the downside of supervising
One of the reasons I have not been on Tumblr much lately is because I have been managing a 20 person phone bank for the last 2 and 1/2 months. I staffed it, trained them and manage it on a daily basis. It has been one of the best learning experiences I have had professionally. I thought I have been handling it well and then it got even harder.
Yesterday, I had to fire someone for the first time in my life. It sucked. I had every right to fire this person. After 8 weeks of working with him, training and re-training, warnings and even pairing him with someone more experienced - his performance was still well below where it needed to be. That didn’t make it any easier. Looking someone in the eye and essentially telling them they are not good enough and are no longer needed, broke my heart. I know he needed the job. I know that maybe in the future he could be better, but it is a short-term project and I had to make a decision based on that. I just hope I was clear on why he was being let go and what he needed to work on so it could help him in future jobs. It was a sad day for me. I don’t know if I am cut out to be a boss.
