Coping with promotion and managment

[wannars125]

I know I've been fairly quiet on here recently and that's mostly been due to work.

As some people on here may remember, nearly two years ago it looked like I could be facing redundancy and I wasn't in the good books with my company.

Fast forward 2 years and 18 months of a new manager and how things have changed. I'm now on very good terms with management and am being trained up to be a second in line to my manager. I've taken on many more responsibilities including managing the company's "out of hours" IT helpdesk.

The question is, I'm sure there are others on here that have gone through the transition to a management position, how did you cope with the increase in responsibility? I've been working as hard as I can and have been doing a good job (so my manager says) but I find myself worrying about what my colleagues are thinking and saying about the elevated responsibilities I now have.

In the short period I've been doing this, I've learned a lot and have found that some of my workmates aren't as trustworthy as I once thought and some seem to actively be trying to trip me up. I think I've been doing ok but don't want to create any enemies but it seems like that's the only route to go down with some.

Does anyone on here have any advice?

[Stu]

It's very hard to be in management and and good terms with the staff below you in the majority of cases it doesn't work

When I was in management I looked at it like this you go to work to do a job and earn money to live look after number one and sod anyone else. Other staff will soon stab you in the back too so treat them as if they are going to and cover your arse all the time

[Tango]

Firstly, congratulations.....that's a really good turn-around in that time......

I was Service Manager at a couple of companies......I gave up with the management thing in the end though. I can understand instrumentation and systems.....but sometimes people just confuse the hell out of me.....

I think if you want to be successful in management you need to develop a bit of a thick skin....not to say that you completely alienate yourself from your colleagues.....but not worry too much about what they may think or say about you. At the end of the day you carry the can if something goes wrong.....so you've got to be strong enough to make decisions and stick to them if you know they are right. But also listen to your staff as good ideas don't always come from the top.

Good Luck.....

[Rik398]

Going up to managment is difficult, especially when you have experianced what it is like to work below yourself.

My dad works at a fairly large water works company. Started out as a van drivers mate as a young guy, and eventually has worked his way up through various companies to be a project manager at may gurney (think thats how its spelt lol).

Now, obviously he is responsible for making orders for parts, and getting the guys to fit them properly. The point being, that when he was a lad, things were done a lot differently to how they are now. If he was strugelling to fit a pipe or something, they would work a solution around it, improvising with what they have. maybe using some pieces of rope if they didn't have the 'required' strapping from example. Now, people just moan to the manager with 'I haven't got the bits' and once they have said that, if you go down to site, its not as if they are doing anything else, we once witnessed the fact that they had all gone home at about 1pm, even though they timesheets report them leaving at 5.

It is difficult, but there is no changing it. You got to where you are now by hard work, so all you can really do is just to keep doing what you are doing. You would not have been given the extra work if it was decided that you couldn't do it. You have thr promotion, thats a good thing, and all you have to do is keep going in the way you are / were and everything will be cool.

Not that I have any personal managment work experiance as such so feel free to disregard what I am saying if you wish lol.

[Throttled]

I can only relate my experience which is I love the people who I manage and hate the people who manage me. They both know that and so I enjoy great relations with those I manage and the big bosses leave me alone. That works as the workers also hate senior management and see me as their protection from their excesses, detachedness and bullying.

The main thing is find your own style and do not be somethign you are not. And please avoid bully managment styles.

[littlecat]

a big part of being a successful manager of people is about respect... earn it rather than expect it, and give it where its due.

[Nogin]

I would say never ask someone to do something you are not prepared to do your self.

Management can be more money but also a step backwards, because you’ll find yourself doing the most basic of jobs and doing this and getting stuck in will gain you the respect of your staff.

I have a line manager who is totally unapproachable, lazy and could not give a shit, therefore none of us like or respect her.

[Bonniebird]

Yeah, it isn't always easy and a lot depends on the people you manage. My first 'senior' role was in a laboratory and I was only 24 and a lot of colleagues were considerably older. I made a few mistakes initially by throwing my weight (what there was of it)around mainly because I was embarrassed by the whole thing and soon learned that it was a terrible approach. I agree with most of the comments above it is about respecting your staff and basically allowing them to get on with their job, supporting them when they need it.

I'm in charge of a fantastic team of hard-working, highly competent professionals now. We aren't such a big company that I sit behind a desk so I do the job as well and, again, wouldn't expect anyone else to do what I wasn't prepared to myself. Some directives come from above but it is my job to explain them to the team and take constructive feedback the other way.

I appreciate that I am lucky and sometimes you may have to deal with a difficult situation and a professional team that enjoy what they are doing are a far cry from a workforce that aren't happy.

I think it is important to listen to people, be fair and calm and consitent with your approach. I was in a position once when we didn't take someone on after a probationary period. It was obvious almost from day one that we had made a mistake but it was essential that we gave training and support to give them a chance and explained what we were doing every step of th way. It was still extremely unpleasant and not something that I'd want to go through again!

I've also been in the situation where colleagues have tried to stab me in the back and, again, you need to be assertive, calm and never aggressive. Infact I try to be ultra-nice and calm to difficult people, they find it hard to deal with.

I can't pretend that I have never made mistakes and unfortunately, once you stick you head above the parapet, someone is likely to shoot at you.

At the end of the day, management is a bit of a double edged sword. Best of luck!

[wannars125]

Thanks for the replies all, some great advice that I'll definitely take on board.

Coming up from my current position means that I can do most jobs and will still want to get my hands dirty (this will still be a big part of my job) and generally I'm very lucky in the way that the rest of my team are very capable so don't need looking after much at all. It was just a couple of people on the team that got me thinking about what I was doing but I suppose you can't have any team that's completely perfect.

[tryme]

I've noticed since a member of our team became office manager everyone in the office has been taking little digs in the bkground saying this and that. Saying they don't manage well etc etc.

The thing is I think jealousy is a natural human thing ingrained right in the back of our human nature. Albeit some are more jealous that others. Its even worse when money is involved.

One thing I do honestly dislike is that our office manager is so shit scared of the "boss" they are so uncertain and never want to make solid decissions. This can rub off on the whole team and put a downer on staff especially when they need guidence. My office manager will often answer questions with a question like "what would we normally do" and I'm thinking well if I knew I wouldn't be asking!

Also you will need to understand its almost impossible to remain paly with your "old" staff mates/buddies because deep down they most likely will be thinking how come they got the promotion? How come they got the raise? Etc etc

[Remy]

I think it's quite hard to remain on the same terms with your old colleagues now you have the promotion, there is bound to be an element of resentment amongst some of them through no fault of your own. In my experience it's mostly been 'us and them' - some managers I've worked with have tried to be on the same level as the staff they manage and it usually ends up with a lack of respect. So long as you are fair and consistent people will respect you for that.

I remember one director I worked for had a very charming way with people, if he had to take issue with something he would always end the meeting with something he could praise you for, and never made people feel small or worthless. The other directors weren't so thoughtful, and weren't liked by much of the workforce!

[Throttled]

We were taught about the bad news bagette. Tell them they are lovely, tell them what they did was wrong and not acceptable, then finish off with telling them other work is still appreciated. I find it works very well.

[Guest philgale]

Management is easy, the higher up you go you just get the person below you to do the work.

so delegate it all out to the staff and f**k what they think your there to manage them, your there to do a job not be everyones friend.

[tryme]

@philgale...shame on you

[fredc]