The Boeing Crew Meeting

At the Boeing crew meeting, the dynamics and interaction between the people involved are truly amazing. With the variety of personalities, differences in work ethics and beliefs, and the diversity of their lives, the airplanes are still being built and are the best in the world. There is the Supervisor, a positive person, quick in wit, able to sidetrack even the smartest employee. The Brown-Noser, sits on the edge of the seat, waits to do anything or answer any question the Supervisor has to ask. There is the Malcontent. No one can make this person happy. Then there is the Ordinary Average Worker. This person comes to work, works the shift and then goes home. This person is perhaps the most perplexing of all of them. All of these individuals attempt to follow the direction the Supervisor puts forth.

The clock hits two o’clock in the afternoon and the crew is loud. Everyone is talking over each other to make their important point. The Supervisor quietly steps into the meeting and the loud roar becomes a quiet whisper. His presence demands direction. He stands confident in his actions. He looks around the room as he takes attendance. As he thinks to himself, he plans and delegates as he notices who is at work and who is not. Out of a crew of ten, three people are absent today. He speaks to his employees in an authoritative tone for all to hear. He explains there is a significant amount of labor-lose and much to do to stay on schedule. His attitude is not uptight or distraught. He keeps his composure and delegates work assignments to all the employees in the crew. When the assignments are given to everyone, he is there to answer questions. His training makes him able to respond to the question in way that is a positive for the company. The Brown-Noser is quick to give opinions.

The Brown-Noser is always early to work. He comes in early to see how the work package looks and how he can be helpful to meet the goals of the supervisor. He is a person that has an agenda in his mind of where he is going with the company. He has a need to let everyone know about his work and how much he accomplishes. This person wants to progress within the Company. He works incredible amounts of overtime to help keep the company on schedule. As the Supervisor comes into the meeting and takes attendance, the Brown-Noser and the Supervisor makes eye contact with each other. The Brown-Noser acknowledges with a quick wink and a small nod to his supervisor to ensure he was noticed. The Supervisor responds with a nod in kind. After the completion of the Supervisor’s presentation, the Brown-Noser is quick to volunteer for the extra work caused by the lack of personnel on that given day. He will soon achieve his goal of promotion. As the Brown-Noser attends to his agenda, the Malcontent grumbles with discontent under his breath.

The Malcontent is an extremely unhappy man. His gruffness to his co-workers is a poison that eats the very lining that keeps the crew on schedule. He is a man that disappears from the work area and “hides” from the responsibility of his work package. He feels that the company owes him a living. He is a man that works extra hours to receive overtime pay to accomplish his job when a person like the Brown-Noser could complete the work in half the time. He is usually the man that does not show up for work a lot of the time. He has the easier work packages because the quality of his work is in question. He has been written up with corrective action for attendance, quality of workmanship,