A suggestion to my boss - What do you think and how will he react?

[gpainter]

Although you are more than likely dead on target. The likelyhood of you having a job will decrease tremendiously. Sometime the truth is not what someone wants to hear, but you the other hand "the truth will set you free". Maybe using a meeting with top management to discuss setting up mission. vision and measurements.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Such good comments so far. I agree, do NOT send this note--but I would like to add, even if you do have another job lined up. I expect your GM would feel defensive at your appraisals of how things are going. If he really understood, I submit he'd probably be doing a lot of that already. The fact is, a great many managers, including in the U.S. and including people with MBA degrees, honestly do not understand how to get done the things you have listed.

I use the Stealth quality is better than no quality philosophy in that it tends to get better results with managers than a list of things to change.

I predict he will not be able to use your list constructively, even though it may indeed be dead-on accurate.

I instead suggest you develop structured suggestions for each point and present them to him, one or so at a time according to imminent needs or the subject at hand. Each point should include:

1. The need.
2. The practical means to get it done. Step by step if necessary.
3. Why it matters.
4. How you'd be able to tell it's working.
5. How it would improve the company, or him; even improving his quality of life like havoing to spend less of his time reviewing and updating documents. Make it sound appealing.

Please buy and read The Change Agent's Handbook by David Hutton.

I hope this helps!

 

[Wes Bucey]

As you can tell by my extensive use of "thanks" so far, I am in complete agreement that the idea of sending this letter as is will be career suicide!

We in the Quality profession operate most successfully within a corporate setting when we are perceived as the wise voice of reason. Folks from top manager to lowest level employee can learn and profit from Quality folk who present information in an educational manner, rather than a scolding or "holier than thou" manner.

One of the major keys to educating folks is prioritizing information so that it can be assimilated and used as a base for increasing knowledge as time goes on. Any effort to throw all the information at one time is like burying a student under a library full of books - the information is all there, but the student suffocates and dies before he can read even a title of a book.


My advice:
Hold off on sending that letter for a while and pay close attention to the advice we will give you to help you find a workable solution to the problems you perceive WITHOUT losing your job in the process.

 

[BoiseME]

I also agree that the wording could use some finesse, it comes across as being pointed. Most managers are open to constructive feedback, and if the wording was changed it may help. I think that I would schedule a meeting with him to discuss rather than send an email. I find that face to face discussions work best for me. Good luck.

 

[Keith Childers]

I also think this letter will be the end of your career, and I also agree that once the manager reads the first couple of lines, the rest of the letter will go unread.
If you really want to suggest change you have to present ideas in a way that will be accepted by the manager.
Judging by the way I read the letter, and something could be lost in translation, the manager seems like quite the ego-maniac who needs to be told how great he is 24/7.
There is an old saying that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
I have found through personal experience that you can catch even more flies with "B.S." than you can with honey.
What you may have to do is present these ideas in a way which will allow the manager to believe these ideas are his, and that they will make him look better, and improve his stock in the company.
You may not want someone like this receiving all of the credit, but it may be worth it if the company benefits in the end.

 

[Keith Childers]

As you can tell by my extensive use of "thanks" so far, I am in complete agreement that the idea of sending this letter as is will be career suicide!

We in the Quality profession operate most successfully within a corporate setting when we are perceived as the wise voice of reason. Folks from top manager to lowest level employee can learn and profit from Quality folk who present information in an educational manner, rather than a scolding or "holier than thou" manner.

One of the major keys to educating folks is prioritizing information so that it can be assimilated and used as a base for increasing knowledge as time goes on. Any effort to throw all the information at one time is like burying a student under a library full of books - the information is all there, but the student suffocates and dies before he can read even a title of a book.


My advice:
Hold off on sending that letter for a while and pay close attention to the advice we will give you to help you find a workable solution to the problems you perceive WITHOUT losing your job in the process.

I love the "student under a library". Excellent way to describe such a situation!

 

[Jim Wynne]

Rule #1 - don't ever put a criticism of your boss in writing.

I agree with the answers given thus far. Rewording it in a positive way could work, but in its present form it will almost certainly backfire.

These two observations say it all, IMO, so I really have nothing to add. But I'm curious as to what affect the OP thinks that his manager's American experience has on his behavior. Perhaps this ties into other threads regarding cultural influences on quality systems, such as the ones here and here.

 

[Brizilla]

Such good comments so far. I agree, do NOT send this note--but I would like to add, even if you do have another job lined up. I expect your GM would feel defensive at your appraisals of how things are going. If he really understood, I submit he'd probably be doing a lot of that already. The fact is, a great many managers, including in the U.S. and including people with MBA degrees, honestly do not understand how to get done the things you have listed.

I use the Stealth quality is better than no quality philosophy in that it tends to get better results with managers than a list of things to change.

I predict he will not be able to use your list constructively, even though it may indeed be dead-on accurate.

I instead suggest you develop structured suggestions for each point and present them to him, one or so at a time according to imminent needs or the subject at hand. Each point should include:

1. The need.
2. The practical means to get it done. Step by step if necessary.
3. Why it matters.
4. How you'd be able to tell it's working.
5. How it would improve the company, or him; even improving his quality of life like havoing to spend less of his time reviewing and updating documents. Make it sound appealing.

Please buy and read The Change Agent's Handbook by David Hutton.

I hope this helps!

I am in complete agreement with Jennifer on her points and everyone elses that the letter would be employment suicide. Take Jennifer's points and turn them around for your boss to make them acceptable.

1. The need.
In our company, everybody listen to you, and what you say is quickly done, and what you did not say is left untended. This is one man rule in my view.

It’s OK if the purpose of our existing is to serve you because only you knows what you wants.

Hey Boss, we're having some problems with communication. Not everyone is up to your speed and I'm having some problems communicating to them everything they need to know. Somethings are being left undone because they aren't assuming strong enough leadership roles.


3. Why it matters.

However, if the purpose of our existing to serve the company, I’m afraid this is not good enough for the following two reasons:

Reason 1: It is my belief that no matter how wise a person is, he can’t anticipate every possibility, or think through every angle of a problem, so you can’t order employees to behave in the best interest of the company.

Reason 2: When people don’t know what is expected, they don’t do anything, so you can’t expect them just behave in the best interest of the company.

This is exactly what happened in our company. When anything happened needs a decision, they say ask the GM. Nobody has updated our procedures and work instructions for months.

To change this situation, I propose philosophy rule, by establishing a set of constant values, principles that the company always desires, and let every employee knows them, so that they don’t have to wait for your instruction to take action.

So Boss, what do think we should do to establish better teamwork principals so we can get investment by the employees? What philosophy do we want to teach them so they are better looking out for the company's interest like you and I?

5. How it would improve the company, or him; even improving his quality of life like havoing to spend less of his time reviewing and updating documents. Make it sound appealing.

So Boss, this sounds like a great opportunity for improvement and I would be grateful if you would let me run with this idea. Give me a little time and I'll come up with a basic Quality mission statement of: Vision, Company Values and Work Principals. That way you won't have to spend the time digging all the info out yourself. When I get the basics down then YOU will have all the information you need to establish the final, acceptable goals for the attitude and company culture.

2. The practical means to get it done. Step by step if necessary.
THIS where after a period of time you present your green type document.

4. How you'd be able to tell it's working.
Now that you have a plan and goals in place you need to establish some measurements to show the progress and proof that the changes are having a positive effect on the company.

Jennifer's same points, just not in the same order.
Buy-in is everything, convincing from the middle up isn't much different than the middle down, except that the ego's are bigger and you have to move a little slower. When they see what's in it for them, (in this case better efficiency and more details being handled by underlings) you generally can get buy-in from most management except the the most rigid micro-managers, and they just require different tactics.

I hope this is of some value to you.

 

[Benjamin28]

Basically this letter makes me think you're trying to build a house before laying a foundation. As with everyone else, I would say, don't send this letter. It won't be read as a suggestion.

Further, you need to tone down the scope of your "suggestions" to something more manageable. You are correct, the company needs a Quality Policy, Vision, or something similar which gives you a direction to follow...from there you can address the issues a piece at a time.

As with any position, assuming a confrontational stance with management is probably not going to get you anywhere. It sounds from your letter, that your boss is a micro-manager. My suggestion is to get him involved with your goals...i.e. take the most reasonable, easily obtainable (low hanging fruit) items on your agenda and present them to your boss, get his participation and interest...get the ball rolling in other words.

My point being, you see where you are, you see where you want to be...you aren't going to get there overnight though, you need to take small steps, piece by piece, this is the process of improvement, it is not a metamorphasis, it is often a slow continuous adaptation to the dynamics of your business needs.

I do have to say though, I applaud the idea of taking a stance, and putting yourself out there to say "hey something needs to change" ...but when it comes to career goals I think you'd be better off saying "hey, we can improve quarterly revenue by changing xyz process..."

Best of luck to you, and I truly hope you get the opportunity to make some changes there.

 

[Steve Prevette]

A few questions, if I may:

What prevents you from you yourself operating to the rules you have specified in your letter?

Has anyone stopped you from doing these things?

What is your current role in your company?