular thing.
I just want my old job back, at this point. Does anyone have any tips about how to do that?
I feel like that's not a likely scenario and I should quit. I've only been in the new job for a week. I just feel like I don't have time to actually learn and sort things out with everyone constantly on me for this or that.
I don't know what to do. I'm scared of being unemployed again.
Steam and CFN: Enexemander
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I vote for that one.
I've gotten way over my head before, working 80 hour weeks and failing to keep my head above water. I know the exact feeling. The only thing that made me feel better was when I put my foot down about getting help/guidance. Also, documenting the way things were screwed up when you got there A) covers your ass, and
a) cover your ass
b) serve as proof of why you need a personal assistant or office secretary (or help you see why it's manageable without one)
c) help you get a grip on wtf is supposed to be going on, and how you can make it start working properly.
Oh, and communicate!!!
And I recognize that this sucks right now, but really, you've only been there a week. You really haven't given the job a chance.
Sounds like the perfect opportunity to mold it to your standards. Do you get any performance-based bonuses?
If they've had no direct supervision for 3 months, I bet it's shit. That's what you're there to fix. Being a 'fixer' is always a good thing, in any industry.
It's only been a week, don't give up now! This is going to be really big challenge for you, but it will also stretch your abilities like you wouldn't believe. Stick with this for six months and see how you feel things look then.
The first thing to realize is that you could be a management guru, and it would still take you a significant chunk of time to put things right. Don't expect instant change. The biggest reason is that at such a disorganized site, the mess is really working against you. As you start out you're going to find yourself spending more time than you would like micro-managing and putting out fires. This is inevitable. But what you're looking to do is set up better and better systems and organization so that things manage themselves more and more, freeing you up to concentrate on oversight and efficiency.
I would start by making a prioritized list of what needs to get done. Next keep the entire list in mind, but choose a handful of complementary or related items to focus on. Now come in every day aware that you have those fires to put out, but use every other moment you can get to improve organization and set up helpful guidelines. Take decent notes to help yourself track things, and post the rules or procedures you implement with either something publicly visible like a white board, or if it's more apropriate concise memos to employees.
Consistancy is important, when you change something keep an eye on it, making sure it gets done properly. As time goes on you'll have to check back on that item less and less often, although everything should get checked occasionally.
Deciciveness is desireable as well. If you decide something should be done one way, but find something else would work better that's fine, you can change it. But if no decision is made and things are done every which way you'll never find out what works best. Don't be afraid of being wrong, the best aren't people that are never wrong, they're people that are willing to reassess and do whatever will work best going forward.
Do make your boss aware of what you think the state of things are now, and update him/her not infrequently, but be concise. He/she wants to know how things are going generally, not feel like they have to manage things for you.
Don't let the stress get to you! Be aware of your successes, and find a realistic metric for how you're doing. If things are improving, you're probably doing pretty good, so try to feel that way.
Good luck man.
--LeVar Burton
This sounds like something they would need a good manager to fix.
Do you know any?
This.
Break that shit down and rebuild it.
Grab $100 or an expense account and buy a pizza lunch for everyone and ask for any brainstorm ideas from them on how they would like to improve the workflow.
They know it better than you, and will most likely be able to tell you where the problem areas are. Plus, builds morale, most everyone loves a pizza, and a free lunch.
You are the boss now. Write the guidebook.
I agree with the others who say that this is the best chance you will ever have to prove yourself.
Remember you do not have to stay forever. If you manage to get the place back in its feet in a year you can leverage your achievements to get a better job.
So now instead of a stress headache my stomach is rolling around in knots with worry about how the other shoe is going to drop.
I mean I don't really understand what issue you're having other than it sucks because the management was shit before you. You can't change procedures and acronyms?
I don't know if contacting your boss was a smart move.
So long as no one stops you, make decisions and make that place work your way. Remember its eaiser to ask for forgiveness then permission.
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!
That doesn't sound like the best idea to me.
There must be some serious miscommunication going on here as far as expectations are concerned.I definitely wouldn't have written the boss after 5 days of challenges...
you may have shot yourself in the foot regarding future promotions.
This is what management does as far as I'm concerned. Makes policies, changes old ones, deals with shitty people and situations. Shit's gonna suck but hopefully the increase in pay make it worth it. When the clock strikes (hour of leave) turn that shit off and deal with it tomorrow.
My thoughts exactly.
As suggested, get some pizza and meet with your subordinates to figure out what needs to be fixed, then come up with a plan full of discrete tasks that need to be accomplished to fix things (i.e., "step one: hunt down the orcish tribe that has been kidnapping interns"). I think you'll be surprised just how cooperative your subordinates will be, since they've probably been adrift and without leadership for a while.
The next step is damage control with your boss. Once you have a concrete plan on how to fix things, get back in contact with him and lay out how you plan to move forward.
Rigorous Scholarship
Just call him back and apologize for hastily contacting him about the workload and type of work as you had assumed that the previous manager would've left things in a better situation than it is. Advise him on what your plan of action is to fix it (change bad policies!).
I think the ultimate issue is you're still tackling this position as if you were some grunt below management. Fuck that noise, you make the rules now. Get everyone together and get a pizza lunch going and see what you can teambuild your way into. Who knows, your group may be the best run in a few weeks from now.
It probably isn't as bad as it seems if you start tearing down the current policies and reinstating them to be more efficient and more clear. 3-4 forms? Fuck that bring it down to 1. Acronyms? Okay, just learn them!
I had the meeting with my boss. It was actually a long one (4 hours+). I went over everything that I felt just wasn't working (this took a long time). While he isn't intimately familiar with the site, he informed me about how things work from the company side of things so that I knew what my options were in dealing with the issues.
So yes, most of the procedures that I could divine from past management were needlessly complex and cost and time inefficient. He explained to me that since I've been there things have actually turned a 180 and everyone seems really pleased. Our customers have given great feedback and the things that were really upsetting me on the inventory side of things can be pretty easily ironed out now that I know exactly what expectations are and how our contract with this customer works in detail.
I feel kind of silly after this. I really needed to have that meeting, but I should have worded the request better. Luckily I was rather formal about it so I don't think I lost too much face. Yesterday was a terrible day, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So far as shooting myself in the foot for promotions, well that's possible but I'm not sure how much further I could rise in the company and still remain in my specialized area, so that's not too much of a concern for me at this point.
So far as why I was bothered in the first place, here's kind of a time-line:
Offer-> manage this site being managed by X temporarily right now. X will get you up to speed.
X is on vacation when I get there.
Whoops now X is asked to not come to the site (ever) so I cannot get properly trained.
Whoops the staff senior staff put in their 2 weeks and then didn't honor the 2 weeks.
Whoops the manager before X didn't actually finish the guidebook so good luck figuring things out.
And then I got a bunch of requests for things I didn't actually have much clue about, special quarterly information I didn't have the man-power to fulfill, as well as the things I thought were figured out got bounced back. It was just a mess.
So TLDR: I have egg all over my face but I think things are figured out.
PS- Thanks for the suggestions. I will definitely be working on getting feedback from everyone on updating practices and procedures.