How to ruin a boat.

[rst]

"do you want to talk to the BOSS or the person in charge???"  [wink] 
right up there with..."It's not that I don't hear you: I'm ignoring you". 
"our hourly rate is $45.00, $55.00 if you watch, and $75.00 if you tried to fix it yourself before bringing it here"

all signs hanging above our keys & machines in our retail shop

 

[tiralie]

She asked us if we're willing to re-varnish the interior as a favour to her and she's going to throw in a small bonus. She also told us she's been in contact with a yacht painter who's going to do all the varnishing starting with the next interior. We all know this yacht painter because the yacht building business is a very small world in the north of The Netherlands and we know he delivers top quality.

Good to hear.

There's a high shortage of skilled shipwrights because this is not the kind of work most kids want to do nowadays. They want some cushy office job with a useless job title instead of working with their hands and creating something from scratch.

Yes, and parents who discourage their kids doing skilled labor. It's pathetic really, the kids can't pay their university loans off because they can't find a job in marketing or media etc., but don't want to work as electricians, carpenters or cabinetmakers etc.
Tim

 

[Lemwise]

Are you sure who is really the boss in this operation ?

I'm thinking there is about to be a change in upper management .  ;D

oh, and I'd hold out for more than a "small" bonus.

Even though she mostly works from home (she comes to the company once a week) we always suspected she's the one behind a lot of decisions. From now on she's going to come in at least 3 days a week so she can keep a close eye on things. And I will say this about her, she commands respect... and she's made it abundantly clear she has no time for BS'ing around.

 

[Holmz]

It may loose something in the translation, but she may "give him a shellacking "?

 

[DB10]

She asked us if we're willing to re-varnish the interior as a favour to her and she's going to throw in a small bonus. She also told us she's been in contact with a yacht painter who's going to do all the varnishing starting with the next interior. We all know this yacht painter because the yacht building business is a very small world in the north of The Netherlands and we know he delivers top quality.

Good to hear.

There's a high shortage of skilled shipwrights because this is not the kind of work most kids want to do nowadays. They want some cushy office job with a useless job title instead of working with their hands and creating something from scratch.

Yes, and parents who discourage their kids doing skilled labor. It's pathetic really, the kids can't pay their university loans off because they can't find a job in marketing or media etc., but don't want to work as electricians, carpenters or cabinetmakers etc.
Tim

Very true but Unfortunately self entitlement and getting your hands dirty don't work we'll together.

 

[Lemwise]

Well, the real boss isn't wasting any time. From now on we're going to have a short meeting every Monday morning to start the week. She wants to know what we're going to work on that week, what has to be finished that week, does anything have to be ordered, that sort of thing. Basically, she's going to introduce some much needed structure. No more guesstimating but weekly goals. It's not a problem for me because I'm used to it from other shipyards (Feadship, Royal Huisman, Mulder Shipyard) but I wonder how well the others will adapt.

 

[tiralie]

Basically, she's going to introduce some much needed structure. No more guesstimating but weekly goals.

She sounds like she has had enough with "seat of the pants" managing. Hopefully she can stick with it.

It's not a problem for me because I'm used to it from other shipyards (Feadship, Royal Huisman, Mulder Shipyard) but I wonder how well the others will adapt.

They will probably like it or at least adapt unless there was someone who was enjoying certain privileges or manipulating the the situation to their personal benefit over others.
Chaos is OK when you are innovating or creating something brand new or for short periods, but if it's everyday it starts to makes you irritable, less able to focus and less productive. I think, structure and stability actually makes you more creative not less.
Tim

 

[Lemwise]

To be honest I liked the seat of the pants managing style of her husband because it gave us a lot of freedom (too much if I'm honest). But if we really want to move forward there needs to be structure and we all acknowledge that. It's also a good thing for our apprentice because she will learn to work with targets and deadlines.

 

[Lemwise]

Even more changes have been made today. We never had a lead shipwright (or a lead mechanic or lead painter) but today I was appointed as the lead shipwright. She wants one person in each department who she can coordinate things with.

 

[antss]

Sounds like you've finally found someone with management skills.

I'm at a loss as to how you guys lasted this long without having a weekly production meeting.

 

[leakyroof]

Sounds like you've finally found someone with management skills.

I'm at a loss as to how you guys lasted this long without having a weekly production meeting.

. Oh, I'm not..... I've worked more than one job that was managed this way.  The only way he could have a 'more interesting ' workday is if both husband and wife assigned jobs to people that totally contradicted each of their orders.... in a small family business, been there , done that ..... [big grin]

 

[Lemwise]

Well, that's simple. Everyone at the company is in their late 30's or early 40's (I'm turning 41 this year). We've all been doing this so long that we know exactly how long it takes and what we need to do the technical installation or make the interior. We basically managed ourselves.

Another change is that the yacht painter she talked with is also joining us. He was self employed but he's signed a contract and he's going to set up the paint department. Everything paint related will be done in-house from now on.

The only thing I don't get is why it took her so long to take the reins. The fiasco with the house painter who varnished the interior wasn't the first costly mistake her husband made.

 

[tiralie]

The only thing I don't get is why it took her so long to take the reins. The fiasco with the house painter who varnished the interior wasn't the first costly mistake her husband made.

A good example of why it's never a good idea to have a significant other or relatives in the business. Difficult to go home at night if you only discuss the bad stuff the other partner did or didn't do. Working with your significant other and/or relatives is good way to bootstrap a business, but fails at creating a professional environment that employees can respect.
Tim

 

[antss]

I'm curious whether your boss started out as a shipwright or other craftsman ?  Clearly he's not a professional manager.

 

[Lemwise]

They used to own a boat rental company but that went bankrupt during the financial crisis. The shipyard they now own also went out of business and they took over. I guess her husband thought renting out boats is no different from building boats. And even though there is room for a lot of improvement in how the company is managed past clients have always been more than satisfied with the boats we built for them. We're also swamped with work and can't even take on new builds until the end of 2018. We have a 2 year waiting list for new clients.

And I will say this about them, we always have our salary on time. They'd rather make a supplier wait a bit longer on their money than be late with our salary. I have to give them credit for that.