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Because they forgot where they came from, don't yet understand that you have to treat people with respect, consistently, to establish trust, and they are too shortsighted to realize that at some point, maybe soon, maybe years from now, you may be in a position to help them. Or not.
I agree with what the other SM's have said. It's not that we don't care, it's that we get a barrage of emails and also those nice lovely Partners you love are ripping us new ones for not responding to their emails, texts, calls, smoke signals etc.
Coz you peasant ..
Your maybe right. The weird thing is that I feel like I get more support and acknowledgement from MDs
Some Senior Managers are truly awful. If they need something from you they'll reach out to you real quick. When you need something from them, no luck. I've noticed that most partners on the other hand are willing to help you out however they can. Difference between leading a company and looking out for oneself
Maybe they're busy and have learned they have to prioritize aggressively...?
I would also add that many analysts email a lot lot LOT of details but no clear call to action of what I'm supposed to do with it. I'm a manager and my typical email to a partner/director is, "here is the problem. I could do X or Y. Unless you tell me otherwise, I will do X." With that format, if they want me to do Y, I generally get a response pretty quickly. Make it easy for your partner/director!
Part of the difference between Partners and SMs is that Partners have admins to help with the Bs. It gives us SM much less time to respond to every email. When you manage multiple engagements with scores and hundreds of people without an admin responses take time.
I used to think the same thing. But as I progressed, I realized that senior managers run our firms. We're responsible for delivering large chunks, if not thr entire project. And also responsible for growth/sales on our clients, growth/sales on other accounts, and then practice responsibilities. Most SMs I know work more than anyone else at the firm. Having said that, we still have to make time for our people. It was critical feedback on a recent engagement survey for my engagement.
Today I received over 700 emails, was in meetings for over 7hrs between three clients and had to review several decks and other deliverables. All without admin support. Of course I delegate a lot of my work but I can't delegate my email box so a good share of those emails go unread unless you are (a) a current or prospective client, (b) a PPED, (c) a key team member that is one of my go-to people, or (d) a counselee or unofficial mentee. I do try to respond when the email volumes ease but I always recommend try again as a repeated or "gentle reminder" will help me respond to you. The only reason I can be on here right now is I am at the hotel and my laptop is updating so I can't respond to all those stale emails instead.
@op....ill give you a tip i have used in the past. A lot of smgrs have right hand men that they use (usually its a high performing mgr). Reach out to them and convince them that you are good. If you do that they will get in touch w the smgr
I understand being busy--- but multiple emails and even pings? It's disheartening.
Why are you emailing a smgr....work w your consultants and mgrs.
There is a pyramid in place to help manage large organizations
OP, that's likely the case, because to make MD, it helps to support your people and behave with respect to everyone. I am an experienced D, and I would not intentionally ignore multiple emails from someone.
It /is/ disheartening. But that's because you're taking it personally. It's not that they don't care, it's that they don't have the mental capacity to care. They're really worked hard, especially if they're trying to make partner. Just move on to more responsive folks and keep your head up.
Lol i even have trouble getting responses from my own cousin. Hahaha I doubt it's personal, even though it's mad annoying
Some people don't give a shit about others. Just themselves. See it all the time. I call them bad managers. I pride myself on helping out my team. How they learn and become self sufficient.
Hell yea, SM1! Your friendly partners become the biggest assholes as soon as you make SM.
Agree with others here. I just get far too many emails and IMs already that a seemingly simple one that will lead to a conversation is just too much time spent. If a decision needs to be made before work can continue then I expect it to be a clearly presented issue with the solutioning already performed by my team. If it is going to be a conversation and brainstorming that I wasn't already planning time around then I expect my team to perform that before presenting it to me or we're in a bad spot. I used to get annoyed by the same thing early in my career and now I understand why it was the case. I basically spend my day trying to get and stay ahead of fire drills as it is.
I too used to swear I would never ignore people, miss calls/emails, re-schedule meetings 15x... but reality hits you. There is simply too much work to remain as conscientious as you were earlier in your career.