Five service managers served on a panel discussion at this year’s Service Management Forum to talk about challenges they faced while transitioning from the field to the office. For all five former technicians, they had initial struggles letting go of not being the guy out there solving the problem. “I had a hard time letting go because it was easier to take care of issues myself sometimes,” explained James Sandoval (J&J Air Conditioning). “It was not productive and I was not allowing the techs to grow.” Joe Ardagna (CESCO) added, “You now become a resource and a mentor and have to empower them to do it themselves.”

The panel also gave advice on dealing with transitioning from being their peer to their boss. “They may want special treatment,” explained Randy Stone (Nashville Machine). “But if you decide to do something for the guy you like make sure you would do it for the one you didn’t like.” Mike Schmidt (Air Comfort) said to treat each the field right. “Don’t forget where you came from,” said Mike. “They understand when you have to make a call and if you don’t, it’s worse and you lose respect.”

The guys advised against being in the office and in the field. “I thought I could be both,” said Marty Gilliam (ThermaServe). “I tried for three months and wouldn’t do that again.” Mike added, “That is the most difficult part of going from outside to inside – the process. You can’t just turn it off.”

While it can be a very difficult transition, the panel said mentoring and having a network of other service managers to turn to has helped them down the path. “If someone is asking you to come inside they see something in you and you have nothing to lose,” said Joe. “You can always be a tech again.” James said being open-minded was what helped him. “I worked with most of the guys in the field,” said James. “I let myself forget what I thought I knew. If I didn’t like someone in the field, I forgot about that and had to get to know them again.”

Special thanks to Mike, Joe, James, Randy, and Marty for helping us put together a great panel discussion! To learn more about our members of the moment please visit, http://www.aircomfort.com/, http://www.cescohvacservice.com/, http://www.jjair.com/, http://www.nashvillemachine.com/, and http://www.thermaserve.com/.