micro management

Some of you salts older then me might have some ideas so might as well ask, any suggestions  or ideas on dealing with new higher ups who want to micro-manage everything  the tech department does when they have no experience in audio?  They have business experience which is how the got the management position in the first place but never worked in audio at all.

I know what you mean. Usually they are being micro managed by someone too. Putting unnecessary pressure on you is a reaction from someone doing it to them. Its a vicious cycle. Best way to handle it I've learned is do what I can, and not get stressed out over what I can't do. Ultimately you have the skills. Remember a good tech in L.A. is hard to find. Management is disposable.

Oh and another tactic is to explain at length why something is taking a long time. Make it a very boring and technical explanation and pretty soon they just won't ask. ;D

what sparked this topic is micro-management not understanding anything and that a customer complaining about repair costs  got the customer a brand new unit instead of his repaired unit which is performing to factory spec.  We(the repair department of me) told the customer ahead of time what was going on and what needed to be done , he is just pissed that he only used it a handful of times since the last repair which was well before my time.  Micro-management blames me for the customer getting a new unit that I cost the company X amount of dollars.  Yet I didn't make the call to replace his working unit with a brand new one. I get the customer does not understand the tech side of things, I also get micro-management does not either but it doesn't sit well to blame me for their decisions.

pucho812 said:

what sparked this topic is micro-management not understanding anything and that a customer complaining about repair costs  got the customer a brand new unit instead of his repaired unit which is performing to factory spec.  We(the repair department of me) told the customer ahead of time what was going on and what needed to be done , he is just pissed that he only used it a handful of times since the last repair which was well before my time.  Micro-management blames me for the customer getting a new unit that I cost the company X amount of dollars.  Yet I didn't make the call to replace his working unit with a brand new one. I get the customer does not understand the tech side of things, I also get micro-management does not either but it doesn't sit well to blame me for their decisions.

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Since I have managed engineering groups before (as well as other disciplines), my default position may be a little sympathetic to management, while there are crappy managers too (google "Peter Principle"). 

I used to give my workers a standard speech. Their job is to anticipate potential problems I will be hit with and try to relieve "my" stress. If I have a bad day, Sh__ rolls down hill and they have a bad day. Part two  of this speech is that my job is relieve my boss's stress, anticipate and prevent him/her from having bad days. My job is not to be the shock absorber in the middle to absorb upper management's anger, giving the workers a false sense of serenity that everything is coming up roses, but honestly communicate concerns from upper management to the workers who can make a difference. 

Most typical worker bees do not see beyond their simple job description, but it helps to try to look at the bigger picture and walk a few yards in your boss's shoes. Try to grok what and how your boss is being measured by his boss.  If the boss gets jacked up for having to send out a new replacement unit to a squeaky-wheel customer, try to convince him why it won't happen again, so he can make similar assurances to upper management and not be stressed out about the future and his workers performance in this one regard.  Maybe even make systemic changes to prevent that from happening again in the future.  If his boss doesn't jack him up in the future he won't feel compelled to jack you up. If he does not trust you to perform your job without creating more stress in the future, he will be inclined to second guess your work effort (micro-manage).

This is a little overly simplistic but the crux of the biscuit...  eliminate stress going up the chain of command, and less BS will flow back down hill.  It is most likely a failure to communicate work goals in both directions. OTOH he may just be a crappy boss in which case you can wait for him to self-destruct. He surely won't have the time to micro-manage all his worker's jobs too, so will fall down at his real day job from spending too much time on your jobs.

or not....

JR

PS: Customer service is whole nother sh__ pie. The customer is always right yadda yadda. I was lucky enough at peavey to have a professional service dept who were very good at their job. But after being nice to angry customers all day every day, they didn't have a shred of human kindness for anybody else working inside the company.  If I needed a favor from service, I wouldn't even try to ask for it by phone. I'd visit the head of the department in his office and talk about hunting or fishing for several minutes before making any request (may be a southern thing too). 

Another observation, sometime the angriest customer if you can turn them around, becomes the strongest advocate for your brand so it worth giving them the benefit of the doubt, but some customers just can't be saved.  8) Impossible to know until after you try.

John,

I understand what you are saying. I would agree  except for in this case.  If the unit is working to factory spec(with the correct audio precision measurements) after a simple retube, why should the customer get a brand new unit just because they are unhappy with having to pay for a retube. The unit was  out of warranty from the last service and well out of warranty from when purchased new.  I don't understand the logic and I also don't understand taking  it out on me when I didn't make the decision to  give him a new unit.  taking things out on the underlings  for decisions  they make is not a good way to have a healthy working relationship with the underlings.  It also makes it easy for underlings  to say I'm out and not deal with such things. When we work well it makes the company look good but if we spend our time looking over our shoulder because micro-management middle people  add the stress  and or blame,  it makes it hard for work to get done in any manner.

pucho812 said:

John,

I understand what you are saying. I would agree  except for in this case.  If the unit is working to factory spec(with the correct audio precision measurements) after a simple retube, why should the customer get a brand new unit just because they are unhappy with having to pay for a retube. The unit was  out of warranty from the last service and well out of warranty from when purchased new.  I don't understand the logic and I also don't understand taking  it out on me when I didn't make the decision to  give him a new unit.  taking things out on the underlings  for decisions  they make is not a good way to have a healthy working relationship with the underlings.  It also makes it easy for underlings  to say I'm out and not deal with such things. When we work well it makes the company look good but if we spend our time looking over our shoulder because micro-management middle people  add the stress  and or blame,  it makes it hard for work to get done in any manner.

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I would ask the micro-managing boss, what exactly he is trying to prevent from happening again? Is his version of this story the same as yours? Seriously a calm discussion might clear this up, or not. At least it could get you both on the same page.

I am probably too old and crusty to manage young people these days but that's OK because I don't want to.  ;D

JR

The story is the same except what the outcome should be. 

> I didn't make the decision to  give him a new unit.

Who did?

Is that person un-kickable?

And Peter Principle. Seriously.

I work in a large AV rental company after 10 years as a freelance tech. Also I have my little side business repairing a modding audio gear.

In the AV company we're a small branch office of the company, actually we started here with just three guys: The salesman-boss, the main tech (me) and a warehouse guy.

We were friends and did a great job together during the first two years, everyone helping everyone, organized but in a so nice mood.

Eventually we needed more people to do the job, so we added another three people, now we are 1 Office Director, 2 Project Managers (me and one colleague), a purchase manager, a warehouse manager and a logistics manager...

So, where I just called another company to get some sub hire equipment, closed the deal and told it to the warehouse guy to go and get it, now I have to ask my sales manager  to get some quotations, receive them via mail, analyze them and ask her to confirm one, with another mail. And then have all the communication with my provider through a non technical person, which leads to problems due to misunderstandings is lack of info.

Once I've got the deal closed, I have to mail the logistics manager with the delivery note and ask him to add it in his route, lastly I mail to the warehouse manager to let him know that equipment is coming to his kingdom and if for the love of the gods he could be able to remember to add it to the rest of the equipment for the show.

Of course, don't forget to ask your financial department  for a PO or no single € will get out of their accounts and you'll be fried by tons of not so friendly emails containing reprimands (both from your company or your provider) and links to adviced readings of company procedures, of course all that mails will finish with a smiley, just to confirm their not machines and have a little heart somewhere.

So, what took a five minute call to a partner and a small conversation in the warehouse turned in a nightmare of repetitive mails with people who doesn't give a f*ck about my daily job in Cc. Damn, yesterday i have to send two mails, have two calls and a real conversation to confirm the delivery of 5 lecterns... frustrated at least.

And that just for the equipment, now start with the crew....

Luckily my direct boss still gives me some freedom, but micromanagement and Peter's principle at it's best are my everyday thing, I feel chained.

And all that "confirm it by mail please" is just a way to get your *ss covered when shit happens, so actually nobody takes the responsibility when something fails.

Sorry, I have a hard week at the office and found the perfect place to take it out

pucho812 said:

The story is the same except what the outcome should be.

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This does not make much sense, if somebody else decided to comp the customers with a new unit (for no reason?).

I think I asked this before, who dealt with the customer, first, last, middle? Was that the part of the transaction where the ball was dropped? Was the decision to replace the unit with a new unit triggered by an impasse with the customer over the cost of out of warranty maintenance (re-tube).  Seems it would have been cheaper, easier to comp him for the tubes.

I still remain confused, it is a prerogative of management to make customers whole, even if just a high maintenance customer who doesn't deserve it, to get off the phone.  A rationalization to blame the troops for the cost incurred while not very fair is also not unexpected. (I once gave a customer his full money back on a kit, and he was still unhappy, go figure.)

I've asked this before too, how can you possibly prevent this from happening again? If you can't assure your boss that you will prevent this from ever happening again (because its out of your control), and if that is unsatisfactory with him (because he is irrational),  find a more realistic workplace. 

Good luck. 

JR

PRR said:

> I didn't make the decision to  give him a new unit.

Who did?

Is that person un-kickable?

And Peter Principle. Seriously.

Click to expand...

Micro-management decided to give him a new one.  Then made the argument it was my fault

  I had a boss (disco owner, experienced audio guy) who only would answer to your request upon really bad manners.

  To mention one, "boss, that Behringer comp closes the gate even if turned off" (it was on the PA  ???, we used the comp bypassed or the music would slam like crazy, funny behavior, I don't remember if it just worked as a gate, really ugly). Boss goes and re engages the thing. Every night the same, maybe for a month or so. Once we took him after finishing the night and start yelling at him, really bad mood both of us, next weekend the comp wasn't there, tech had it.

  I'm not saying you have to yell at every boss you have, but there are all kind of people being the bosses, you just have to find the point of each one. I have other who would let you do anything, till you ask for a tiny insight, when µManagment started. Once you pick the flow, don't ask him anything, just solve as far as you can and keep doing the next thing in this case, it's much easier.

JS

JohnRoberts said:

This does not make much sense, if somebody else decided to comp the customers with a new unit (for no reason?).

I think I asked this before, who dealt with the customer, first, last, middle? Was that the part of the transaction where the ball was dropped? Was the decision to replace the unit with a new unit triggered by an impasse with the customer over the cost of out of warranty maintenance (re-tube).  Seems it would have been cheaper, easier to comp him for the tubes.

I still remain confused, it is a prerogative of management to make customers whole, even if just a high maintenance customer who doesn't deserve it, to get off the phone.  A rationalization to blame the troops for the cost incurred while not very fair is also not unexpected. (I once gave a customer his full money back on a kit, and he was still unhappy, go figure.)

I've asked this before too, how can you possibly prevent this from happening again? If you can't assure your boss that you will prevent this from ever happening again (because its out of your control), and if that is unsatisfactory with him (because he is irrational),  find a more realistic workplace. 

Good luck. 

JR

Click to expand...

I agree John, it does not make much sense.  To answer your questions along side a rehash of some things, it's like this.

Original date of  manufacture on said unit was about 20 years ago based on serial number.
Unit came in for servicing since manufacture  3 times including the only time I serviced it.
two out of three times it needed new tubes.  Two out of three services records were before my time. One time out of those two I have no record as to what was done and that it just came in.
So the customer  was pissed we informed him that he needed new tubes and that his previous services were long out of warranty and the unit being around 20 years old was out of manufactures  warranty. Units get standard 1 year warranty when made, and 90 days warranty after each servicing.
The customer did not understand why he needed new tubes even though he got a thorough  explanation of what was going on,  what we were measuring  with the AP audio wise and every other service measurement we take as far as ripple, voltages, calibrations.  This is because the customer claimed " I only have used it a handful of time since the last time it was in here" To further complicate the issue the chief designer and president looked at the unit to spot check my work and told  me my work was perfect, The unit was like new.
Now even though the customer knew all of this, knew the costs and so forth, he still threw a fit at the retube bill.  We have had this before even though a head of time they know this with estimates and e-mail updates.  This is usually caused by the customer wanting it covered as warranty even when out of warranty.  Micro-management decided that since the unit in 20 years has been retubed  twice and in for servicing 3 times that the customer should not have to deal with this and we should give him a new one.  This does not sit well with me because micro-management knows nothing about audio at all or the nature of things with tubes in it. But it is their decision to do so and if they want to do that fine.  But to blame me and say it cost the company X amount of dollars does not sit well with me at all.  It was not my decision to  give the customer a new unit.  I followed protocol  and policy to the letter. The unit is performing to factory spec.  There is nothing I could have done here any differently to change the outcome other then give away free tubes and labor which I am sure micro-management would have said something about that too.

As far as how to change the outcome, I thought about that. As it currently stands we do many  contacts via e-mail  so the customer is aware of what is going on and what it is costing. There really is no surprises in the whole chain of e-mails. But at the end  we still have customers who complain about cost or what is going on or try to say warranty should cover things. I see it as  you can't please everyone all the time.  As audio becomes a I have money so I can own it vs knowing how to use it and take care of it, it's going to happen.  Micro-management comes from a complete different background then anything in audio, came from a large company, and has no real idea of what we do or why we do what we have to do.      About the only thing to change anything is have micro-management talking directly to the customers which micro-management does not want to do. 

Sorry to make you re-live that.

I have one more question (sorry almost exhausted). What fraction or percentage of your (his) total product responsibility is vacuum tube?  He doesn't seem to understand tubes very well, while I can't imagine replacing any 20 year old product (tube or solid state) with new, except maybe a craftsman wrench.  ;D

If it is only a small fraction of the business is tube, offer to educate him about differences specific to that one market segment. (This is a long shot for several reasons and I only offer it because I am an incurable optimist.)

Now for some advice, don't give your boss's boss any ultimatums that you are not willing to follow through on. I once told my boss I would not report to an empty suit marketing type, and when he called my bluff, I walked.  I do sleep pretty good at night, but I walked away from a fat paycheck years before I should have.

Hopefully your incompetent boss will be recognized for what he is by his boss and get gonged, or will magically learn what is what by osmosis. You might not want to invite him to read this forum... we'll just keep this secret between us.  8)

JR

John,

Our best seller uses a combo of tubes and class a discrete.  It's a 20 year old product. design.
Have to retube units is par for the course from time to time.

  I'm optimistic that in the end things will sort out and that just is just growing pains to  having to report to a new middle man who doesn't understand the workings of what goes on in audio and technical repairs.

I had a similar problem in my previous job. I was in a small software team and unfortunately upper management had zero experience of software projects. To make matters worse they thought it would be a good idea to improve team relations to have people from different teams (essentially the users of the software) manage the project. I think when you have this lack of understanding it can go two ways.... The good manager listens to his employees... They are highly educated and know what they are doing after all! The bad manager tries to disguise this lack of understanding through micro management. I have no idea what to do in such a situation... This is essentially what led to me leaving. You need a high up person that management trusts that you can speak freely with and who will be more understanding... Some one from a different area of the company or even higher up than the problem (s)?

pucho812 said:

John,

Our best seller uses a combo of tubes and class a discrete.  It's a 20 year old product. design.
Have to retube units is par for the course from time to time.

  I'm optimistic that in the end things will sort out and that just is just growing pains to  having to report to a new middle man who doesn't understand the workings of what goes on in audio and technical repairs.

Click to expand...

Maybe this is his process to learn the job?

Good Luck what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.


JR

problems were resolved for this time, in that blame was removed from me Monday after a brief meeting of the minds. Nothing like explaining to management everything and they listen.  ??? Still doesn't change the new unit being given away, but at least I am out of the hot seat for it. 

Yes this is perfect time to educate.  Being told it's a little disturbing that we have seen many service requests and wondering why we get them.  is a good start.    We have units out there that are some 20 years in age that come in for servicing.  We get units in for different things all the time from different ages of manufacturing.  We can't plan for what end users will do or not do.  I  think I need to start doing car maintenance analogies. "would you replace a car just because it needs new tires?"  or other examples like " would  you replace your car just because it needs an oil change?"

Life is too short to work for micromangers.  Fuck those guys.

There's a million jobs out there,  work for people you can respect.  My mindset for >25 years.  Works ok for me.

$.02