Geordie, Beverly and Worf as Managers

[ToddKent]

During my latest TNG re-watch I started paying more attention to the day-to-day workings of the Enterprise-D. One thing I noticed for the first time is that in addition to the job duties we usually see that these three charters do (Geordie, Beverly and Worf), they are also department heads but you rarely see them acting in the capacity of managers. Here are my initial observations:

Geordie - We probably see him the most (of the three) in the managerial role but it's still not a lot. There's usually several people seen working in engineering during the scenes that take place there. He's also seen leading groups of people and supervising people like Barclay, O'brien and Wesley. But there's not too much other than that.

Beverly - We also see her interacting somewhat with the medical staff but not a whole lot. Other than interacting with Nurse Ogawa I don't really recall her doing too much managerial work. I also wonder if, since Troi is a health care professional, does she report directly to Crusher?

Worf - He is probably the one we see the least as a manager but there must be work like shift scheduling and personnel issues he has to deal with. I wonder if he delegates work like that to a subordinate. I'd love to see him give one of the security officers a performance review.

Are there other examples I've missed?

 

[JirinPanthosa]

When somebody is roaming throughout the ship like in The Hunted or Brothers, Worf tends to be followed by a group of goldshirts.

The problem is whenever we have a case like this, Picard or Riker tend to end up giving the commands. It's assumed that he's in charge of the day to day security issues like guest manifests and protocols, but those rarely enter the narrative.

 

[Doug Otte]

In addition to some scenes w/ Geordi managing his staff (especially Barclay), there was at least one scene in which Worf gave assignments to 2 of his officers. I don't recall Beverly specifically managing her staff.

I would have liked to see more of this part of starship life, but I guess it would be hard to work it into a plot.

 

[Scotchy]

I thought Beverly was a better Captain than she was a Doctor. Especially in Descent.
I was satisfied with what they showed concerning Worf, Crusher and Geordi running their departments. It seemed more like Troi reported to Captain Picard or Commander Riker, on the rare occasions she actually had something to report. I didn't need to see more staff meetings or reviews, if they had gotten too bogged down in minutia it would have bored me.

 

[Nyotarules]

Showing real life on a starship would be too boring for viewers. Based on the little I know of navy matters Worf as Head of Tactical and security should be Lt Commander long before ST Generations (or whatever movie it was). Or Am I wrong?

 

[Gary 11's]

Perhaps we only see characters performing their managerial duties when it's relevant to the plot. Hence we often see Picard and Riker performing this role for its relevance

 

[MacLeod]

Aside from scheduling staff, one could argue that a point that if the staff are well trained they shouldn't need that much direct supervision. You can get two basic types of managers the handsoff and the hands on (sure there is varying degrees of each extreme) which type would you prefer to work under? And yes part of being a manager is knowing when to be hands on or off.

 

[Lance]

Data is technically "Operations Manager", but how this works into the scheme of things I don't know. Maybe he's the department head that all the other department heads all report to. The Department Head In Chief.

 

[Nyotarules]

Data is technically "Operations Manager", but how this works into the scheme of things I don't know. Maybe he's the department head that all the other department heads all report to. The Department Head In Chief.

Then he deserves a promotion from Lt to Lt Cmdr

 

[cgervasi]

One thing I noticed for the first time is that in addition to the job duties we usually see that these three charters do (Geordie, Beverly and Worf), they are also department heads but you rarely see them acting in the capacity of managers.

On many episodes it feels like the writers don't know what to do with all the other people who are supposed to be on the ship. Many shows would work better if the ship had ten people on it. Sometimes plots are based on the characters getting called away to some emergency, and there's no explanation why they didn't assign someone to the what the high-ranking character had been doing before they were called away.

There are certainly story possibilities that deal with the ship's management team having to support orders they don't fully agree with, but we rarely see that.

 

[cgervasi]

Then [Data] deserves a promotion from Lt to Lt Cmdr

Data was a Lt Commander from the very beginning.

 

[elamigodemiamiga]

I thought Beverly was a better Captain than she was a Doctor. Especially in Descent.
I was satisfied with what they showed concerning Worf, Crusher and Geordi running their departments. It seemed more like Troi reported to Captain Picard or Commander Riker, on the rare occasions she actually had something to report. I didn't need to see more staff meetings or reviews, if they had gotten too bogged down in minutia it would have bored me.

depends...i don't remember her killing anybody.

 

[Nyotarules]

Why would Troi take a Commanders' test? I thought only Department heads in a semi naval/military influenced organisation (Medical, Tactical, Operation, Science, Command, Engineering) were Commanders, what was she head of, she fell under Medical or Command right? Dr Crusher or Riker should be her direct 'line manager'.

 

[Scotchy]

depends...i don't remember her killing anybody.

If you're referring to Beverly, she's killed loads of people. The crew of the Borg ship in part 2 of Descent were killed on her orders. She disintegrated one of the scientists from Suspicions herself with a phaser. She vaporized the energy being Ronin. Also, it's worth noting that since Bev serves as a Commander, she must have passed the final exam that requires solving the problem by ordering a crewman to their death.

 

[Draculasaurus]

When some event happens and Worf looks up from his panel and says Decks eight and nine reporting casualties or damage or whatever; I guess that's him communicating with security officers assigned to each deck. (?)
It's easy to imagine him "texting" them back about changing their phaser settings or changing the frequency of patrols.
Anyway it seems like he's doing some non verbal communicating at the tactical panel back there.

 

[Nyotarules]

I never understood why Troi failed that test the first few times she knew it was a hologram Geordi right?

 

[Paradise City]

There's Crusher, she has one or two senior nurses who are officers and a squad of medical technicians with the status of crewman. She needs to have sufficient staff to be able to handle massive casualties on ship as well as planetary humanitarian disasters which must require management.

Much of Worf's routine work is like a hotel head of security only with far less monkey business than a normal hotel because Starfleet types are supposed to be disciplined. I always like to speculate whether he acts as the bad cop to Troi's good cop when personnel issues arise. But I suppose Riker does that, doesn't he?

Data's job "Operations Officer" always seemed to me he was just the point man for the various scientific departments or he'd be the guy to configure the shifts. But I suppose, Riker does that stuff too. "Operations Officer" just means you dip in and out of all areas. I dunno.

Does Troi have a staff? If so does that make her a defacto Department head?

LaForge clearly has regular meetings with his staff. It may not always be seen but it's occasionally seen and is inferred by the dialogue. But LaForge is a hands-on kinda guy and he often sidelines his entire staff -- for instance in Booby Trap.

 

[elamigodemiamiga]

If you're referring to Beverly, she's killed loads of people. The crew of the Borg ship in part 2 of Descent were killed on her orders. She disintegrated one of the scientists from Suspicions herself with a phaser. She vaporized the energy being Ronin. Also, it's worth noting that since Bev serves as a Commander, she must have passed the final exam that requires solving the problem by ordering a crewman to their death.

Pedantry aside, i think it's her job as a Starfleet officer to destroy threats....

 

[Scotchy]

Pedantry aside, i think it's her job as a Starfleet officer to destroy threats....

Um, yes. Wasn't being pedantic there, just thought I was answering your question....

depends...i don't remember her killing anybody.

Short version: She did. As a Commander and a Doctor.
There's also more to being a commander than being willing to kill. Her innovative use of the metaphasic shield tech is an example of Bev thinking outside the box, which is why I think she's a better Captain than a Doctor in some cases.

 

[tafkats]

I don't recall Beverly specifically managing her staff.

We do see her in that role with Ogawa in "Lower Decks," but that's the only example I can think of.