No, Ford removed many restrictions as of March 1st (specifically space restrictions for restaurants, theatres, vaccine passports for entry into most locations, and the like), but the mask mandate is still in place, as well as a few other key restrictions.
It now looks like he’s opening the doors completely as of March 21st.
I have a customer-facing job (selling board games at a FLGS), and I honestly don’t know if I’ll be able to keep masking once the restrictions are lifted. My boss is relatively supportive (I say “relatively” because he’s far less concerned about COVID than I am, but again, many people are less concerned about it than I am), but at some point he’s going to have to pick between having me masked or having the customers more comfortable, and I know where he’s going to fall on that spectrum.
That does actually make me feel a little better. I need to know that I’m doing everything I can, and if at some point “everything I can” doesn’t include masks, then that actually helps a little.
Broad roles are both good and bad. It makes it harder to direct things elsewhere, but it allows a greater chance to leverage a bit of influence in more places.
(As an aside, I manage the techs and support scientists at my institute, so feel free to drop me a message if you ever need to vent or want advice on job things. Aware that every place is different, but some of the challenges are common)
Will do, I have until the end of the month to apply so time to consider it.
I’ll lose direct management of of the scientists in this role anyway, the rumour mill says my current boss is also moving up although I haven’t been told yet which would open up a Lab Operations Manager role, rather than this current opening of Programme Manager.
I am a bit frustrated with work today. I applied for a promotion recently and found out yesterday that I wasn’t successful - disappointing but I did get some feedback on what I need to do to be successful next time. My frustration stems from the context surrounding the feedback:
Feedback: be more of a leader and less of a manager.
Context: before Christmas I requested to reduce my line management responsibilities so I could focus on the other (strategic/technical) parts of my job… I managed 5 people before Christmas, now I manage 6. I didn’t have any say in this.
Feedback: contribute more to the strategic direction of the company.
Context: the management team regularly make decisions regarding my area of responsibility and “forget” to include me until I hear things from someone else and call them out on it. They then expect me to “cause trouble” for people who aren’t following our established processes by magically knowing what’s going on everywhere all the time.
Any and all tips on dealing with stupid office politics much appreciated!
All I can say is, I’m glad I’m not the only one with dysfunctional communication.
I have no solutions as when we finished our staff survey and we all said communication between management and us was poor, it was universally decided that meant management above them even though I directly told a manager it wasn’t.
You’ve failed at a key criteria - being able to read minds is a key job requirement.
More seriously, that’s extremely unhelpful feedback, and it has me shaking my head in dismay. A thought - ask whether you can sit in on the strategy meetings as a learning experience to develop your leadership skills. Proactive response to the feedback, plus may get you into the communication chain by a back door.
This sounds a lot like what I hear from my partner. He is already managing people in Europe, China and the US—imagine how difficult is to have a team meeting with everyone present across all those timezones.
So he asked that he could split the team to alleviate some of the horrible hours he has had to work and also the people in his team. Denied. Instead he got 2 new people.
(I am keeping the rest of my rant on his job with me, but there’s lots more…. He really cares for his people a lot but he is looking to get away from the toxic leadership in his department)
Edit: as soon as he gets off work (it is 8:20pm here) I’ll ask him if he has any tips for you.
My only advice is to document everything and demand to get any process/policy/organizational changes in the form of an email (that can then be saved as documentation). Any process/policy/org changes should be accompanied by the meeting notes, that should include the attendees.
In both cases, the issue appears to be the mere illusion of agency being extended to you, rather than actual agency.
I read this as they want you to delegate more? Very vague, but I would come back requesting them to be more specific.
I would take this as, “they are not feeding us back with information, so they want us to be more proactive in the communication” which opens the door to pelting them with emails requesting that info. It can be very tiring, but I would set an alarm on my calendar to ask them for information after each meeting they have that you know of (if you have any knowledge that they have a weekly or daily meeting, for example). Basically, they are being lazy cascading down information and they want you to fish for it, so give them hell with an avalanche of fishing hooks.
I read your post to him and he says “it’s exactly like here” My partner says you need to find allies in the company.
If you can, find someone within your own organization who helps and takes your side in staff meetings. And you also want to have people from outside your direct organization for recommendations and endorsements. Especially someone who gives feedback proactively.
And: find a mentor. My partner had a person willing to mentor him and I kept begging him for years to stay in contact with this person and he waited, then he felt ashamed for waiting and didn’t talk to them. Only now when this person is retiring has he finally gathered the courage to talk to them and he says it was awesome and so helpful.
In my experience with any and all relationships there are very very very few people who do not appreciate you contacting them even after months and sometimes years. The people who answer your “it’s been a while, but…” with some negative comment… you know where to put them. Do not hesitate. He now regrets not talking to his old boss earlier. She could have helped him.
So seek out those whom you had positive interactions with and “recruit” them as allies.
PS: I am a freelancer now because I couldn’t deal with this stuff -.-
Yes, it does frustrate me a little when the term ‘post-pandemic’ gets used in the media, when the people with medical/virology knowledge say we’re probably halfway through it. Not to mention the spike of cases in some areas (such as around me).
I have a few questions. Is this a step up to a level that takes you in to a different zone? Secondly have you been promoted there before or turned down previously for this same level of promotion?
I think there is a lot of wishful thinking going round. As an update, here in NZ our lucky days are over, the last 2-3 weeks have seen Omicron raise to the thousands or tens of thousands of cases a day. We have already three guys at work isolating at home, and I had to really pick up on our employees following the rules, because it is here and it is not a joke. I still have some stubborn ones that love to keep their masks by their chins.
Yesterday I found out my youngest had a case in her classroom on Tuesday (and the kids her age are without masks at school), and now that the disease is hitting close to home, I realise how lucky (or fortunate) we have been up till now. Fingers crossed, it will all go down well.