Are You an Obedient Technician? Part II
Do you make waves at work? I’m not talking about whining, morale-depleting, soul-sucking technicians who hate being a technician. Or the type of technician who complains without trying to make things better. I’m talking about:
- Dave, we should do this
- Dave, I don’t think you’re on the right track
- Dave, let me try this
- Dave, I gotta stay here until I fix it
- Dave, you gotta get me in more classes
- Dave, we need more training
- Dave, we’re sick and tired of pizza
I love the technician who is making waves like these! Hands down, working with technicians who are making the right kind of waves, is more work – a lot more work. But the rewards are so worth it.
As a technician, you know when you are being a pain in the behind. The manager who recognizes when your being a pain is all about trying to improve and make things better, is the manager you want to keep.
Are You an Obedient Technician? Part I
Does your manager want you to fit in? Fit in as in, “do what you’re told and don’t make waves.” While most manager might not necessarily be so brash, this mentality is still often there, running under the visible surface.
As a manager, my one of my greatest obstacles over the years was getting techs to adhere to a baseline set of policies and procedures. While one could question my ability to assemble a quality team, almost all managers deal with this. For the record, I am not a big believer in too many policies and procedures. Some important ones are techs arriving at work on time, completed paperwork turned in on a timely basis, clean trucks, wearing clean and proper uniforms, proper care and handling of company tools and documentation of additional work to name a few.
When managers’ time becomes occupied with policing adherence, it takes time away from both business and employee development. I would much rather spend time helping a coworker with career development than I would making sure his truck is clean or chasing after him to clean it.
You are working for a decent manager and with a great team if your manager is not spending too much time on making sure the policies and procedures are being followed (as long as they are being followed). Feel good in knowing that you and your coworkers are doing a good job. At this point your manager should be totally involved and immersed in business and personnel development…unless you work for a large corporation that has their managers heading down too many rabbit trails, chasing too many rabbit tails…but we won’t go there right now.
In Part II I’ll talk about making waves…
Consumer Trends
Do you suppose the owner of your company or its managers, follow consumer trends? Most are so busy trying to obtain business and keep you busy they do not have time. Others might say, “we deal in the trades, consumer trends don’t apply to us.” I am going to link out to a site that follows trends. They send out an e-mail newsletter once per month that contains information on trends. It’s a quick read. As a technician, you would like to work for a company that has its eye on not only what’s going on today, but where it could go.
The company provides four ways to apply these consumer trends. While the words are directed to your company’s owner, as a technician, its good to understand directions that they could be taking.
- Influence or shape your company’s vision.
- Inspire you to come up with a new business concept, an entirely new venture, a new brand.
- Add a new product, service or experience for a certain customer segment.
- Speak the language of those consumers already living a trend.
Perhaps the greatest benefit to your owner from watching and trying to apply trends is that the practice will keep his mind open to possibility.
Go here to sign up for the free monthly trend briefings.
Comanche Marketing: Self Image
Did you ever look into a mirror and think the guy looking back was your self-image? Or did you ever look into a mirror and imagine the guy looking back was the guy who you wanted to be? Did you know that how or what you think about yourself can influence your performance?
Matt Michel, author of Comanche Marketing and CEO of the Service Roundtable, pens an article titled “Creating Positive Imprints on the Self-Image.” Matt tells a story about how Lanny Bassham, an Olympic athlete created positive imprints on his self-image and went from a silver to gold medal performance.
We’ve spoken quite a bit here about how important our physical image is. Matt provides a different perspective on image, one which is every bit as important. Place yourself into Matt’s story. Think about the action and process you will take to produce an enhancement in your own game, the game of the professional technician.
Lenny’s company is called Mental Management Systems. Check it out when you have a chance.
Also, keep this story in the back of your mind. In the future I am going to write about ideas to help you along in the process of making that desired self-image come true.
Is Your Manager an Asshole?
I’ve been writing online since the mid 90′s and have used profanity less than five times. The term asshole however, is so accurate in describing a certain type of manager, I have no choice but to use it here.
If you’ve been reading along at The Technician Shop you know that I think existing management in the trades is in a world of hurt. There is a huge difference however, between the asshole manager and the incompetent manager. While the asshole manager is always incompetent, the incompetent manager is not always an asshole. There are thousands and thousands of well-intentioned, decent people who are in management roles, but shouldn’t be. I will also add that there are thousands and thousands of owners out there, who shouldn’t be. This is another story but does offer an explanation as to why so many people have been cast in management roles.
I am going to transport you to the article “Is Your Future Boss an Asshole?” written by Bob Sutton. Bob wrote the book, The No Asshole Rule and has an absolute wealth of information that will help you with asshole managers.
Although for many of you it is too late, Bob says that one of the most effective ways in dealing with asshole managers is to avoid them in the first place. No worries. Bob’s article (and his site) is still a boatload of help for those who deal with assholes. Make sure you read Bob’s list 15 Things I Believe, located on left hand side of page.
Go here for Bob’s article “Is Your Future Boss an Asshole?”
Visit Bob at his site Bob Sutton Work Matters.
Note to all you managers who have been my handler over the years: I can honestly say that I have never worked for an asshole. Note II: This does not pertain to those I worked with over twenty-five years ago, prior to entering the HVAC industry.
