The New Boy - a cautionary tale
Ahhh, the trials and tribulations of being a new boy.
Not for me as I am entranced and more concerned with my pension rights, but else where I see new boys come in and make a pigs ear of it.
Whenever you start a new job you need to reconnoiter the place, get a feel for who does what, who knows what. these are basic steps. If the company is over 1000 strong and covers more than one site you also need to understand the politics, how the departments interact and who you can safely talk to without having it used against you and most importantly your co-workers.
It can be fraught with segregation, demarcation and multi-site or multi-divisional companies can have this doubled with in fighting between these groupings.
Stepping in to a managerial role that covers one or two sites and one aspect of IT can be a minefield and is a path trod with care and an open mind, toes need to avoided and support garnered during the probationary period.
You need to learn and learn fast.Understand the structure of the company and the departments within it and who wields the power. Who you need to cultivate and who you need to keep at arms length. Above all you need to remember that that all you learned at your last job does not apply here.
Unfortunately a recent introduction in to the role of Network Manager seems to have forgotten or not known these basics. He has come in and been careless with his talk, questioning decisions made 2 years ago, wanting to change the word in an environment that changes only when it pleases the powers that be. He is keen to stamp his authority and show that he knows his stuff, but in the process is just pissing the incumbents off big time as his demeanor is not so much a quiet word in the appropriate ear hole "why are we doing this that way" it is more like shouting out "you're all wrong you muppets, you should have done it this way".
This stance is not going to endear you to the people who you will be most closely working with and, if you are looking to secure a job at the end of your probationary period, the people of whom you will need the support of.
But then if if you didn't spend the time during your probationary period getting the lay of the land and finding out who did what and who was important in the first place what can you expect.
Not for me as I am entranced and more concerned with my pension rights, but else where I see new boys come in and make a pigs ear of it.
Whenever you start a new job you need to reconnoiter the place, get a feel for who does what, who knows what. these are basic steps. If the company is over 1000 strong and covers more than one site you also need to understand the politics, how the departments interact and who you can safely talk to without having it used against you and most importantly your co-workers.
It can be fraught with segregation, demarcation and multi-site or multi-divisional companies can have this doubled with in fighting between these groupings.
Stepping in to a managerial role that covers one or two sites and one aspect of IT can be a minefield and is a path trod with care and an open mind, toes need to avoided and support garnered during the probationary period.
You need to learn and learn fast.Understand the structure of the company and the departments within it and who wields the power. Who you need to cultivate and who you need to keep at arms length. Above all you need to remember that that all you learned at your last job does not apply here.
Unfortunately a recent introduction in to the role of Network Manager seems to have forgotten or not known these basics. He has come in and been careless with his talk, questioning decisions made 2 years ago, wanting to change the word in an environment that changes only when it pleases the powers that be. He is keen to stamp his authority and show that he knows his stuff, but in the process is just pissing the incumbents off big time as his demeanor is not so much a quiet word in the appropriate ear hole "why are we doing this that way" it is more like shouting out "you're all wrong you muppets, you should have done it this way".
This stance is not going to endear you to the people who you will be most closely working with and, if you are looking to secure a job at the end of your probationary period, the people of whom you will need the support of.
But then if if you didn't spend the time during your probationary period getting the lay of the land and finding out who did what and who was important in the first place what can you expect.
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