Manager Sandwich: The Middle Manager's Survival Blog

 from www.tonywublog.com       Until recently, I honestly hadn't realized how much I have learned over the last 20 or so years.  In my current position as a department manager, I am now responsible not only for my actions but also the actions of the team.  It certainly is a departure from the days when I was a management associate (trainee) where I was told by another project engineer that my position with the company in the scheme of things was lower than whale sh*t.      The other day I called up the old co-worker that I worked with during that time as a trainee.  We laughed about the hours we spent filing drawings like clerks, the days we spent on top of a coke oven battery watching smoke (yes, I said watching smoke), and the months we spent working fourteen hour nights, seven days a week during the summers of 1993 and 1994 on blast furnace rebuilds.  We were young, stupid, always clowning ...

from ebonfire.wordpress.com  Recently, I accepted a position with a competitor.  The new position was a step-up in responsibility and pay from my previous employer.  Don't get excited, I am still middle management, just another bloody, sweaty rung higher.  My father would tell the joke, that management was like a tree full of monkeys;  if you look down all you see is smiling faces, when you look up, all you see are a**holes.  Not always 100% true, but true enough I suppose. I now have an opportunity to manage a larger group of co-workers that are comprised of both hourly and salaried employees.  This opportunity allows me an exposure to experiences that I wouldn't  have otherwise.  But there was something that I did four years ago that made it all possible.  My previous job, although not new in responsibility, was in a different facility than that which I had worked in before. Same company, similar job, but a whole dif...

from http://www.gw-bw.com/ I was speaking with a couple of friends of mine recently about some of our common trials and tribulations at work.  During these two conversations, the subject of ingratiating sycophants, more commonly known as suck-ups came up in the discussions.  It is interesting why this type of personality is so prevalent in just about every organization.  The brown-nosing yes-men (persons) can sprout up like dandelions, for some very significant reasons.  The behaviors of acting like a butt-smoocher, or enjoying the company of them like a court of fools, both reside with a lack of confidence and security.  Organizations in most environments are dynamic, with the levels of management experiencing frequent movements.  This flux is caused by positions opening, outdated positions closing, and people being transferred, promoted, or demoted.  If the organization you are in doesn't experience these changes, it is either ver...

1993 D4 Rebuild - Is that a beard? This past week I helped interview some candidates for a shift supervisor position.  Interestingly enough, all of the candidates would be first-time supervisors.  While reviewing the candidates in a meeting just a few days ago, I couldn't help thinking about my first supervisory experience.  An intertwined chain of events concluding with a whirl-wind last minute interview process landed me as one of the youngest general foremen in the company at 27.  Before I realized what was happening, I was supervising over 45 skilled millwrights with an average age of 44.  Many of these guys were old enough to be my father, two of them my grandfather, and I still couldn't grow a decent beard. Along with the 45 skilled millwrights were a day turn foreman and three planner foremen, all with 25+ years of experience to my 6.  I was very fortunate to have a strong mentor who helped guide me through a treacherous workplace minefield....

About seven years ago, I went to a club to see a Guns n’ Roses tribute band.   As we walked in through the front door and past the bouncer, we strolled through the Karaoke bar next to the main room.   Low and behold there was some poor sap up on stage singing “Sweet Child of Mine”.   Painful, is putting it lightly.   Karaoke is an example of a fun activity to get friends together or inhumane torture depending upon who is holding the microphone.   As we scurried into the main room, we were able to escape the screeching of a poorly executed falsetto.   The tribute band, on the other hand, was excellent.   The singer did a better job than Axel Rose himself ever could have done. Go figure, presentation is everything.   The difference between torture and pleasure is skill, experience, and training.   This rings even truer when it comes to supervisory communication.   As supervisors, we are required to communicate necessary operational changes...