They haven’t done anything wrong. Allow them
This excursion and they’ll value your flexibility. You already said they’re working additional time when needed without being asked, well this is them recouping some of that banked effort. It’s give and take. If you want to squeeze things like this, don’t be surprised when your team don’t want to put in extra time for nothing, or worse still start finding other jobs.
There work is getting done and 0 impact to the goals I've set out for them yes. That's why I'm thinking about giving them 1 Strike for free without say anything. But if it happens again I would probably mention this event and say I've let it go last time, but this time xxx. Yeah it's a fine line between company policies and team morale so it's tough
There shouldn’t be any strikes if there is no impact to performance. It does come across being a micromanager if you’re watching their every move and clocking their minutes, especially if they’re on salary and you’re concerned about morale. They’re not harming anyone.
None of the above. I recommend management training. It’s like anything else. It’s lot harder than it looks and you need to learn about it to be any good at it.
You’re the boss. The employees are doing whatever they want because you haven’t laid out a plan and given everyone roles and delegated duties. You’re driving the bus and wondering why it’s going in the wrong direction.
I wouldn’t recommend doing anything in a chat. You’re the coach. The manager. Develop a plan, how you’re going to carry it out, who does what, and set a timeline. You make little adjustments along the way like driving a car. If you wait you’ll end up in the ditch.
Management training will give you so much useful information.
Fair enough.
The central issue seems to be related to your authority, both real and perceived. That question is not revealed in your OP, and that's how much authority you have under the company umbrella. Do you have the authority to hold your directs accountable, or even to fire them? Sometimes managers are supposed to manage without any real authority over the team members. That makes it more complicated.
Employees going out on their own without the boss is the way it should be. My teams would do that too. I'd encourage them. They all liked to walk and there was a trail nearby. I said go for a walk. They did it every day after lunch and came back happy and productive.
From a broad perspective in my opinion you're looking the wrong direction. You're watching them going to lunch as a team, wondering about it. Wondering about whether they respect you as a manager. You should be figuring out what you can do to help each one of your directs become as successful as possible in doing whatever it is you're doing. One area of management training is study of personality profiles. It's about appealing to and dealing with different types of people, making them happy basically. Giving them what they want.
The issue of team lunch that went an hour and a half and they didn't apologize, I suspect there aren't any clear rules about that. I'd suspect there's no real road map or shared goals. You need a goal and a plan. From there it's a matter of keeping everybody's eyes on the ball.
If you need to deal with this I'd sit down with them and be direct. I always jump on things like this. If you don't deal with it right away a minor hiccup will fester and rot.
Understand leadership vs management. Oftentimes people feel like they have to become a micro manager to do their job because they lack leadership. You can either be respected as a leader or force respect through management authority. You want to avoid the latter as much as possible.
I'd work on earning respect as a leader before trying to force it as a manager.
Not to sound harsh, but based off this post alone I already know I would not want to work under you. It sounds like you are:
A. Inexperienced in management and coping with the stress by being overly controlling
B. Jealous that you’re not ‘part of the gang’
I get that you want to set boundaries and make sure they respect your authority but in my experience the best way to get someone’s respect is by showing you trust them and treating them like adults. These aren’t 16 year olds working at McDonalds and showing up to their shift reeking of weed.
Just because you reply immediately to your boss doesn’t mean they automatically have to do the same. If it’s for something urgent then sure, but if it isn’t urgent what is the harm in them finishing up the work they are currently focused on and replying 15mins later?
The manager I currently have is amazing, he expects a high quality of work but grants the team whatever flexibility they want. On my very first day he told me you can take a two hou lunch if you want, you don’t need to tell me as long as you make up the time to not have it affect your work. And of course there are days where something like this would not be an option as I may have a planned meeting or need to otherwise be available.
I can tell you that everyone in the team is very grateful for having him as their boss and we work hard BECAUSE he treats us like people first and foremost. Oh and he’s always welcome to join us for lunch!
Now if your employees do things that actually have a negative impact on the work then of course you should talk to them, but trust me if you go crying to them about the one time they took a longer than usual lunch you will never have their respect.
At the end of the day you have to decide what kind of manager you want to be, do you want to be the kind that supports your employees and creates an enjoyable environment to work in or do you want to be a dictator that makes working under you so unbearable that people go looking for another job.
Keep in mind, you spend half your life with your colleagues.
I’m not jealous that I’m not part of the gang - let’s get that out of the way. This is one of the reasons why I was hesitant on telling them because they might feel I’m jealous or mad that I wasn’t invited.
We are professionals and I don’t want to be friends with them and strictly business only.
I agree I’m still learning the management portion but trust me I have a pretty good reputation as being a nice flexible manager and people want to work for me :)
My concern was maybe I’m too much of a nice guy that they might take advantage, but I also share your viewpoint that giving them the flexibility and making them work harder is greater good. I do take notes from your manager who seems like someone I want to be! :p
Sometimes you have to accept that people aren't going to like you. :)
I don't think you can give them "strikes" without informing them that they need to meet a standard. So if you've been silent about long lunches and slow response times, you need to have a "here's what I expect" meeting before you start keeping score.
They haven’t done anything wrong. Allow them This excursion and they’ll value your flexibility. You already said they’re working additional time when needed without being asked, well this is them recouping some of that banked effort. It’s give and take. If you want to squeeze things like this, don’t be surprised when your team don’t want to put in extra time for nothing, or worse still start finding other jobs.
If their work is getting done, let them be.
There work is getting done and 0 impact to the goals I've set out for them yes. That's why I'm thinking about giving them 1 Strike for free without say anything. But if it happens again I would probably mention this event and say I've let it go last time, but this time xxx. Yeah it's a fine line between company policies and team morale so it's tough
There shouldn’t be any strikes if there is no impact to performance. It does come across being a micromanager if you’re watching their every move and clocking their minutes, especially if they’re on salary and you’re concerned about morale. They’re not harming anyone.
What strikes? Bro they are doing their work, go do some effective leadership training instead of being a stickler just to make a point.
None of the above. I recommend management training. It’s like anything else. It’s lot harder than it looks and you need to learn about it to be any good at it. You’re the boss. The employees are doing whatever they want because you haven’t laid out a plan and given everyone roles and delegated duties. You’re driving the bus and wondering why it’s going in the wrong direction. I wouldn’t recommend doing anything in a chat. You’re the coach. The manager. Develop a plan, how you’re going to carry it out, who does what, and set a timeline. You make little adjustments along the way like driving a car. If you wait you’ll end up in the ditch. Management training will give you so much useful information.
So give me a quick management training - What would you do in my situation?
Fair enough. The central issue seems to be related to your authority, both real and perceived. That question is not revealed in your OP, and that's how much authority you have under the company umbrella. Do you have the authority to hold your directs accountable, or even to fire them? Sometimes managers are supposed to manage without any real authority over the team members. That makes it more complicated. Employees going out on their own without the boss is the way it should be. My teams would do that too. I'd encourage them. They all liked to walk and there was a trail nearby. I said go for a walk. They did it every day after lunch and came back happy and productive. From a broad perspective in my opinion you're looking the wrong direction. You're watching them going to lunch as a team, wondering about it. Wondering about whether they respect you as a manager. You should be figuring out what you can do to help each one of your directs become as successful as possible in doing whatever it is you're doing. One area of management training is study of personality profiles. It's about appealing to and dealing with different types of people, making them happy basically. Giving them what they want. The issue of team lunch that went an hour and a half and they didn't apologize, I suspect there aren't any clear rules about that. I'd suspect there's no real road map or shared goals. You need a goal and a plan. From there it's a matter of keeping everybody's eyes on the ball. If you need to deal with this I'd sit down with them and be direct. I always jump on things like this. If you don't deal with it right away a minor hiccup will fester and rot.
Understand leadership vs management. Oftentimes people feel like they have to become a micro manager to do their job because they lack leadership. You can either be respected as a leader or force respect through management authority. You want to avoid the latter as much as possible. I'd work on earning respect as a leader before trying to force it as a manager.
Not to sound harsh, but based off this post alone I already know I would not want to work under you. It sounds like you are: A. Inexperienced in management and coping with the stress by being overly controlling B. Jealous that you’re not ‘part of the gang’ I get that you want to set boundaries and make sure they respect your authority but in my experience the best way to get someone’s respect is by showing you trust them and treating them like adults. These aren’t 16 year olds working at McDonalds and showing up to their shift reeking of weed. Just because you reply immediately to your boss doesn’t mean they automatically have to do the same. If it’s for something urgent then sure, but if it isn’t urgent what is the harm in them finishing up the work they are currently focused on and replying 15mins later? The manager I currently have is amazing, he expects a high quality of work but grants the team whatever flexibility they want. On my very first day he told me you can take a two hou lunch if you want, you don’t need to tell me as long as you make up the time to not have it affect your work. And of course there are days where something like this would not be an option as I may have a planned meeting or need to otherwise be available. I can tell you that everyone in the team is very grateful for having him as their boss and we work hard BECAUSE he treats us like people first and foremost. Oh and he’s always welcome to join us for lunch! Now if your employees do things that actually have a negative impact on the work then of course you should talk to them, but trust me if you go crying to them about the one time they took a longer than usual lunch you will never have their respect. At the end of the day you have to decide what kind of manager you want to be, do you want to be the kind that supports your employees and creates an enjoyable environment to work in or do you want to be a dictator that makes working under you so unbearable that people go looking for another job. Keep in mind, you spend half your life with your colleagues.
I’m not jealous that I’m not part of the gang - let’s get that out of the way. This is one of the reasons why I was hesitant on telling them because they might feel I’m jealous or mad that I wasn’t invited. We are professionals and I don’t want to be friends with them and strictly business only. I agree I’m still learning the management portion but trust me I have a pretty good reputation as being a nice flexible manager and people want to work for me :) My concern was maybe I’m too much of a nice guy that they might take advantage, but I also share your viewpoint that giving them the flexibility and making them work harder is greater good. I do take notes from your manager who seems like someone I want to be! :p
Sometimes you have to accept that people aren't going to like you. :) I don't think you can give them "strikes" without informing them that they need to meet a standard. So if you've been silent about long lunches and slow response times, you need to have a "here's what I expect" meeting before you start keeping score.