Micromanagement! 2

[vc66]

All-

I am having a problem with one of my managers. He is an extremely knowledgeable engineer; however, he micromanages the department TREMENDOUSLY.

He is my boss' boss, and should not concern himself (in my opinion) with daily tolerance analyses, limits/fits calcs, etc. It is getting to the point where things are not shipping out because there is always a philosophical engineering argument to be had about a design. He also, for some reason, feels that if he did not create a specific design that there must be something wrong with it, and that he can do it better.

Am I crazy? I feel like my company should just hire monkeys that they can train to use CAD instead of hiring engineers.

Is there anything I can do to shield myself from some of his micromanagement? Should I look elsewhere for a job?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

V

 

[KENAT]

So here's the plan, somehow get him involved in reviewing the drawings that are getting outsourced to Malaysia or where ever.

That way he'll be far to busy to interfere.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[IRstuff]

It's a challenge to manage people that aren't as capable as you; you always feel that you could do it in half the time and it's painful to watch the slow progress. It took me a good year and lots of mentoring from my boss before I could "let go." Unfortunately, some people NEVER let go, and constantly "hover" or worse.

Then, there are those that can't let go, and can't delegate, so they slave away, while their subordinates twiddle their collective thumbs.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[spider007]

Always have the research to back up your decisions. This was helpful couple of times. I could always say; ‘well, I got this book, and on this page, it said this…’

If all else fails, just do it his way, after all that’s what you’re paid for. Write down what kind of stuff he likes to see, and do it. And if he complains, you can always say, well, a while back I was working on this drawing, and you had me do this (then pull it up).

You'll be surprised how differently, different companies do things - even in the same industry. So a lot of times you just have to give in and do it the way boss said, even if it’s against what you’ve leaned in last 30 years. It’s his dime. As long as he takes the responsibility for it, you’re good. Eventually as he realizes you’re doing things his way, he’ll leave you alone.

 

[jmw]

Well there are two other options (and heh, you can work some permutations of them):
1) get him an attractive new secretary. That should distract him for a while, and the consequent divorce proceedings for some while longer.
2) go ask if you can "represent the company" at a really good conference somewhere. Monte Carlo etc. Your industry will have at least one or two a month somewhere round the globe.
Now when you make your pitch, make sure that everything you say points toward not an engineer going, but a senior manager.
So long as you sell him on how important you think these conferences are, and so long as you emphasise the calibre of people there, he will agree the company should be represented but that it calls for a senior management representative... him.
Now, while he's somewhere else you can get on with your work.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[KENAT]

jmw, with our financial results I doubt either is an option, unless VC66 site gets better treatment than ours, which may be the case as the CEO is there.

IRStuff, that's me. I nearly started a thread on how not to be a micromanager, maybe I will. I keep trying to let go but then it keeps coming and biting me in the a$$ later.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[JSFSWISS]

I have dealt with a lot of micromanaging in my last job. I mean from all department heads and I was a manager. Go figure. Anyway, when I would tell the head engineer that a spec was obsolete and he had to find another spec to fit his application he wouldn't believe me. I literally had it directly from the manufacturer. He would say "Well someone would have it."

Anyway, I am trying to say, this type of stuff is done everywhere and its a pain. Try not to let it get you down. You know you are doing a good job.

When Mr Boss Man take your work, write down when he took and what time and when someone ask you about it just let them know he is reviewing it and you are waiting for him to give it back. When you get it back you will give it to them. If you don't get it back just call that person and give them a heads up that you are still waiting. Like keeping a little log book. Trust me I know its an extra step but it might keep some sanity.

I ended up doing that and when eventually I wasn't the middle man anymore. My upper management people went directly to the people who held me up and my work ended up getting done faster because they pushed all those others who I waited on. I still do it today and my new job.

Hope this helps a little. Good luck!

Thank You
CNCMILL

 

[jeffcivil2]

Sometimes I also wonder why they didn't just hire a drafter instead of me. While my senior boss is designing on paper all day, I'm actually doing producing the company's output which is the autocad to paper product. But he gets very frustrated because all us young-mid levels engineers spend all our time on the computer.

The thing is... He's right. Nobody uses paper anymore, and you can't really think in terms of scale when you're on a computer.

Then I feel lucky that working under a true engineer(60's), not some 30-40 something Wanna-be senior engineer.

 

[rcooper]

A couple of things strike me, firstly all drawings need checking by a company appointed checker before being issued. When I am a client, I send back drawings with one name across the "Drawn, checked, approved" boxes. When you are talking to clients' it is perfectly reasonable to say that they will get the drawings when they have been checked in accordance with your company's QA procedures, and they will get them then. After a while you will know how long it takes to get something checked, amended, checked, approved and can add this on to your design programme so you don't dissapoint your clients.

Secondly, it sounds like the micro managing boss may actually be trying to nurture and coach his staff. He may have been bitten by parts not being made to drawings in the past, and knows how to get around this. He may realise it will cost the company more to get the manufacturer to re-make the part than to adjust the drawing to allow for the manufacturer's mistakes.

 

[drawoh]

jeffcivil2,

Handy design tip:

Draw, xerox and trace, or otherwise acquire some scale views of people and relevant body parts. Insert these on to your drawings as scale references. I insert my old AutoCAD 2D views onto my SolidWorks drawings. There are 3D models of such stuff for SolidWorks and other 3D CAD programs.

Your boss is right about the lack of scale drawings, but the problem is solvable. I hang E_sized drawings on my wall, and I keep my old scales from my drafting board days.

JHG

 

[GonzaloEE]

My humble perception of management is it's like a no-man's land that need to be filled by both the manager or the engineer's communication skills. The more skilled the manager thinks (s)he is, the more (s)he steps in the no-man's land, interfering with the engineer's decisions.
The more skilled the engineer is in communicating his/her competency and knowledge of the whole picture, the more likely (s)he'll make the manager trust on him/her, then going back to the manager's desk.

I guess most of those folks just like to be in control, or having some bad experiences with bad engs. Often, some managers may be actually revealing a jealous, "wanna-be-engineer" behavior, or inner feelings of not being up to the task, while in charge of a skilled eng. team.

 

[tygerdawg]

There's another option.

You could communicate directly with BossOfBoss. If he feels he can come directly to YOU, why can't you go directly to HIM?

Forget the turf/territory issues, forget the "he's a manager, he should manage!" attitude, and all that other non-productive thinking. Perhaps you can (in a nice, human, diplomatic way) confront him on the issue and find out what's really going on in his head.

"Hey, um, Fred...I need to clear the air with you. When you come over and triple check my work, it makes me feel like...um...well, like you think I'm not capable of doing my job on my own. Is there a problem with what I'm doing? This kind of behavior is really starting to get me worried about your perception of my capabilities."

Don't mention "micromanager" because that's negatively judgemental, but it certainly is IMPLIED. Maybe the poor schmuck is so clueless that he doesn't realize what he's doing. If he's a demagogue incapable of delegation and no one on the planet can do it as well as he can, then absorb what you can from the organization and move on. That guy will kill the company.

TygerDawg
Blue Technik LLC
Virtuoso Robotics Engineering

http://www.bluetechnik.com

 

[Kinsrow]

I used to work in a company with roughly 50 mechanical engineers which the owner is also mechanical engineer. There are several manager above us before the boss level, but these managers are useless. The boss always wanted to get involved in every design review we had. He told us to come up with concepts, but 99% of the time we had to do it his way, which 50% at the time wasn't working and we had to work long-long hours to fix it. So, one time we purposely came up with concept that woundn't work or left some details that would not make it work, He cought it and suggested another concept which we already had it in our head before going to meeting. At the end we ended up doing the concept that we already prepared and know it will work but didn't show him and no more long hours trying to make his concept work. The power of misdirection. The down side was you never got recognation from the owner, but he signed your paycheck anyway.

 

[MedicineEng]

I think that your boss's boss miss engineering. In my previous company, there was a guy in the other site that started in maintenance, then engineering and finally he was promoted to site manager. For years he never appointed any head of engineering on purpose to be always micromanaging the department and get his "hands dirty". His fame for bursts of anger was known not only in the company, but in the industry. When I moved to that company, my previous boss told me:"Be careful with the short man"...My luck was that I was in another site, in other country, so I always escaped most of his influence.
Guess what I've done when invited to go work on that site?
I moved on and changed company...