I have been out of the theatre off and on for about 2 weeks due to a tonsil and sinus infection and my Assistant Manager has turned into a monster. He has hired 15 new people, made a tremendous amount of changes, rearranged the office, made new policies,etc, etc, etc. He has basically gone totally NUTS!!!! I think I have him figured out, he wants my job hahaaha. He likes to run things "his" way and I cant deal with it.

The employees are about ready to go crazy and Im not sure how to go about handling the situation. I appreciate all the hard work he has done since i have been out but its MY theatre, I am the GM.

Today was the ultimate. I was so mad I just left without saying anything. I am still too sick to really want to "deal" with it right now. But I know I need to get this situation fixed before the summer hits.

Again, I just went through the same thing here in Vegas, the land of backstabbers. I had to correct a few assistants here from Rectal-Cranial Inversion. I worked to hard to get where I am and I am not going to let some punk take me down. What made it hard for me is that my assistants that were stirring the pot are (and were) really good assistants. Within 9 months, I have 4 assitants leave(fired, forced to quit or transfer) and 4 come on board. The ones that still on, now know not to rock the boat. Funny thing is, I am an easy going guy and I encourage them to have fun while working...as long as it is my way.

Good luck...

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Those employees are immediately suspect of being cronies or having been hired as retaliation to threaten the hours of some existing employees.

You need to seriously think about your own managing style. The events you describe don't happen out of the blue. Do you play favorites or not back up the assistant? Have complaints by the assistant about the staff gone unanswered? Is your assistant trained to not only do what you want, but understand why it is important? Have you slacked off and allowed assistants to do your own work? Do you "wimp out" when there is a hard decision to be made? Is there a clique or ring of thieves at your theatre that you might be only marginally aware of? Did you hire or promote an assistant that wasn't suited to the job?

Chris is right that running a theatre is not a democracy. I know how I would handle the situation, but it wouldn't have been allowed to develop. At this point, you need to understand what is going on and why, and only then take decisive steps to correct things. Interview your employees or have an outside third party interview them. Listen. Learn. Then act.

If he's got the drive to not just sit back and let the theatre go to pot without you there, he's IMHO worth keeping. It's your job to shape him into a better manager, and, to an extent, a better person.

Remember, if you have someone in your building that can take over your job, it makes it much easier for your supervisors to promote you!

Just some food for thought.

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I resent that remark. I am an assistant, and I work very hard. I would be a GM if my schedule allowed it. You are forgetting a concept rarely seen in floor staff: enthusiasm. If you have an enthusiastic assistant, you need to chanel their engergies. Remember not too long ago a little projectionist-to-be named Andrew? He was extremely enthusiastic about theatres, but unfortunatly did not have the kind of direction that worked with him.

Right now I'm kind of on the flip side of your situation. I have a new GM that is turning things topsy turvy at my theatre. Normally this would be fine, but we are his first theatre and he is poorly trained. You need too do what I am trying to do with my manager: show them boundries, freedoms, and give lots of encouragement. Even one liners like "I want you to know you're doing a really excellent job" work wonders to give direction with an uncertain assistant.

Of course there are the bad apples. When you have one, act quickly and decisively, they will only drag down the rest of the staff the longer they stay.

grrr...evil memories....

Sometimes if you give someone a little bit of authority and a red pen they go a little nuts.

After thinking all of this over, I think I may have jumped the gun too much. At least my Assistant keot the theatre going with no problems while I was out. Im grateful for that.

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