Can anyone suggest a program available or readings available that will help fine tune management skills. My wife and i tend to disagree with the way we manage the guys, respectively. She tends to be the mother type, nurturing and protecting. I keep telling her that you are their boss and not their mother. I always tend to be the bad guy and she tells me that I am too tough on the guys.
We do have a tight knit company and culture and the guys are well taken care of. My problem is that they tend to walk all over us, due to my wife's nurturing. For example, I discovered damage to one of the trucks recently. WE have a real strict policy on this type of thing. I asked her if anyone had reportedit to her and her response was "No." After a week of practically interrogating the guys, I found out that one of them did report it to her. Her response to me was basically that she didn't want thim to get into trouble by me for it. Accidents happen......I understand this.
Anyhow, that's only one of a million examples.
I told her this morning that she needs to act like their boss and not their mother!!!

Oh boy....

You and your wife need to set some ground rules you are going to both stick to for running the business. No management book is going to help that unfortunately.

im in with my dh....which is nice usually....but we try and have different job areas....the workers only need one boss,,,i have an employee right now who runs between us pushing things with him i dont want,,,its not good,.......hiding truck damage sounds pretty serious, couldnt that screw up your insurance, and what about reporting it? i wouldnt want an employee that would hide that.........good luck!!!!!

ps love your business idea..

I dunno. All I can tell ya is that I've worked for people like you're describing, and I did anything they were to ask of me, because they looked after me in the way you're talking. If they called and offered me a job today, I'd have to at least consider it.

There is nothing wrong with the good guy/bad guy method of personnel management. While I was on active duty I used it with my seconds in charge all the time. But we both operated from the same page.

And you both have to be on that same page. The good guy/bad guy thing is a strategy of co-management, not a contest between you.

If I might be so bold, sounds to me like you both might benefit from some serious compromise. She gets to be Good Guy but has to agree to stick to good solid practice ... that you both agree on. You get to be Bag Guy but have to give her the room to look after the employees.

Is that making any sense?

I disagree that there is nothing wrong with the good guy/ bad guy method when their ultimate aims are divergent. First of all you need to clearly establish roles and responsibilities. Who runs these field crews, you or her? They cannot serve two masters. One of you needs to retreat and allow the other to do their job. There must be consistant management. Secondly you need to have a written policy for reporting and dealing with auto accidents, injuries, and damage to company property. The employees must understand that accidents will happen, but you must be promptly informed of them so that any fallout from them (property damage, bodily injury, or unsafe mechanical conditions) can be addressed. The last thing you need is a call from the police or a lawyer. Tell the guys this is the reason you are asking who id it, not to yell at them over spilled milk.

Good luck, bro.

I agree with the others - you need to set clear rules/boundaries on this type of thing. Perhaps a division of responsibilities would be in order? Although my wife is part of my company, she has no control over it's management, though I do value her input and do seek her opinion on major issues. I only say that as an example; obviously, in your case there is more active involvement by your wife, so allowances for that must be made.

Also, it would be a good idea for her to not only read the responses to your post (no sense in hiding!) but also to have her participate in the forum and perhaps speak to some similarly situated people. What about the franchisor - do they offer any resources to help with something like this? Maybe you can check in the franchise board for additional assistance, as franchisees may have a different set of issues than those of us who are not.

Friend, I will echo what archangel shared; but, may I add a bit more?

First, I would clearly define roles via a job description for both of you (e.g. operations, human resources, fiscal responsibilities, public relations). Then - for your employees.

Second, post policies (i.e. in a binder, on a bulletin board) and set aside training time to go over some of the tasks that have created the recent confusion/tension in the management practices. This will allow the employees to have opportunities to respond to questions within their processes... to have the "what if..." hypothetical situations addressed.

Lastly, document any and all discussions with employees in the event you're looking to grow your employees as much as your business. The documentation will be handy for such things as promotions, incentive pay, justifying time off, disciplinary actions leading up to (and including) termination, fending off future lawsuits over your human resources policies, et al.

The two of you need to have a meeting of the minds, I have been in bussiness with my wife for 5 years so I can understand some of what you are going through.

1st your wife needs to know that you two must share everything about the business with each other, even if somethings may make the other person mad.

2nd As everyone else has said you all need to have your own areas you are in charge of.

3rd On of you must have final say in the business 100% of the time.

If you don't get this under control it could really hurt your business in the long run.

I hope some of this helps.

Thankyou all for the input. It definately helps and I'm taking your advice seriously.