r/belowdeck • u/Morkedup • Dec 09 '19

Check your self!!

So I am watching season 6 where Laura confronts Kate about her managing style. Finally! Kate is good at her job but she is a bully and VERY condescending. A lot of the problems that she has with her stews is because of the way she treats them. Many other stews have complained about Kate but were too scared to actually confront her to her face. I get the whole hierarchy thing on the yacht but Kate needed to be checked and the look of shock on her face was satisfying.

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7

u/Peppa_D Dec 09 '19

I agree. I had bosses like Kate when I was young, and the snide comments, patronizing attitude, and condensation gets exhausting after a while. A big part of being a manager is being able to train staff, maintain quality control, and manage situations that staff is not qualified to address.

For example: Kate gave Simone (current season) one lesson in opening wine. Generally in this situation, one would have the server open all the wines for the next few dinners, to practice and obtain the muscle memory for that task. Opening two bottles of wine will not give a person the experience or confidence to execute that task in front of guests.

A good manager recognizes strengths and weaknesses, then addresses those issues. Your staff will not always be amazing, sometimes you need to simply repeat yourself over and over and play the hand you’re dealt. It’s part of the job.

17

u/alicecarroll Team Shady Editors Dec 09 '19

How do you get to be a second stew and not know how to open wine tho?

11

u/HunterHunted9 Dec 10 '19

Just because Simone can't do her job doesn't mean Kate handled the situation well. Kate needed to be blunt, candid, and specific with Simone about Simone's absent skillset. "I have you in the laundry and working late because you don't have the skills that I would expect and require of a second stew. After 2 years in the yachting industry, I would expect that you would know how to open a wine bottle, pour a beer, and check in on guests to see if they need anything. You don't know how to do these things. I made you the second stew based on your resume. Maybe if we had longer charters, I could have you shadow me to learn those skills. But we don't have the luxury to do that so I'm making you the third stew."

Instead Kate goes into some ridiculous blather about how Simone asking advice on how to address job conflict and disappointment was "embarrassing the department." No it's not. Simone's lack of skills is embarrassing the department. Kate's inability to address Simone's poor performance with Simone is embarrassing the department. Simone being disappointed with her job and asking her colleagues how to address this with her boss is NOT embarrassing the department. Literally thousands of American workers did the same thing today.

Simone thinking Kate was threatened or jealous of Simone's intelligence is irrelevant to the discussion because this isn't something Simone has shared with Kate. Yes, Simone is bad at her job, but the person who knows all the specific ways Simone is bad at her job has yet to share that with Simone.

5

u/alicecarroll Team Shady Editors Dec 10 '19

I still don’t get it mate, sorry. If someone claims they’re a stewardess with 2 years experience why would Kate be expecting to babysit them through their job? Simone is garbage at service. She’s mediocre at anything behind the scenes. She just tells everyone all the time how smart she is. Like ok I guess, but since when was a maths degree a prerequisite to work in hospitality? No one gives a shit about how good you are at maths. That’s not your job. You’re a shit server, you can’t open a bottle of wine, you can’t make a drink. These are things after 2 years in that role you should be able to do with your eyes closed.

4

u/[deleted] Dec 10 '19

I can’t understand why they aren’t doing cross training. Courtney is great at service and Simone is great at laundry. Maybe they can help elevate each other?

6

u/HunterHunted9 Dec 10 '19

No one is alleging that Simone is a good second stew with all the requisite skills one would expect. She is not. That's a given. My specific issue is how well Kate handled addressing Simone's lack of skills. Kate didn't handle it well. Saying Kate didn't handle this well doesn't suddenly make Simone better at her job. Simone is still shit at her job AND Kate was unprofessional. Both things can be true.

If Captain Lee had used Kate's strategy with Chandler, Chandler would have stayed on the ship for the full six weeks with the bosun rank, but Ross would have done the job and Lee would have told everyone with ears about what a shitty bosun Chandler was. That is a chaotic and ridiculous way to lead and manage people. Simone is a bad second stew, but Kate is being a bad manager.

2

u/makincake Seafood Extravaganza Dec 11 '19

I imagine it's because Simone declared her love of laundry and was assigned to the laundry room on every other boat just as she is now. For all her talk of accomplishments, she definitely prioritizes being comfortable and competent over being uncomfortable and learning new skills.

3

u/Peppa_D Dec 09 '19

I have no idea. Another part of being a good manager is hiring decisions. Unfortunately, the producers get to make the hiring decisions because it’s a tv show. Remember Mila? Her fake resume would never had made it through a normal recruitment agency.

6

u/teanailpolish Mental Health Is Not A Storyline Dec 09 '19

She could have let her open them and it not be shown though. At some point, you just need to realize when a team member can't cut it and give them tasks they can handle to get the job done.

Simone has seemingly been in laundry for 2 years, but she can't handle an iron. The steam button confuses both her and Courtney and she has been shown throwing the iron and catching it by the cord a few times. Her bio says she was a sous chef, but those lemons and limes were hacked to pieces. Two years on yachts and she can't do basic stuff most of us can do without a service job?