Fran's Suncoast Video Story
Added 2024-09-23 17:25:31 +0000 UTCHave I been doing this a while? Let me tell ya a story....
Comments
Don't you love big companies? /s
John Crane
2024-09-24 02:17:18 +0000 UTCYup. When I was an engineer at a large tech company that relied on government contracts, there came a time when a project manager wasn't available for a relatively small follow-on "Spares & Documents" contract to a successful larger project I was a key contributor to. I was pressed into filling the need. No worries, as the project was expected to take only 6 months for a team of 5. I did not get to choose my team, and my project was soon staffed by the "rejects" of other departments and projects. Fortunately, the team rose to the occasion, and before long members of my team of "rejects" were being poached. Well, "offered new opportunities". None of which were accepted until after the project was completed. I loved their loyalty, but I also kept a list of the managers willing to try to disrupt my project to benefit theirs. That list was my shit-list. If the managers had come to me directly, I would have worked with them to at least try to share some hours, depending on the actual need and the desires of the engineer involved. But that they went past me and directly to my team enraged me. I was disappointed that my employer, who I respected, had such middle-managers. For defense, I rearranged our cube-farm to have its main entry right next to my desk, which also improved communication within the team. Along the way I ruffled some feathers among upper management of other departments, most notably Purchasing and Finance, who tried to overrule and/or delay my requests, seemingly only because I was a temporary project manager they thought they could push around. Fortunately, I had a "Get out of Jail Free" card in my back pocket that I had earned from a prior project, which allowed me to ask the most senior VP in the company to "mediate" the situations that developed. Though I was "counselled" on my tactics (literally, my lack of tact), I won every conflict when it came to results. The SVP also "counselled" those managers, after which we successfully worked together to avoid future issues. This brought me to wider attention among upper management. When it came time for me to find my next project, I was told that only management positions were available for me, starting with full-time attendance at a 3-month project management course. While that would undoubtedly be a fantastic offer to someone else, I saw it only as a refusal to let me return to being a full-time engineer after what I had previously been assured was only a 6-month detour! I felt I was being punished because I had stepped up to fill a need, and I was unable to convince upper management to change their minds. They seemed to think I was some kind of wunderkind who could turn charcoal into diamonds, and were convinced I could achieve much more as a technical manager than I ever could as an engineer (without an advanced degree - the company was stuffed with PhDs). I tried to explain that those 6 months were among the most stressful of my entire career, even including my military service, and I had no desire to repeat that experience ever again. Though I did get good results, I got no personal joy from it beyond seeing my team thrive. My greatest joy was being an engineer, getting deep into a flow state while solving technical problems, not looking enviously at the work being done by the engineers on my team. I left the company 3 months later, having exhausted all my options. Their top competitor hired me as the engineer I most wanted to be. The experience did give me some key insights into the roles and functions of management at multiple levels, and how to understand and support management for shared success (yes, I grew some tact). Which became invaluable when I later transitioned to being an independent consulting/contracting engineer (which came with its own problems). BTW, the only common factor I could identify among my team of "rejects" was some level of difficulty with spoken English, which became particularly evident in technical meetings and presentations. I simply minimized those aspects of the project, relying on email and documentation (they all had good written English), and making team meetings more social than technical. "Magically", by the end of the project their spoken English was less of a problem for each of them. I believe part of the issue was the stress and insecurity from dealing with the reactions of others, and an understandable fear of entering such situations. I believe minimizing that within our project made a huge difference.
BobC
2024-09-23 21:27:28 +0000 UTCI imagined it was backward falls, EST training, and drinking lots of the corporate koolaid.
Fran Blanche
2024-09-23 17:54:36 +0000 UTCYes the assistant manager position is a training position to be a manager. But at the same time though not everyone has the desire to be a manager. But also why did they care so much if you stayed assistant manager . But also theirs really very minimal difference between a manager and assistant manager anyway they’re almost the same. Also if the assistant manager position is training to be a manager then why did you need to go to this thing for 2 weeks. But were they gonna tell and show you that you didn’t already know.
B2023316
2024-09-23 17:40:56 +0000 UTC
