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Micromanaging service manager
Just got a new micromanaging God complex irrogant truck tracking opsessed service manager. 8 guys have walked since his invasion of a laid back profitable company. Some guys with 19 years. Was going to retire here but may be jumping ship. Owners don't seem to care as lone as money comes in. Any thoughts on how to deal with this management style. Cooling season is here jobs are out there , well cooling season never really goes away. Guess it could be worse my bro in the north still has a foot of snow on the roof.
What is this trade coming too. This guy doesn't ride me likes the others just debates me after a call with when I was in the field 20 years ago stories. My bro says I can come north and play with big oil boilers. Been here 10 years in the trade 15. Mostly commercial hvac controls and some mod con gas boilers and refrigeration. One year stint in residential.
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Company I worked for once had an owner/service manager like this. Had to call him when done a service call so he could talk to the customer instead of you, he banned anyone from talking to anyone that worked for any of the other local companies, he'd second guess everything we said and insert his own version of reality.
I have no time for such drama. I want to enjoy the trade.
I rolled and never looked back, and wound up in a much better position because of it.
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Originally Posted by
t2
Just got a new micromanaging God complex irrogant truck tracking opsessed service manager. 8 guys have walked since his invasion of a laid back profitable company. Some guys with 19 years. Was going to retire here but may be jumping ship. Owners don't seem to care as lone as money comes in. Any thoughts on how to deal with this management style. Cooling season is here jobs are out there , well cooling season never really goes away. Guess it could be worse my bro in the north still has a foot of snow on the roof.
What is this trade coming too. This guy doesn't ride me likes the others just debates me after a call with when I was in the field 20 years ago stories. My bro says I can come north and play with big oil boilers. Been here 10 years in the trade 15. Mostly commercial hvac controls and some mod con gas boilers and refrigeration. One year stint in residential.
There's not a whole lot you can do except wait for him to get fired or find another job.
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You could take him to lunch AND pay for it out of your own pocket (make sure this part is evident early in the conversation)...this goes a long way and people open up like this. I have done this several times and it works very well. You might just gain an insight as to why he is like this. Maybe this is a temporary thing or maybe he is trying to impress the boss or maybe it is his style and permanent. Either way, you have more info and can make a better decision.
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kinda hard to micro manage in commerical. shoot, i'm usuallly dispatching myself.
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Welcome to the changing HVAC world.
A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open.
The best part of going to work is coming back home at the end of the day.
Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
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My first manager was that way, stressed me out. Then I had another manager that was so laid back that he only called if there was a problem, only issue was if you needed something done, the first manager would get it done, the laid back one wouldn't.
I later went back to work for my first manager and was getting stressed out again, finally I just called him on it.
1. Am I not getting my work done?
"Well, no."
2. Is there customer's calling in upset/with problems I didn't resolve.
"No"
Then leave me alone and let me get my jobs done or call me when there is a problem.
Never had another issue with him again.
Now I had another manager that I tried the same tactic, but he backed off for a while and then it started up again. I finally told him if that's how I was going to be treated then he can find someone else to do the job and and take the company vehicle back.
Once that was done things were fine, but I will admit a few times I had to remind him he was starting to micro-manage again and he backed off. Old habits are hard to break.
Had another in between that I tried everything with, but he was just about the bottom line (short term) and taking credit for resolving all issues, even if he wasn't involved one bit, short of being told what happened after the fact...Me to my boss - 'Customer and I ran into an issue, but we went through everything and got it worked out" My boss to owner repeating the same story only saying he worked it out, not me, not even we....I tried talking to the owner about it numerous times but he wouldn't listen. I finally left that place, tried to leave on good terms, moved out of the area and said I was leaving due to a really good job offer I couldn't refuse. Partial truth, job offer was better, not much better, but I was just done with being under that manager...
"How it can be considered "Open" is beyond me. Calling it "voyeur-ed" would be more accurate." pka LeroyMac, SkyIsBlue, fka Freddy-B, Mongo, IndyBlue
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This is being done with the owners blessing. He/she doesn't want to be the bad guy. Tracking is normal now, if it isn't being done it probably soon will be wherever you go. Sometimes these things settle down and you can be better off because you stuck it out. Sometimes when enough people go you can get a raise out of it. By sticking it out this long it shows you are not a hothead reactionary so when you do complain after X amount of people leave you will have better standing. I have seen it before more than once. Good luck.
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Become the guy's BEST friend. Learn about what he likes, doesn't like, and most importantly find out what he's afraid of. Once you know your adversary you have leverage. Once you have leverage you can MAKE him back off.
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Originally Posted by
James Colver
Become the guy's BEST friend. Learn about what he likes, doesn't like, and most importantly find out what he's afraid of. Once you know your adversary you have leverage. Once you have leverage you can MAKE him back off. But it's more fun to stab him in the back.
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While I'm certainly not a fan of micro managers, until you've had an opportunity to manage a service department you really can't understand why most contractors have installed GPS systems on their service vehicles.
In addition to allowing dispatch to view where vehicles are located for the purpose of dispatching more efficiently, it allows them to verify technicians are where they claim to be. You'd be amazed to know how many instances occur where customers are being charged for work when the technician is nowhere near the jobsite.
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Originally Posted by
bunny
...You'd be amazed to know how many instances occur where customers are being charged for work when the technician is nowhere near the jobsite.
I have heard a couple of stories about that. We got a call about one of our guys was dead in his work van in this farmers field. Farmer called the cops. Turns out the tech was at the casinos all night and sleeping it off during the day and charging his time to different jobs. I guess this had been going on for a few months at least.
Another tech brought in this HUGE plumbing and boiler job. He was going to be on it for a few months. The bills were coming in for all kinds of stuff. 1 day the boss goes to the site and there isn't anything there...the tech was remodeling houses on the side and our office was buying his parts and paying him to boot!
Another techs personal life went in the dumpster. Started living in the company van and buying groceries and paying his bar tab with the company card. Great tech too. Nobody knew what was going on until he got busted drunk driving in the company van.
I don't like the GPS tracking but I understand it. If the company starts calling me on it when I stop and get a gallon of milk on the way home, then I will get out the side cutters.
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I worked for a company that add gps trackers to the trucks. They would automatically send a email to your boss if you went over 70 MPH for over 3 seconds. Three speed violations and you lose your quarterly bonus. The bonus where 10-20% of your pay needless to say the trucks starting having all kinds of crazy electrical problems that disable the trackers and other things.
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You don't need GPS in the vehicles anymore it can all be done with the company supplied cell phone. I'm a pretty easy to get along with boss /owner. If someone needed time off during the day to get a personal matter taken care of, I'd let them. But if the job needed to be done that day they better not ask for 2 hours over time because I let them come in 3 hours late that morning. Last time they get that favor
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Three speeding tickets in a year will lose your license and your bonus check . Never mind the surcharge or points against the company"s policy . I wish we had gps in our trucks . It keep everyone honest .
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Originally Posted by
Gp71
Three speeding tickets in a year will lose your license and your bonus check . Never mind the surcharge or points against the company"s policy . I wish we had gps in our trucks . It keep everyone honest . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
He didn't say 3 speeding tickets, he said 3 violations of the GPS 70 MPH limit
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Originally Posted by
Answer-Man
You don't need GPS in the vehicles anymore it can all be done with the company supplied cell phone.
That can become a slippery slope. If an employees cell phone is inadvertently tracked when they are not working (for example when they have a doctors appt. and the owner or manager forgot or if one manager gave permission to be off and another manager wasn't aware), there could be invasion of privacy issues.
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Tracking, company owned phones, laptops, vehicles, etc ... is not illegal or an invasion of privacy. Asking what you went to the Dr. for or what the Dr. said is. Just a little bit of a different thread and I am not a conspiracy theorist but, you may be surprised how many times per day you are tracked in some form or fashion. If you ever have a chance to talk to someone who does real background checks ask them how many things that are free and open to the public to track a persons activities. Here's an example that really got my attention. I did a internet search on my company network to find an obsolete induction fan assembly. Two days later in my private email system up pops an advertisement for the same induction fan. That was not a coincidence and do you really think all those cameras along the streets and highways are just for watching the weather. My theory is: "come on", you will get pretty bored and fall asleep pretty fast following me around!
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Originally Posted by
Answer-Man
Tracking, company owned phones, laptops, vehicles, etc ... is not illegal or an invasion of privacy. Asking what you went to the Dr. for or what the Dr. said is. Just a little bit of a different thread and I am not a conspiracy theorist but, you may be surprised how many times per day you are tracked in some form or fashion. If you ever have a chance to talk to someone who does real background checks ask them how many things that are free and open to the public to track a persons activities. Here's an example that really got my attention. I did a internet search on my company network to find an obsolete induction fan assembly. Two days later in my private email system up pops an advertisement for the same induction fan. That was not a coincidence and do you really think all those cameras along the streets and highways are just for watching the weather. My theory is: "come on", you will get pretty bored and fall asleep pretty fast following me around!
when you look at a part on homedpot site it will pop up everywhere you go after that. it freaked me out for a while until I concluded it wasn't just me. then I took my tin foil hat off and all was well again, until I got one of those "smart meters".
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If it is a work phone, then there is no invasion of privacy. That has already been tested in court. Same with your emails and anything you do on a work computer; there is no expectation of privacy when you are using someone else's property.
Originally Posted by
R123
That can become a slippery slope. If an employees cell phone is inadvertently tracked when they are not working (for example when they have a doctors appt. and the owner or manager forgot or if one manager gave permission to be off and another manager wasn't aware), there could be invasion of privacy issues.