Would any of you, if in a higher position, put a newbie with no experience in charge of a project? :confused: Or would you rather he/she learn the ropes first, before putting him/her in charge?
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Would any of you, if in a higher position, put a newbie with no experience in charge of a project? :confused: Or would you rather he/she learn the ropes first, before putting him/her in charge?
Who is a newbie? One who is new to the company, new to the job or completely without any work experience, relevant or not? Or any combination of the above?
I have put newbies of various types in charge of projects, because for some of them, this is the only way that they're going to learn and earn their keep. At the same time, they are supervised; the degree of supervision depends on them, their ability to learn, and the project itself.
It also depends on whether "in charge" means a lot of decision making, or whether he's assigned to that project alone. In my first job I was given a project to do all by myself, but everything I said, did, and faxed out went through my boss, and I had to brief her as to the situation each time. She would also, based on her knowledge, sporadically come and ask me if certain things which needed to be done were done. It helps that it was a bank with a lot of written procedures, though.
I don't think anyone would give a newbie with no working experience in the industry a free hand to run any project by themselves, though.
Any new employee will be task jobs that he or she would be responsible for. Level of supervision on that person would depend on the experience level of the employee.
As for 'learn the ropes' it really depends what sort of task was being handed out. For example, if I have a new draftsman, I expect he or she to be equipped with basic drafting skills; but he or she may need time to be fully adept to our office culture, and because untested, I would monitor the person's progress more closely, to make sure he or she is delivering the work I expect. For those whom I'm already familiar with their style, I can wait around for them to deliver just the complete work.
In this aspect, he or she shall be put in-charge of that particular design/drawing that I have tasked him or her to. If that person has prior experience, then probably after one or two 'proven work' (just to make sure he or she really live up to the experience he or she claimed) I could toss a wider scope of design and let them run automode.
It is not possible in this case to tell them to just 'practice' and then I get someone else to do the real work, and just let them do it for 'learning purpose'; the only exception would be 'interns'. But some interns did a pretty good job and contribute significantly to the overall project too. =p
On the other hand, I may have a totally newbie who'd never even board a ship, less to tell them to do a ship inspection. In those instances, they would really need to just 'follow around' the experienced guy (who will then tell them what are the things to look out for, and what to do during a 'shipcheck); those sort of job, yes, it's permissable to 'learn the ropes' before doing. =)
if i was a CEO, id put my son/daughter as a general manager :p kiddddddddding kiddddddddding, i hate those ppl. i'll never put an inexperience person over an experience person despite what their resume is. though, if the inexperienced person (with a good resume) learn fast, then id promote him/her faster. (assuming im the CEO, CFO, chairman or some sort)
New to the company, new to the job and has little relevant experience to head a project. :)Quote:
Who is a newbie? One who is new to the company, new to the job or completely without any work experience, relevant or not? Or any combination of the above?
That said, the person has worked at the company for more than a month before he was put in charge of the project. He was still in the process of learning for his original job scope.
It is actually done quite a bit in the technical and business areas of big companies. Many companies have "leadership development rotational programs" where they hire new college graduates and rotate them through 4 assignments in 2 years, often leading projects and/or teams in each assignment. This is done to let the new graduate, aka prospective future leader, understand multiple components of the company so they can be a more effective leader. Since the intent of hiring these new graduates is not to "do work," but to "become a leader," they are often given leadership opportunities right away.
that probably depends if he's a graduate or something. like PJ mentioned, it's common, especially for fresh graduates to be subjected to something like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guo Xiang
leaders aren't pay to 'do the job', they are paid to make sure others do their job. =p
it's starkly different from my field of work, where technical competency is pretty important. even so, it's not possible to let anyone 'do nothing for months' & just learning. usually, learn-on-the-job is the way to go.
as long as it's not first day on the job, then there will at least be some 'track record' for the supervisor to fall back on and judge if the person's up to it. some guys might picked up reasonably fast to make it work.:)
A newbie as a second in command who occassionally needs a guidance from a more experience guy is okay with me.
however, i'm normally stuck with newbie who is put in charge of a project that required constant nagging and daily lectures from me or my boss.
What if they just tell the guy 'do this do that' but doesn't show him how? Sometimes he is scared of asking too, because of the idea that he could be seen as incompetent (always needing guidance).
It's like a disaster waiting to explode. :\
The new guy should realize that he doesn't know everything, and if he is going to succeed, he needs help from veterans. He should try to create these alliances and friendships.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guo Xiang
that's a 'soft skill' to have. actually there are many people out there willing to show the ropes to a newbie..one just have to make that person feel 'appreciated', or elevated to a 'mentor' role that he or she would derive self-gratification just from imparting his or her knowledge. =pQuote:
Originally Posted by Guo Xiang
it's actually normal that the boss doesn't tell me how to do anything.
in my job since day one it's like this.
im expected to befriend everyone around me, make sure they would be most willing to teach me what i need to know. if they don't teach, theres another skill call '偷师'; ie. learn 'secretly'...use your eyes, your ears, and your brain to figure things out by observation. also, mingling with people and finding out which people are 'expects' in which trades, so you learn from the right people.
the ability to 'learn' despite not being spoonfeed is a skill every boss watch out for his or her employee.
if you're expected to be 'taught' how to do the job, then you'll be considered as 'needs spoonfeeding'; or lack 'pro-active-ness'. though you probably won't get sack for doing that, just that you won't really shine. =) provided that you do your job well after spoonfeeding.
pro-activeness does not mean volunteering to screw up jobs though. it means to take ur own initiative to learn how to do things correctly, before the job was even tasked to you. or even better, learn how the company goes, and create jobs for yourself. =p but this probably need some experience and familiarity with the job as well.
:p part of my job at work is to 'research' and suggest 'jobs' to do, and then if it gets the greenlight, i'll kickstart it. sometimes it gets delegated so that my 'time' can be free up to 'find more jobs'. lol
ability to come up with 'jobs' to improve the company's business takes creativity as well. =)
Haha, that's so true!Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucre
Bosses/supervisors are so hard to please (I'm speaking as one!). On one hand, they want their workers to have initiative and to be pro-active; on the other hand, they get upset when their workers create new problems/disasters from being smart-alecky.
I think workers need to know the difference between the two, to continue working and growing in the company.
^_~ i spoke as one before. When I was once a newbie, I started off being scolded for 'needing to be spoonfeed'; then I tried to be pro-active, and then I realized I end up rushing forward and screw up things T_T; nevertheless, I finally figured out how to get things done the way boss approves.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by HuangYushi
I think it happens in a lot of places. Sometimes I notice that they don't want to listen to someone below them and will just ask someone above them. Then there are others who will ask questions and slowly learn from everyone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guo Xiang
starting to see more and more of that happening.... is always someone who is related to some else that gets the promotion or I guess also how well you can please management...Quote:
Originally Posted by LuNaR