In my first supervisory role, I was supervising four trash truck operators. They complained a lot every day about how hard the truck was to drive, [about] the people, and how difficult all of it was. I tried to be the good boss and listen, but I felt like I wasn’t getting it. So I asked them to show me. I was about seven months pregnant, so they were a little reluctant, but I convinced them it was going to be OK. I could barely get up into the truck. This was one of those giant trash trucks that lift the dumpsters over the front of the truck. Big. But I got myself in and got the seatbelt on. The driver with the most seniority got in with me and he taught me how to drive that truck. What I found out was that it is really hard. Some of the spaces the truck had to go were very tight. There wasn’t good access. People, despite the back-up beeper, did walk behind it as they were backing up. All the things they had said were true. It just gave me a completely different appreciation of their job and the challenges of their job. We couldn’t fix all those things, but the thing that stayed with me from that experience is to go see it and try it if you can. It was an incredibly valuable lesson. Trying something and learning for yourself – there is nothing that substitutes for that.
The “go see” terminology comes from the Toyota TQM program. I had the opportunity to get some training in that in a prior position. I think it’s pertinent for any job where you’re working with other people. [In my current position as Director of Environmental Health and Safety,] I get a lot of calls from people every day. Sometimes their issue is the temperature in their office, or there’s an odor that’s offensive or they see people crossing the street where they shouldn’t cross.
Those may seem like little things, but to that person on that day, it’s a big deal. Just by going and seeing you’re experiencing what that person is experiencing. Nothing compares to seeing with your own eyes and talking to the person face-to-face. It all comes back to go see. Try. Learn.
I’ve been doing this work for a really long time and I still learn something new every day. That’s a personal goal for me. I have this guiding philosophy: Every day I want to learn something, help somebody, finish something, and have a bit of fun. And you can do that in this job.
The thing I like most is that I feel that we [help] keep people safe. We’re helping people go home. But we’re also often asking someone to do something that makes their job take longer or cost more and I’ve had to learn different things to be persuasive. Who I [need to ask] determines how to influence them, because they all have very different needs.
For the carpenter, we want him to go up the ladder [the right way so he can] come down in the same physical health.
For a project manager, [the concern] is the cost and [I have to explain] how the cost [of safety measures] can be offset.
We have a lot of different constituencies and you have to know your audience.
I like finishing things. I’m a list person.
Our days are very varied. Sometimes there’s small tasks, so you can finish something every day. I do a lot of problem-solving. There might be a small problem, like a particular laboratory might not have enough space to store all the chemicals. So [I’ll go and determine that] instead of keeping different types of chemicals in different cabinets, we can buy plastic bins to keep them segregated. That’s a small problem.
We wanted to do a lab coat program for students who work in a laboratory setting with hazardous chemicals. That’s a huge problem. There are multiple ways you can institute a lab coat program. What are the options? What do they cost? How would we implement them? What’s the best option for us? It took more than a year [for my team] to analyze the costs and the implementation issues, as well as talk to the stakeholders. So that’s a big problem solved.
[And when a job is finished], I think it’s important to give recognition. My favorite recognition to give and receive is a handwritten note.
I keep a supply of notecards on my desk and try to do handwritten notes right when the spirit moves me. It doesn’t take long. It’s maybe three sentences. In my prior job, I had 100 people who worked for me and on their five year service anniversary, I always sent them a handwritten note just thanking them for their service and trying to mention something they had done recently. When I would go to visit them onsite, I would see that people had them up in their cubes and offices. They valued that and I valued doing it.
[Finally,] having fun is important because that’s what keeps you coming back. Helping other people for me is the fun part. Getting to meet someone new or solving a different kind of problem is fun. There’s always something to enjoy.
There are only seven people in this building. We’re like a little family so we celebrate birthdays or we’ll decorate for a holiday. We’ve done a departmental retreat and beautification of our building day. All those things are fun, but they also build a team by having those shared experiences. Then when a challenge comes along, you’re much more able to deal with it because you have that strong basis. We planted flowers outside our building together one summer and every time I [see] them, to me, that is visual evidence of good team building. It brings a smile to my face every time.
Written Spring 2019.