How to cover yourself in a bad situation 7

[TurbineGen]

I'm sure many people have issues like this, so I am asking for opinions on what I should do about my situation. I am a young engineer and therefore I am looking for advice of those more experienced and wiser than I am.

A little background:

I have headed up a new department at work for producing mobile substations. The job isn't easy and neither is the product. As an engineer, I have no direct reports. Instead, I must ask other departments for support and they lend me people that they can spare. The transformer department designs and builds the transformer for me (or they at least do most of it) and I build the substation around it. This usually works out ok from a manufacturing/operations standpoint (don't ask me how, though). It seldom works out from a materials or an engineering standpoint. However this time everything failed.

The problem:

The transformer department did not properly fill the unit and it needed more oil. I needed to move the unit over to a fill station by the end of the first shift to get it filled in time for shipment. This requires a heavy haul truck which I do not have, nor do I have access to this. As luck would have it, the field service group got me a truck and driver to help but he only had a 1 hour window... during the company Christmas party. Thus the driver and I were the only one's moving this 10 axle behemoth.

While moving it out, the unit clipped the bay door of the building which damaged the door. The substation was also damaged. The damage was surprisingly minimal and thus I continued and moved the unit to the filling station.

At this time I was quite stressed and frustrated, so after verifying the unit was secure, I went back to my office and sat down and wrote and Email to my boss and the manufacturing supervisor about what happened. I informed them that I took full responsibility for the damage and that it was minimal. I also informed them that it was ready for oil fill and that I would be taking a walk around the parking lot to decompress as it was aggravating some health problems that I have. I also informed them that I would still be able to have the unit ready for shipment on time.

The result:

I ended up with a disciplinary action form for "poor leadership" and that "A leader should not ever walk away from his responsibilities".

To me, this is garbage. It appears (and I admit I could be wrong) that my boss is attempting to cover his behind. He's relatively new and while I have had great experiences with my former supervision, he and I do not mix well. Admittedly, both of us are trying to work together. Unfortunately I don't see it working out in the long run as we have greatly different personalities.

My questions:

What should I do about this? Should I write him a letter and ask to discuss it with me when he has time? Should I just document it to cover myself for future reference? Should I ask about changing departments?

I am professionally immature in these areas and I am very stressed out about this. On one hand I am producing great results. The mobile substations are coming out with the highest quality ever and are coming in well below budget. On the other hand I am losing my mind due to lack of support and it's showing.

One of the great reassurances I have is that I do run a small side business developing sUAS (small unmanned aerial systems) that is doing very well right now although it is new so I am uncertain about the future. Part of me wants to drop the full time job and dedicate to my side business.

Any advice given would be greatly appreciated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.

 

[SNORGY]

What was it that you walked away from that otherwise would have been repaired that night?

Unless I am missing something, maybe what you did was about as right as it could be under the circumstances, unless you violated your shop's policies about who / what needs to be in place whan you are moving equipment around.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[TurbineGen]

That's just it, I didn't leave my responsibilities, or at least I don't think I did. I walked away after I completed the move. The entire plant was at the Christmas party during the move and I was the only one working. When the plant came back to work, I was still cooling off, but my responsibilities were done by then. I stayed at the plant in my office in case I was needed. I still stuck around to be sure it was filled, but I wasn't an active part of it. Nor was I active in the door repair which luckily took less than 2 hours.

Like I said, I'm confused (and admittedly irritated) about it. I just don't have the experience to know what my next steps should be. I feel like I'm being a scapegoat (which this isn't the first time I felt this way). I'm just wondering what the proper professional course of action is at this point.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.

 

[magoo2]

Perhaps the best advice I can give you is to suggest that you start keeping a diary. At this point it's his word against yours. Having some document to back up and refresh details of situations will be of value to you in the future.

You're not what's at fault. Your judgment seems sound and you have the sense of urgency to get things done.

The diary will even help you document situations where the lack of resources can get you into trouble.

I'd also work with other departments to find some allies. You're going to need some help on a future crisis, so your best chances of succeeding is if you have someone on your side. Try smoozing with some of the managers in the other departments since you'll need their help in the future. It might even lead to a better job for yourself.

You could even, in a safe way, talk about parts of the problem with the other departments. Like at Christmas, you found a transformer that wasn't filled. Approaching them with a concern about this recent activity that they may not be aware of, you could say something like "What could we do in the future to prevent this from happening?"

 

[MintJulep]

If your company has a "disciplinary action form" then probably there is a method to appeal.

Follow it.

 

[KENAT]

Did you sign the form?

Often times part of the response is to refuse to sign it, or make a written statement that you are signing it under duress and don't agree with it.

Now doing this won't make you friends and may not be the best approach, but I'm just pointing out it's a possible response.

Did you ask for clarification on what you did constituted abandoning your post & ask what you should have done in case the situation arises again?

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[bigTomHanks]

Work everyday as if you don't care if you will get fired. Just get the job done and don't beat youself for the minor details that occur inbetween the start of the job and the finish of it. No amount of planning can guarantee that nothing will go wrong. You will make mistakes and those around you will make mistakes. Your reaction to a minor incident and your desire to achieve perfection is affecting your ability to lead the projects that you are assigned. Step back away from the minor details and look at the big picture. When you do make a mistake get it fixed and then don't say anything else about it. It happened, you dealt with it, and now it's over. There is nothing to talk about. As you gain experience you will be able to do your work on autopilot. The people that you see who appear to be perfect at their job have many, many years of experience working with the product and people. Occassionally these people make HUGE mistakes but not much is said about it because they don't stress and make a big deal about it.

 

[TurbineGen]

@Kenat - I asked about it but I never got a straight answer. The fact of the matter is that I didn't abandon my responsibilities, but did abandon my usual take over of other's responsibilities and basically said "it's your job, you handle it".

What I did get was that the reason for filing the form was that my Email was "unprofessional". While this I disagree with, that's a matter of opinion so perhaps I was wrong? I have a pretty severe medical condition called diverticulitis which is potentially life threatening and painful as ever that was making it very difficult to walk which had flared up that day. It left me in a crumpled ball on the floor in pain for an hour that morning. This luckily was documented before the incident with the door.

Another reason given was that my actions were "unsafe". Again, I disagree. I'm not sure who would be in harm's way when moving a truck with me following beside it. I was beside it steering the rear axles via remote control where the driver could see me so I could flag him forward or to stop. There was nobody else around since everyone was at the party.

@magoo2 - I am keeping a log, thank you. It's more of a communications log, but I keep it for cases when people start pointing fingers I can show the three pointing back. I'd rather not resort to this, but it's there just in case.

@Mintjulep - I never thought of that. I will check into it. Thanks!



------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.

 

[GregLocock]

I think BTH is on the right track. Ignore it. If it goes any further formally, present your side. Otherwise forget about it.



Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[TurbineGen]

@BigTomHanks - I'll have to agree with you on most of this, except I don't think this is the end of it. There was an issue last week where I got irritated and had to step around him for support (and finally got it). There was also a situation where he asked me to do some stuff I felt was illegal and unsafe and forced him to put it in writing that it was safe and lawful.

The problem is that the incident made my boss look bad (I used to work with his current boss and we get along well) and I think he's trying to pin me with something to save face. It's not the damage, it's the fact that I do everything but scream and yell about lack of support and finally something very visible happened due to lack of support that puts it at the forefront of everyone's radar. In other words, the lack of support is becoming a well known issue now and my department is the only one turning a respectable profit right now.

I'm not worried about getting fired. What I am concerned with is that my boss holds me down and will continue to do it until I learn how to deal with him, quit, or transfer departments. I'm trying how to learn to deal with him before I lose all respect for him.

I am not saying I am perfectly innocent either. I'm far from perfect and probably have made several poor decisions to get to this point. I am however trying to fix the situation before it gets worse, that's all. I just am unsure of what to do to make things better because they are getting worse... fast.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.

 

[GregLocock]

Have you been trained to do the trailer steering/directing thing?

Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[TurbineGen]

No. I have not received ay training of any type except for the basic safety stuff. I am actually heading up all of the technical training for my company. Like I said, it wasn't the hit, it was the fact that it happened due to lack of support for the product. Now it's damage control.

Right now I'm keeping quiet as bigTomHanks suggested. I have my documentation just in case. If I see that form again, I will look into the appeal issue.

Thanks for the advice. I guess some days you're the pigeon, other days you're the statue. I hate being the statue...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
If it is broken, fix it. If it isn't broken, I'll soon fix that.

 

[GregLocock]

Well I realise it is a different work culture over there, but if I were to start directing or steering heavy machinery and caused a potential safety incident, without any training, then at the very least questions would be asked, and frankly I'd expect a certain amount of negativity up to and including an official warning. Having said that the problem isn't actually you, it's an organisational culture thing to do with safety at work.





Cheers

Greg Locock


New here? Try reading these, they might help FAQ731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

 

[btrueblood]

What BigTom said. I'd add that specifically, you opened youself up to criticism by documenting in your email that you had to "take a walk" to cool off. It's nitpicky and mean, but your boss is calling you out for that being "unprofessional" behavior. In the future, don't advertise or tell anybody when you need a sanity break, just take it (at least, in that situation, where there is nobody around to tell you not to leave your post, and I don't see any safety issue in what you did). If asked, tell them you needed to answer a call of nature or make a phone call or something.

 

[PhilBW]

You said you were stressed and frustrated, and had to decompress, and were still cooling off some time later. A minor accident causing "surprisingly littl damage" during a somewhat routine task should not have pushed you to that point. It sounds as if you may have been overly dramatic. That tends to make one look unprofessional.

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Be truthful - and then get over it. It happens

 

[HDS]

Can't help you with the current problem much. Unless it comes up again let it be.

Next time go home when you are feeling bad. Then you won't have to worry about decompressing or appearing unprofessional because you are working while in pain. They will have to accept the trade off that one man can't do everything.

 

[Debaser]

Having re-read the thread a couple of times I'm with GregLocock. I am aware that in the US there is a more 'gung-ho' (or maybe more politely 'can-do') attitude, but in order to complete this job you had to carry out a task for which you were not trained in any way. A task involving a 10-axle, rear-steering vehicle no less.

In the UK 'Health 'n' Safety' is often criticised, but in the C21st there should be no reason for anyone to put themselves or others in danger to complete a job of work (outside occupations like the armed forces where there is an assumed risk).

Having said that, I can sympathise that this is the ultimate outcome of you feeling you have no support, that you are under pressure to do everything (including rectifying other departments errors), and deliver a completed product on time, without enough staff. (And especially in this instance when it seemed everyone else in the company cared more about the Christmas party than fulfilling an order).

I don't know what the culture is like in the US, but if this happened to me I would ask for a meeting with both my immediate boss and his (or anyone who has a vested interest in your product going out on time and in correct working order), having first identified why, who and when I needed support, perhaps only in the days running up to the shipping of the product, perhaps throughout the entire process. Maybe even run through a 'what if' scenario should a situation like this occur again.

Whatever the outcome of that meeting, I would say that the first duty of an engineer is not Client satisfaction but safety, of himself and of those around him. If you find yourself in a similar position again (having to undertake a potentially risky task for which you have no training) walk away and document your reasons. No professional should be criticised for putting safety first, however over-cautious it may seem at the time.

 

[FreddyNurk]

One of the things that you learn is that you can't do everything, and that there are things that just can't be covered by yourself at the last minute.
Also, as GregLocock rightly pointed out, there are safety procedures that should be in place for operation of such equipment. This may well indicate more about your current company than may be apparent at face value, but its certainly a good opportunity for lessons learnt and reflection.

One of the hardest things to do is to stand your ground when everyone is jumping up and down to get you to do things because of project deadlines and similar issues, knowing that theres an inherent safety issue or similar behind it. That said, no one was injured, take what you can from the experience and move on.

 

[casseopeia]

I'm not sure I understand the full sequence of events, and maybe it doesn't matter. If your boss and manufacturing super saw your email, they may have just wanted to hear what happened from you to see what your demeanor was, especially if they themselves were at a Christmas party where alcohol might have been available. If they didn't see the email, did they see the damage before knowing what had happened? Then when they went looking for you you were nowhere to be found? That's NEVER good. I'm with btrueblood. Never tell on yourself. Have a more nobel-sounding reason for your absence. And never just rely on an email to communicate something of this magnitude. At the very least leave voicemail messages. Better yet, go and find them and tell them about it in person. Then have your sanity break.

"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge." Ivana Trump