Old Crusty
Well-Known Member
Not looking for a row, genuine request.
You have mentioned a new approach before.
What makes you think things have changed? Who is suddenly now pushing buttons that have not been pushed before? And why do you believe this/these individuals have a better focus than we have seen in recent years?
As I said, not spoiling for an argument, I really hope you are correct - I just want to be clear on your thinking. And praying you are right
What has changed?
Firstly, I believe that the EA was stung by the volume of complaints about it sitting on its collective hands as the lock down began to ease and the number of navigation obstructions mounted up. Add to that the lobbying by river user representatives to the relatively new staff in the national navigation team that has had positive impact.
A number of poor-performing, mediocre managers have been re-assigned to other jobs, re-deployed away from the EA or are being managed by different senior managers - those I refer to are the fans of the status quo, who believe that change only brings more work and responsibility and must be avoided. This change has removed a management blockage; so far, so good.
There is a new and enthusiastic assistant waterways manager who is ex military and has worked his way up from relief lock keeper to patrol boat officer to team leader so he knows how it works. The river based staff have embraced the opportunity to get afloat again and do the job they joined up for - I hear they are responding well and working together. The operations delivery teams who manage the M&E, lock and weir maintenance are being led by a no-nonsense manager who likes to get stuff done.
Like many of my former colleagues, I joined to do a job ON the river, not in an office working on a laptop all day and given the opportunity, most will go boating for any reason. As I said to all the team leaders when Andrew Graham was waterways manager, you can't do your job effectively from the office, get out into the field and spend time with your teams, lead, direct or GTF out of the way, tell 'em what you want, when you want it by, then give them the space to achieve. You are the navigation authority, your job is to regulate the river and protect the PRN, JFDI, stop spending your days in the office, ticking boxes on safety systems and HR waffle.
Currently, that does seem to be happening. Time will tell if it lasts.
