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Sounds to me the group is just not adapting to change well, it's been one week. Makes me wonder if they are just trying to go against you because someone else wanted the job you got.
The group has been through a lot of transition before me, and a previous manager who was a micro manager. My boss did tell me I wasn't their first choice. So in trying to get me to motivate them, he's unmotivated me. He essentially said I need to win them over. Great.
Good luck man, I think if you just present a good attitude you'll win them over time. If he comes to talk to you again I'd just say "I'm working on it, these things don't happen overnight."
The detective act may be coming off as inquisitorial. I think most people who've been in the workforce for any significant length of time have experienced a new boss rolling in and making a bunch of judgements and changes right off the bat. Tends to irritate employees, and when one gets a new supervisor, a bit of defensiveness about the prospect of this phenomenon can be understandable, although certainly frustrating for the new supervisor.
Getting people comfortable with you and showing them that you are competent and reliable is a necessary precursor to getting them on board with any improvements or reforms you want to make, and employees who are on board will be much more productive and easy to work with in the long run. Some time investment in this now, even at the expense of moving ahead with your plan, can save a lot of time later. That doesn't mean stupid games, it means behaving in a manner that shows you are fair and straightforward, that you're there to help, not to hassle, that you understand the task at hand, and that you are open to honest feedback.
A new gung ho boss...yep, you better chill a bit. If you want this job long term, year one, check things out, make no radical changes. Year two, identify the problems and how to fix them. Year three, review progress from last year, discuss with boss goals for year three.
The group has been through a lot of transition before me, and a previous manager who was a micro manager. My boss did tell me I wasn't their first choice. So in trying to get me to motivate them, he's unmotivated me. He essentially said I need to win them over. Great.
So... he didn't pick the best way to motivate you, but that doesn't mean his point isn't valid. When you enter any new team, whether the leader of it or not, you need to have an easing-in period. Don't jump right on board and start rocking the boat. In my current job, I LOVE my boss. She's been on board for 4 years now, and her predecessor was also a micro manager who made all the employees very unhappy. Knowing that is important for several reasons: you need to understand that they have heightened sensitivity to potential "bad bosses" and you have to meet them where they are. It's not your fault about the situation that was in place before, but it's not theirs either. It is what it is and you have to deal with that reality.
Do you know what our awesome boss (that everyone loves, btw) did? For the first few months, she didn't change anything she didn't have to. She eased up a few painful restrictions the previous person had in place that got some goodwill going, and so then once we could see she wasn't evil, and started trusting her, when she started asking us to change things, people were willing to cooperate. You DO need to win them over.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eliteservices
Even if I was a horrible boss, 5 days is not enough time to do THAT much damage. I'm just at a loss. And I myself feel demotivated that he went to each on my team to get a read on me. It sets the stage for them going above me in actual times of difficulty.
It sounds like whatever you did, you came on too strong and freaked your team out. I'm sure that's not what you meant to do, but again you have to deal with where these people are. And you don't know that he went to them. It may very well be that they came to HIM and after hearing multiple complaints about you, he decided you needed to be brought in for a quick chance to touch base.
I would back off a little and build some goodwill. People resist change and are naturally nervous around new bosses... especially people who are scarred by old bosses. Take time to build some goodwill and implement change more gradually.
A good question even for the OP since he/she is trying to build "trust."
Exactly what should employees trust their managers and co-workers for? They only have a work relationship. They aren't personal friends.
You can trust coworkers to do the right thing, to be honest, to assist one another when necessary, to provide correct info, to follow through on promises, to provide traing, career advancement and advocacy.
Some people won't meet this standard of course, but that is what building trust is about. Showing that you do meet this standard.
When faced with a messy team, changes and trust go hand in hand. Find something that everybody agrees need to be addressed and make that your first task. Show them that you can listen to them and have the power and ability to make positive changes.
A new gung ho boss...yep, you better chill a bit. If you want this job long term, year one, check things out, make no radical changes. Year two, identify the problems and how to fix them. Year three, review progress from last year, discuss with boss goals for year three.
You don't do it the first year...
I completely disagree. The first year is absolutely the best time to make changes. If things remain status quo for a year you become part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Get feedback from your team members on what they need help with most and focus on getting a series of small "wins" to help your team.
They need to know that you are here to help them and that you can do the things you say you are going to do. Then focus on boiling the ocean, lol.
This.
Asking for feedback is great, but the real meat of the equation is acting upon it. When they see you are dedicated to improving the work environment, they'll jump in and give that energy back.
I agree with everything you said, you have to build a relationship and a trust with your team to get them to make the changes that you are wanting them to make, if you come in and institute a bunch of changes you will only build resentment from your staff.
I must say many of the posts in this thread are terrible, the fact that so many distrust everybody in the workplace including coworkers and managers is not a good sign for the corporate world. I do not know how anybody can spend their day with a bunch of people they do not trust at all.
I haven't read all the responses yet, but when I was a manager, I was younger than many of the people that I was supervising.
I didn't look at my role as an "us" and "them" like many people do. (Not saying you are doing that, just making a statement on what I have noticed.)
The office that I was inheriting had just gone through a lot of issues with a group of people that left and took many staff members with them to the next place they were working at. The team that was left was upset, frustrated, and nervous about the future of the department.
When I came in, I realized this, and the first thing I did was to schedule a private meeting with each person separately. I wanted to know their take on what happened, what they wanted to see different in the office, and how they felt that could happen. I gathered all the ideas, and we had team meetings each week to work on things that would be different based on many of the suggestions.
It worked. It took about a year to repair the feelings of the people that were left when I came in, but we ended up being an amazing team that everyone felt a part of.
I hope my story helped. :-)
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