I question the time I spend on here as well, but hey, someone has to give an opinion around here that doesn't go along with everything that MFE says....though we have agreed on 2 or 3 things. Please don't confuse the 5-10 minutes I spend here with the fact that I'm not overworked, mostly by choice....10 hrs is usually a short day....but I'm single with no kids so I always work doubles when the PM mgr is on vacation etc. I signed up for it, so not complaining.
I'd agree that most Ops managers are overworked. Many moons ago, friend of mine was a newbie manager for a month when the senior got canned for having sex with a direct report. He became a defacto senior overnight and almost had a nervous breakdown covering both the AM and the PM operations. The other managers, who
should have gotten the nod, weren't up to the task, so this new person got hosed and was out of management within the year. It took over 6 months to get a new senior in-place.
I see managers covering both sides of the operation all the time. That translates to at least a 14 hr day, with all of the drama, whining, butt-kissing, and operational headaches thrown-in for good measure. They don't tend to last very long, nor do their relationships. A heavy price to pay for joining the FedEx version of Fred's dream organization....the USMC.
Fred doesn't seem to understand that you cannot succesfully overlay the organizational structure of the Marine Corps onto a civilian private enterprise where people aren't completely immersed in the culture and/or brainwashing of the military. He keeps trying anyway, doesn't he?