Category: management

The word of the day is ‘shitshow’

Have you ever had so much going on in your life and mind that you can’t keep it all straight? It just becomes so overwhelming sometimes. Between the nightmare of an election oddly bothering me, making our way through a pandemic, my eldest child constantly and continuously pushing me to the limits, an ineffective and… Continue reading The word of the day is ‘shitshow’

So many thoughts running through my head

These past few months have solidified my need to restart my regular journaling.  I really need to start tracking some of my daily tasks, pending and processing duties, expectations, conversations, and anything else that can be quantified as CYA.  I’m still not sure what the hell is going on, but my disappointment and frustration with… Continue reading So many thoughts running through my head

What am I worth?

Apparently, at the moment, not much.  Or at least that’s how I feel.  What. A. Day. Hell.  What a week.   I can’t think of the last time I felt so betrayed … and weakened.  A person can only be strong for so long and then something has to give.  Right now, that’s where I am… Continue reading What am I worth?

Developing and refining skills

This has been an interesting week spent in high level training. Slowly but surely, someone is trying to turn a group of us into skilled taxonomy and records management gurus.  We’ve had the pleasure of witnessing Jesse Wilkins (aaim.org) attempt to teach us the basics of taxonomy, records management, document storage and categorization, and several… Continue reading Developing and refining skills

Published
Categorized as management

So, after a ridiculous amount of back and forth, it appears that the decision has been made that I am to sit down with my wayward probationer and clinically (i.e., coldly) discuss my expectations, his efficiencies, and his deficiencies. In other words, I must give him a second chance. Of course, I already have my suspicions as to how that meeting will go: he thinks he’s succeeding so this little meeting/evaluation will be a completely left-field ball that he’s not expecting. It’ll light a fire under him for a bit, but with his cavalier attitude, I foresee him quickly returning to the bad habits that brought us to the crux.

 

On the upside, I’ve hired two new staff and they start on Monday. I am curious as to how he’ll respond to having two new teammates, both female, as that appears to be part of the problem. He doesn’t seem to have any difficulty taking direction from men; sorry, but I do not plan on changing genders anytime soon.

I was informed yesterday that one member of my team is not a team player. That he picks and chooses his tasks, doesn’t offer assistance to his teammates unless it’s in his best interest, and has difficulty both staying on task and managing multiple priorities or tasks at once. Since my team is so understaffed—and I’m looking at the possible loss of at least one more team member—I need to have all hands on deck to avoid what could be a very real problem. One in which things fall through the cracks or get left undone simply because there isn’t anyone to do it, and when you’re dealing with compliance situations this is a problem that I really don’t need. For the moment, I’ve instructed his closest teammates to draw up a go-to list outlining the different tasks that are performed by the group, who holds the primary responsibility for completion, and who is secondary. Once I have this list, I can better delegate and/or rotate work assignments so that everyone is better focused and we can maintain our “we can get it done” reputation.

 

This is exactly the type of situation that I fear when it comes to management, but I’ll figure it out … even if I have to *gasp* ask for help.

 

On the upside, I’ll be holding interviews next week to (finally) fill my position, which I vacated 7 months ago.  I’m a little apprehensive about conducting six interviews in one day, but I shall persevere.

Balance is key

I’ve been busier than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  It’s been a bit difficult trying to balance all of my scales.  Libra only has two weighing trays, but my life feels a little bit like a three or more tray scale, which clearly does not exist—I would have used a… Continue reading Balance is key

I think I can, I think I can

Facing Everyday Challenges Here I am now, having just completed my second week in management, and I’ve discovered a few things that are … unexpected.  For example, as an organization, we make a great deal of effort to ensure that new employees complete a full day orientation, which is followed up by a day-two orientation… Continue reading I think I can, I think I can