How do you go about correcting the mistakes and/or oversights of fellow employes? More so, those that have been in the biz longer than you and make more money than you. What if they have been doing it a certain way for many years but you know it's wrong and they won't listen to you?

More than technical mistakes, just simple attention to detail mistakes. Like looping a wire around a truss or running the wrong gauge wire for speakers or making a rat's nest of a panel or rack. Some people are so used to doing it their way and to be honest, there haven't been many problems - I'm just more of a perfectionist then the other guys.

I think most of you would say point it out to the boss or manager, but in this case the tech is the boss's brother. The boss is more the "as long as it works" and "as long as it doesn't look too bad cause you and I are the only one's that are going to see it" type. Meanwhile, it's 10:30PM and I'm researching the electrical differences between 75ohm and 50ohm cables!

If he comes to RC he knows it now. You may want to edit your profile.

Well, if they're willing to pay you for the time to do it right, keep doing what you're doing. It pleases me to know people take pride in their work.

Most systems are all about tidy. It's psychological. If a system looks like a rat's nest it's not going to sound or run as good as it should have. Think about it.

I'd rather have a cherry atop my icecream sundae than a roach anyday.

What you may want to try is leaving his brother's work alone. It will most likely come back to bite him and your boss in the a$$. While it's no fault of yours, you could suggest that wire dressing/finishing be included in future jobs so this type of thing doesn't happen again, and also so the customer is more confident in recommending the company to others.

If you do jobs separately, you could keep your wiring nice and neat, while he makes it look like the wire parade just passed through. When issues come up, that's an alternate opportunity for you to mention the inclusion of wire dressing/finishing.

Those methods will make you look like a problem solver, rather than possibly being taken as "critical" of the other installer.



Thank you,
Damon DG
= = = = =
http://www.ProRemotes.com - Authorized Dealer & Remote Programming Services

Brother or not, if hes not doing a good job you need to say something to the boss. I've worked with 2 of my brothers.... One even worked directly under me for a while.. and I had to Fire him....

Business is business.....

If your boss doese nothing about his brother and things continue... Find anew place to work.... EVeyone is looking for skilled technicians.
Theres no need to work for a company that doesnt have the same dedication and values as you.

I like Damon's advice, as you don't need to be labeled as a malcontent however you also don't want to be the guy on a service call pulling out a rack with an afro. Diplomacy is a good thing, and I believe if left alone the other guys work WILL catch up to him. Does your company have trainings? This might also be a open forum time to interject your thoughts and reasons for doing the type of work you mentioned...

We had a similaar issue with remotes..mainly MX-850's. We have 5 guys and every one programmed the system a little different. If someone else went to the site they would actually take the time to re-do the remote to their liking. Needless to say I put together a standard, and we had a meeting to agree upon how these remotes should not only look, but function. I think we have resolved most of it, but I feel your pain!

Is there really 5 different ways you can program a MX-850?

Kindof....Right and wrong, is the first 2

Activity based, extensive intuitive macros, or simple macros with more control by savy customer.. That's 5 right? The problem was finding a happy medium...
It wasn't really a question of one being wrong I guess, but it irks me to walk into a home that has 2 HT's, and find that the Theater room, and the family room were programmed totally different..

There is no easy way to convince someone that they are doing rookie work, when they have no expectations of ever doing anymore then what they are now. You need to find another place of employement, or better yet head out on your own.

Good luck

Excellent point. I tried that and it didn't work out. I am now on the path of taking over this company within the next 5 years because there are more positive things here that out way the negatives.

There is more to benefit from solving problems than there is running from them. If I'm moving to management level, I need to know how to talk to my employees, no matter how challenging it may be.

So now the questions is, how would YOU respond to someone with less time in the industry, making half of what you make, calling out YOUR mistakes?

now the questions is, how would YOU respond

I like to think that constructive critism is just that, constructive. When someone goes out of their way to correct an issue, it's probably because they care about you and how you can grow. I think I would take note and, if appropriate, adjust to suit.

Then I'd kick their teeth in.

I had the same issues when I first started in Custom A/V Installations. I started in the Pro Audio industry and I was taught to detail my rack installations When I crossed over to A/V there were many installers who were above me who spent many hours creating a rats nest. They were more concerned with productivity over quality. Well my installations were acknowledged and it payed off in the long run. It may take you a little more time to detail your wires but who's rack will be more serviceable.

do it your way...you won't go wrong and the client will appreciate the effort.

good luck

Oxjox,
The simple answer is find another job with people that have the same value's in the quality of work that you do.

Now you REALLY should edit your profile.

Nobody has answered part of this -- what does he do when he is sent out to fix something flaky on one the brother's installations, and has to take forever because the wiring just makes no sense?

I would have to apologize to my boss, and tell him that since the brother did the installation, and he has a different way of approaching things, the brother will be able to do the repair more rapidly, as he will be familiar with the way it was done. I say this because I have particular patterns I repeat so that I don't have to remember a lot of details.

We finally let a guy go yesterday. Super nice guy, just spacey... would overlook stuff, or he would just randomly try to come up with fixes. Sad to see him go, but it also takes a lot of stress off of everyone else. I'm not saying I'm any better than he was, as I really can struggle at times, but when I start stressing over a problem, I just step back and take a breather, make a phone call or two to tech support and usually figure it out.
He was always too stubborn to call tech support... It caught up with him.
Hopefully we can send him some of the smaller stuff that we can't do effeciently as I think he'll go back out on his own (again).