Managerial Oversight; Lack thereof

Let's talk about what it takes to manage well.

Well, we could talk about opening a Word document, walking to the printer, then realizing, halfway there, that you didn't click "print." We could talk about any of the three times I tried to do this already today.

But we won't. We will talk about managers. Also, you have to promise not to use words like "synergy." It's not a word. And it's stupid.

Oh, and if anyone says "outside the box" I'm going to bop them one in the nose.


I was hired to process numbers for mutual funds. In the interview it was made very clear that I would be trained to do just that. Training was promised - therefore, and perhaps unreasonably, training was expected.

I wasn't trained. Not in the slightest. I learned, my first day, how to log into the system, and how to book a trade. That's it. I have not been trained on anything since then. At all. Ever. No training. Zip.

Now. That is mainly the fault of Insolent Bob, my coworker, and senior employee. It fell to him to train "the new guy" (me). Bob is a horrible trainer. Awful. Worst-ever.

But, we're talking about managers. Bad ones.

A good manager would probably do the following:

Check in with the new employee every day for the first week/two weeks/month to ask what the new employee had learned that day, to ask if the new employee had any questions about what he had been shown, and answer those questions.

A badmanager, or lazy manager, would.... do nothing. He'd stay in his cubicle all day while the new employee was being non-trained, and then go home for the night without talking to the new employee - ever.

Much of the near-constant frustration I feel is a direct result of not knowing how to do my job, which is itself a direct result of not receiving the proper (or any) training.

Now. I am not one to sit back and be frustrated, if I can help it. So, when I realized my trainer was a moron, and insolent, and that my manager was not going to come to me to follow up, I tried appealing to him directly for help and training.

A good manager would have trained me, or assigned me to another trainer who wasn't insolent.

A bad manager would suck on his teeth (a la everybody's favorite manager Bill Lumberg) and say "Ooh, um, yeah. I, uh, don't really deal with this fund...on a... day-to-day...basis... So, um, I... yeah, you should just ask Bob... about that..."

W.T.F. mate. W.T.F.

After months of this a bad manager would critique the work I've been (not-)doing while offering no help or clarification. He would stop by my cubicle after four months and say "Did you do the expense billing for last month on any of your funds?" to which I would reply "No. I still haven't been shown expense billing. I know how to take the numbers from this spreadsheet and move them to that spreadsheet. and that's it."

To which he would respond with. "Ok. Well, those expenses have to get done by this afternoon."

Then. After six months. When the nightmare client comes in to talk about how we're (mis)handling their fund, a good manager would take five minutes the day before the meeting and ask his employees if there's anything in particular they think he should bring up at the meeting. He would also, at that time, provide an itinerary for the meeting, outline what he expects to happen, and describe the expected outcome.

A bad manager would send an email reminder when the clients show up in the lobby saying "Client meeting in two minutes"

During the meeting a good manager would raise his employees' concerns and defend those employees, rightfully or not, from the client's attacks.

A bad manager would start bickering with the client's second-in-command across the conference table about an email dispute the two of them had started two months ago. Why don't you guys just grow up? Behavior like this makes you look like kindergarteners who missed nap time.

After the client left, a good manager would do a quick review with his employees. The following day he would send out an email highlighting the important points covered in the client meeting and any steps that will be taken as a result.

After the client left, a bad manager would take off early, and the following day would act as though nothing had happened.

Which is exactly what happened.

-t


recommended download:
Three Doors Down, It's Not Me, Father's Son, Let Me Go, Landing In London

(or the entire "Seventeen Days" album)