Managing the Night Shift

If you have taken on the task of managing your company's night shift, you may find that there are many new and interesting challenges facing you. The truth of the matter is that managing a night shift is much different from managing a day shift, even if the work is precisely the same, and though there are some great benefits to doing so, you will find that you are going to be facing some unique challenges as well. Take some time to make sure that you are getting the most out of your night shift and that you stay on the same page as your staff. Most people are really not geared to be working all night and sleeping all day and if you are in a place where that is happening, take some time to make sure that you are getting the results that you need.

When you want to manage your night shift well, make sure that you take the time to talk to everyone. In all honesty, a night shift in most places is going to be a lot more laid back than the day shift, no matter what kind of labor you are doing. You will find that if you are managing your night shift there are going to be large amounts of time where you find yourself not sure of what to do. Take some time to connect with the people who are working with you and to find out more about what they do. You never know when you are going to make contact with someone who is interested in helping the company get ahead.

Treat your night workers with respect and watch out for their interests. This goes for any manager, but when you are on night shift, there is a certain sense of isolation from everyone who works the day shift and this can mean isolation from everyone in the company. It is not worth your while to foster an us-them relationship, but remember that for people who work the day shift, there is a lot that they don't think about when it comes to nights. Stress to other managers that the people on night shift should not be called during the day unless it is an emergency, and you should take some time and make sure that you are going to be getting the results that you need.



Do what you can to make sure that your department is still part of the company. For instance, one thing that many serious night managers will do is to make sure that human resources still has their night shift workers on their radar. When your night shift workers are out of touch with the human resources department, they can feel very frustrated and as though they have no voice in the company. While a human resources representative who is present during the shift every day is not necessarily possible, someone who can come in every month or so is certainly not unreasonable.

Take a moment to make sure that you can get the results that you want. Night shift is not something that everyone can handle, but if you are involved in one, take the opportunity to show them what you've got!