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Am I the only one who finds it weird that anyone expects a manager to do the same job as one of their underlings? I'm a supervisor, and I do the work plus organize people. Different role than manager.
My manager was promoted into her position. She helps out when we get slammed, but she's getting paid to do managerial tasks, not work hands on anymore. Honestly, my team finds it kind of annoying sometimes when she breezes into our office and "helps", but I think she misses it sometimes.
Am I the only one who finds it weird that anyone expects a manager to do the same job as one of their underlings? I'm a supervisor, and I do the work plus organize people. Different role than manager.
My manager was promoted into her position. She helps out when we get slammed, but she's getting paid to do managerial tasks, not work hands on anymore. Honestly, my team finds it kind of annoying sometimes when she breezes into our office and "helps", but I think she misses it sometimes.
I would not expect a manager to do the daily tasks of one of his/her subordinates. HOWEVER, I would fully expect that person to know how to and to be able to do those tasks if needed in an emergency. I haven't seen that any of my previous two managers have been able to do anything that we can do, nor could you even go to them for job-related questions. They simply throw their hands up and delegate to the rest of us.
I think the blame here is on those who promoted this guy to the manager position. They didn't fill the empty job. If I were the OP, I would go to that level and inquire when this position is going to be filled since there is no longer anyone to do those tasks.
I am the manager where I work. I don't do the same things those under me do. I am responsible to make sure they have what they need, when they need it to do their jobs. I do all the ordering, scheduling, expense reports for my department, deal with customers who have issues beyond what the staff is comfortable dealing with, tech support, inventory, hiring, quality control, planning, process development. When needed I will absolutely jump in as part of the team. I spend time making sure the staff knows how much I value them. I just had staff and their families to our home for a rib eye steak dinner complete with childcare so parents could eat undisturbed. This is something I try to do quarterly. Managers can be good and work hard - just want y'all to know that
Like I stated, its no secret why most kids come out of college and within a year "fast track" their way to management as soon as possible.
Organization structure these days, is a select few do ALL the work while management sits back, collects a big paycheck and does nothing and not br held accountable for anything. If management wasn't such a "cushy deal" this day in age, you wouldn't have so many people quickly wanting to join those ranks.
The guy cleaning the crappers or stocking shelves is held to a greater degree of accountability than any manager Ive seen these days
How many years of management experience do you have that you're leaning on to say this?
His reasoning = I'm a manager now, I need to manage which is delegating. I quote "I'm not suppose to do any of the individual contributor role tasks anymore so I'm passing it along"
Funny how the supervisor I have, was brought in as a supervisor. After 2.5 years he's started to learn the techs position so he can free them up for more critical work and answers the alarms when he can.
However, I'd agree that this manager is working the position right. You don't have a CEO help out in shipping (Even if that's where he trained first) he's got a huge plate now and has to deal with it all...Not just "That one area"
Delegation is good...when there are enough people in the team to do the work. If there is a shortage in staff, managers should also roll their sleeves up and do the work to share the load. In the end, if the results aren't in, the manager is ultimately held responsible. The employees will also be accountable.
I would not expect a manager to do the daily tasks of one of his/her subordinates. HOWEVER, I would fully expect that person to know how to and to be able to do those tasks if needed in an emergency. I haven't seen that any of my previous two managers have been able to do anything that we can do, nor could you even go to them for job-related questions. They simply throw their hands up and delegate to the rest of us.
Then you have a very narrow and unrealistic idea of what a manager is.
Let’s look at a municipal transit system. There will be bus drivers, diesel mechanics, cleaning staff, building maintenance people, accountants, purchasing, HR, and probably a couple of other work groups. Each group could conceivably have a manager, who probably knows many tasks of that group, but probably not all. Those work groups are inevitably grouped into divisions, say mechanics, maintenance and custodial, another for accounting, HR, and purchasing. No manager will know everything within the division.
Managers are not doing the same job as their workers. They need to know what their reports do, and more knowledge is generally better, but they do not need to know how to do each job. That simply isn’t possible.
Then you have a very narrow and unrealistic idea of what a manager is.
Let’s look at a municipal transit system. There will be bus drivers, diesel mechanics, cleaning staff, building maintenance people, accountants, purchasing, HR, and probably a couple of other work groups. Each group could conceivably have a manager, who probably knows many tasks of that group, but probably not all. Those work groups are inevitably grouped into divisions, say mechanics, maintenance and custodial, another for accounting, HR, and purchasing. No manager will know everything within the division.
Managers are not doing the same job as their workers. They need to know what their reports do, and more knowledge is generally better, but they do not need to know how to do each job. That simply isn’t possible.
I'm talking about a manager of a team, not a CEO level who is in charge of hundreds/thousands of employees. But nice attempt at snark, I like it!
I've been a manager and AM a manager, so I have a VERY realistic and wide view of what it takes to be a successful one. Knowing how to answer basic questions about your team, tasks and what the roles are below you are essential to being a well-rounded manager. Knowing how to train someone reporting to you is important too.
Then you have a very narrow and unrealistic idea of what a manager is.
Let’s look at a municipal transit system. There will be bus drivers, diesel mechanics, cleaning staff, building maintenance people, accountants, purchasing, HR, and probably a couple of other work groups. Each group could conceivably have a manager, who probably knows many tasks of that group, but probably not all. Those work groups are inevitably grouped into divisions, say mechanics, maintenance and custodial, another for accounting, HR, and purchasing. No manager will know everything within the division.
Managers are not doing the same job as their workers. They need to know what their reports do, and more knowledge is generally better, but they do not need to know how to do each job. That simply isn’t possible.
They must be willing to help, though. Let's say someone manages bus drivers, mechanics and cleaning staff. Let's say there's an accident on the job that requires overtime by the mechanics and cleaning staff. If that manager sits back and lets them work extra without offering to help because it's "not in a manager's job description" then they are a poor manager. They won't know how to do everything, but they need to have a functional knowledge of what the people directly under them do, and need to have a willingness to step in if needed.
Often a good manager stepping in is asking their team how they can help, what roadblocks they can get out of the way. We should never be the kind of manager who philosophically say they won't help with the tasks because it's not a manager's job.
+1 exactly how I feel. To me, management should accelerate hiring to backfill roles rather than just promoting first
What did the previous manager do? Many managers don't do "work" or they consult with their reports and offer advice but don't have their own projects since their job is now to manage. Usually that means a ton of meetings that eat up time. Anyway, you don't get to question your manager (much).
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