Sunday 16 November 2014

My take on managers

Now this observation could very well get my in a lot of trouble but seeing as how I'm retired now, meh why not!
I've worked with many different types of managers over the years and notice how I said with there, not for.  We'll get to them later.
The old school belief is that the door team run the front door, it's their call who comes in and should never be belittled in front of customers for what should be obvious reasons.  Once overruled by a manager a doorman loses all control over that individual and renders him useless and pointless him being there!
Sadly this does increasingly happen particularly in trendy wannabe nightclubs where profit dictates all.  This is a terrible way to manage a venue as it just becomes a ticking time bomb with doormen feeling they can't say or do anything or they'll lose their jobs.  Not the best or most secure environment really! Larger clubs who are guaranteed heavy foot traffic are usually ran well as the  manager is far too busy to be worrying about who is in the venue, the door team will have received instruction previously about dress code, VIPs etc and should be left alone to do their jobs, I've been there and this works very well.  
In smaller venues who are trying to be something they're not however you can get a manager who is always on the front door calling the shots, this never works well and nearly always leads to problems between management and doorstaff as doorstaff feel they need to ask permission at every turn this reducing their authority directly in the eyes of the public.   It's a shame but still happens.
On the flip side though you can get a Manager who supports you totally and I can't tell you what a relief that is.  For me I have the most respect for two of my most recent managers at different venues in York,  Jason who is an ex doorman of many years who is still licensed and Vicky, a straight talking gal from the north east. 
 Now with Jason you may think that a manager who also still has a door licence is a recipe for disaster but far from it, Jason gave me full control from the get go, I could talk to him and he never overruled me once.  I do remember one busy Saturday afternoon spotting an idiot about to take a leak in our entrance passageway mere meters away from us! Jason couldn't contain himself and pushed the guy firmly out of the venue, then apologized to me for losing his temper!  I think the restraint he showed was amazing to be honest given the guys attitude at the time!
Vicky was similar but unfortunately being a 'boro girl you had to usually calm her down before you could throw whoever it was out!