Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Does this go on my resume?

At the end of summer my youngest will be in First Grade.  What does that mean you ask? It means that I should really find activities to do during the day that will produce a paycheck.  I love volunteering at school, being able to clean the house without interruption, getting dinner ready early, speeding through the grocery store with only my list and not 300 additional questions.  Unfortunately those activities do not help to pay for the select soccer, dance lessons, etc.

I am not afraid to say that trying to reenter the working world scares the bejesus out of me.  The last job I had was Shipping Supervisor in a manufacturing facility.  Yeah, I know.  I managed 20 union forklift drivers.  Not my dream job, not any one's dream job.  It was a job.  It sucked.  I ran from the place and never looked back.

On this morning three weeks into summer and only two weeks into our chore lists we have yet again fallen into a screaming fit because I have asked that everyone get their chores done before we go to the pool.  What was I thinking? {insert eye roll and toss hands in the air}

What makes me more frustrated then my kids giving me lip every time I ask them to do something is that this is what I did for a living.  The first year I was supervising was awful.  I struggled to figure out why these people gave me such a hard time.  Then an older supervisor gave me a tip.  He said stop telling them what to do and asking them what to do.  He was right.  I went to college and management seminars and I was "enlightened" he grew up in this factory and made his way through the ranks.  He was well liked and respected and not just because he had done the same job, but because of his approach.

He never yelled or ordered or demanded things.  He communicated what he needed clearly.  When a truck pulled in for an order the forklift driver was picking he would go to them and explain the situation and ask their input.  "Got load 1542 on deck Leroy we need to get them outta here by 3.  Should I pull him in the dock let Russ start loading? How far along are you? Is it a cherry pick or an easy fill?"

I learned a lot from him.  Like most all of us, I hate confrontation.  I don't want to tell people what to do and I certainly don't want to yell at them.  He showed me how to work with people motivating them to work for me.  And they did.  I was wondering what happened to that person this morning as I was yelling at everyone in the house to get to work.

I think we all know who needs to get back to work!

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