Geeks in Management? 763
The Other Side of the Coin asks: "I've been doing a relatively interesting job until now, but they've pushed me into management recently. Although the new position is pretty boring (I manage normals), I do still have time for all the geeky stuff I used to do before. My problem is: I have no formal (or any other, for that matter) management training. Sure, I'll read a lot about it (and take some education), but what are your experiences as geeks in management? For example, I naturally started to use Borgish management methods, and this wasn't received well by people, to say the least. What are the most difficult hurdles for a manager geek to jump, and can our personality be used as an advantage in management?"
Pretty Ironic... (Score:3, Insightful)
Easy thing to do- (Score:5, Insightful)
Will solve a lot of problems that way.
You have an advantage (Score:5, Insightful)
Obvious (Score:1, Insightful)
Don't micromanage! (Score:3, Insightful)
Is this a joke? (Score:5, Insightful)
Nobody wants to be managed by somebody who doesn't want to and doesn't know how to be a manager or a leader. You don't need formal training, unless you want to advance to higher ranks, then it might help. But for most purposes, you just need a willingness to listen and to talk and to think about things from a non-technology-driven perspective at times.
I am not sure what "Borgish" management methods are (you must be a graduate of Starfleet Academy's MBA program?), but it certainly sounds like something that nobody would enjoy being subjected to. Not everybody is as smart as you, but if you go around treating people like they are a different species ("normals" from your own post) don't expect to develop a good working relationship with them. If this is what you mean by your "personality", then no, that won't be an advantage in a management role, period.
I think of myself as a "geek" in certain ways, I enjoy understanding and creating technology, I like to take things apart and hack on them, and I can spend hours focused on a task intently. But I realize that when I'm operating in a management role, decisions are driven by the best long term interests of the business and the team, not by technology in isolation. And you reap what you sow with the people who work for you. If your team respects your intelligence AND likes you, there is nothing they won't do for you. That's a strong, loyal team. If they think you are a smart geeky asshole and they shit on you regularly behind your back, don't expect them to achieve very good results for you, and don't be surprised when *your* manager realizes how ineffective you are and gives you the boot.
Respect (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:3, Insightful)
Ask what your responsibilities are... (Score:2, Insightful)
Every company is different and will have some things that are more important than others. Look and adapt from other peer managers.
Read 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey?).
Most importantly, if you don't know, but you think you should, ask your boss. It's better to establish a clear line of communicaiton with your boss than to sit there and worry about not knowing.
Oh, and have fun with it, and turn the cell phone off when you get home.
Don't be a geek (Score:3, Insightful)
What I've found . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
1) Remember all those things that managers did that you hated? Be open to the discovery that some of them actually made perfect sense but you didn't see it. Your Geek perspective may have been more limiting than your realize.
2) After you get through #1, take the things that still don't make sense and don't do them. Your Geek perspective can also be liberating.
3) People skills, people skills, people skills. If you can schmooze, talk, flatter, cajole, comfort, query, and chat - and get results, good. If not, start working on your people skills. You will need them.
4) Business perspective. Stay informed of business issues, policies, plans, and news. If you did previously, good.
5) Your Geek past is a great building block. You have an area of strength, start with what you learned in that.
You will have to change, but coming at a job from a different perspective is also a great advantage.
A fantatic technique I was taught - go to people you respect and ask them to list
1) Your two best traits.
2) Your two worst traits.
3) The two best traits of a manager.
4) The two worst traits of a manager.
You need to query at least 4-5 people, but it'll give you a perspective on yourself, on management, and what you need to do to do it well.
Will you get widely differing answers? Yes. But reconciling those answers is part of the learning process.
Good luck.
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:1, Insightful)
Good start, but there are other things.
One, learn their jobs. In fact, work with them for a few days, doing their job. There's nothing worse than a manager who does something to make life easier, when all he's doing is adding another rule that makes things harder.
Two, listen. You will not come up with ways to make their jobs easier, so don't even try. Instead, listen to what they need to make the job easier.
Finally, three, encourage communication. If they fear you, they won't talk to you. If they love you, they may not want to tell you something you won't want to hear. However they feel about you, let them know you WANT to get feedback, and offer ways to communicate with you anonymously (Think suggestion box).
I've worked jobs where my bosses understood these concepts, and it was a dream. I've worked jobs where my bosses didn't understand these concepts, and it was a nightmare.
Re:Must Read (Score:2, Insightful)
First read "The One Minute Manager." This is a very quick read and following this book alone will put you into the top 20% of all managers I have ever seen.
Then read the Dale Carnegie book, or even better take the public speaking course at the local Dale Carnegie branch which heavily involves this book.
Get some training, ASAP (Score:3, Insightful)
Because, even though you were (and still are) a great coder/plumber/accountant/scientist, a high level of competence with code/pipes/money/mesons does not automatically give you the competence in the skills of budget and/or personnel management, like motivation, encouragement, discipline, conflict resolution, appropriately rewarding the good and punishing the bad, etc.
Go take a class like Introduction to Supervision, Conflict Resolution in the Workplace, Budget Process 101, etc. It sounds like PHB-type stuff, but guess what? You're a suit now. If you flail around trying to figure it out on your own, you'll end up a lousy supervisor, and you'll just make your own job harder.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)
Remember this: Management is where geeks go to die.
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:4, Insightful)
Anybody who's worked in the IT department for a company with a hiring freeze knows what I'm talking about.
What Helped Me (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:4, Insightful)
Huzzah, thank you thank you thank you. Please repeat ad infinitum to all the MBAs who've come knocking on our door recently expecting to be appointed the VP the moment they're hired.
Experience is what truly moves you up in business, even moreso in IT. MBAs are a dime a dozen, and the fact that you can throw around terms like "demand elasticity" doesn't impress me as much as someone who's had to work as part of a team (better yet, lead a team) to get a product shipped on-time and well-tested.
Employees don't usually self-start (Score:1, Insightful)
You can't depend on those you are supervising to do what they ought to be doing. Especially those who are brilliant (often only in their own opinions) will not do what needs to be done.
For example, in a recent post about Ruby-Rails someone said he would ignore what he was told and just code up the application in Ruby-Rails, regardless of what the company actually needs. Unfortunately, firing people like that isn't easy.
Discovering these facts was a great disappointment to me. I had always been a self-starter doing whatever obviously needed to be done without ignoring what I had been told to do. The average person is the complete opposite.
You will find yourself requiring regular status reports from people. Not because you find them interesting to read but because it is the most expedient way of making sure your staff is at thinking about their jobs at least a little.
Go ahead and read Dilbert and "How to Win Friend and Influence People" because they are good. However, you will soon discover that a lot of the boneheaded actions of your previous managers were forced onto them by boneheaded employees.
People are people (Score:2, Insightful)
Realize that the "normals" know their job... (Score:4, Insightful)
Oh, and also, watch Office Space.
Best management advice I ever heard (Score:5, Insightful)
And here are some other principles I learned while managing and being managed:
As a manager, you cannot succeed without your employees succeeding. Any of their major accomplishments are shared with you inherently...broadcast these accomplishments and sing their praises to the masses. Recognition is a great incentive, and when your employees get credit for something, YOU get credit as a good manager.
When they do something wrong, defend them to the hilt...even if it was something stupid. Then behind closed doors let them have it and make it clear that you put your butt on the line for them. Be willing to take a personal hit on their behalf...NEVER sell them out.
Realize that to be first, you must be last. You are there to facilitate their performance as someone who works for them.
For cryin' out loud...never micromanage anything. All employees are different, but for the most part you can measure them by results and not stupid timeclock things, etc.
And I stress that all people are motivated by different things. Money, recognition, who and what they work with....learn and listen. If you reverse engineer their motivation you have very important information in your hands.
Be very careful of minority groups--and no I don't mean the legal minority groups--whoever the smallest group is in your team be they white male or indian female. The smallest subgroup tends to fight amongst themselves, or unite to destroy the rest of the group. Watch those situations carefully.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)
Or perhaps it's where they grow up. Who cares about being a geek or not? All that matters is that you're yourself and you're happy. Personally I feel no need to belong to any cliques, whether it's geeks or not - who wants to be labelled in any walk of life?
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:4, Insightful)
I find that I respect a manager that is demanding and tough but will take me out to a nice lunch when things get done properly.
Re:Don't micromanage! (Score:4, Insightful)
What typically happens with a micromanaging boss:
Sir we have this proble...
Well have you tried X?
Yes, it didn't work
How about Y?
That wasn't workable under our conditions
What about Z?
It failed too
Hmmm, I'll try to think of something
A good manager will ask, "okay so what are your plans for a solution?" Then evaluate what the plans are and acts as a fresh set of eyes to double-check that they make sense, give technical input, ensures it fits budget, and timelines.
Lose the arrogance (Score:2, Insightful)
Focus on the important stuff (Score:5, Insightful)
The CIO was praised. Why? Because he and I focused on the important stuff. Don't worry about your guys coming in a little late. Don't pester them for
You get paid to produce results and so do your "normals". Focus on getting those results and not all the other crap that makes employment such a game. Your employees will love your flexibility and will know that you appreciate them when they meet their development schedules. Your bosses will love you because you make them look good (by getting stuff done).
Get a mentor (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, it was funny, until I went and explained it.
--LordPixie
The Story I was told (Score:3, Insightful)
Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land far, far away there lived a King. He was a benevolent King. His subjects were well cared for, and for his time, he was extremely flexible in administrating the laws of his Kingdom.
The King noticed something however: what had at first started as a few simply "exceptions" placed upon his magnimity had become a torrent of complaints. The court was nearly overwhelmed. One discourse went something like this:
"Oh majesty, because you deeded, in your infinite wisdom to allow Serf Brown to allow his cow to pasture on Sunday mid-morn (in contrary to your previous rulings), his cow has eaten all the new shoots and will definitely fetch a better price than my scrawny heifer!"
On and on it went. Until finally the King decided to do some research. He had his most trusted aids "go forth unto the kingdom to determine the mood of realm". After sometime the aids reported back. The findings were not good. They reported that the king is jested in every ale-house and out-house. The subjects barely fulfill their duties to his farms and their taxes are woefully past due. Furthermore, one sherrif has become so arrogant as to simply ignore your edicts all together as simply too tiring.
The king was enraged. He called in his knights and scribes and began. He wrote new laws, he demanded the back taxes, he demanded the serfs work one hour longer. He revoked all his flexibility: things would change. He would get his respect.
History would show it was the quickest and most decisive battle ever. The peasants enraged at the curtailment of their freedoms had stormed the castle, pitchforks in had, and had beheaded the king.
The realm was governorless for sometime and it fell into disrepair. The people asked for a new King. The King was ascended to the throne was a long distant cousin of the newly deposed King. The King quickly restored order, took back lands, got the back taxes, got serfs to work. Further, he ruled that anyone who didn't pull his weight would feel the consequences and quickly. The people rejoiced, they had a strong King and the land was quickly restored to bounty.
The moral of the story is if you are strict at first and become flexible where approrpriate people will love you. If you are a push-over at first and become strict, people will revolt.
Lesser minds will say be an arse-hole to start and ease up. This, of course, is not the answer. People are bizzare. You can take all the management books, (I have a degree in Management), your Franklin planner, and your otherworthless Management ideas and forget them.
The only thing you can never get back is your direction. It is set on day one.
Good luck and welcome to the club.
Everything I ever needed to know about management (Score:3, Insightful)
It's all about resource generation, allocation, deployment, etc.
If you're not already good at thinking about a situation from multiple points of view, develop this skill. Make sure you take into account not just what you know and what you're good at, but what you might not know and what others might need, both internal and external to your team/organization.
Good communication is essential, both listening and talking.
Respecting your team members is critical.
You should have a political awareness of your group and the others around it, learn who's dependent on what, etc.
Figure out what your mission is, what your objectives are, what problem is your group there to solve, and concentrate on identifying and reaching goals.
Document your practices and procedures and policies and use the information to generate performance metrics which you can use to justify your teams worth to the organization.
All of this is more than one person can reasonably accomplish, so be sure to delegate intelligently. You're going to do much less doing and much more delegating if you want to be successful as a manager. Your job isn't to do, it's to make sure it gets done. Coordinate and make decisions. Leave it to your team members to tackle the implementation.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:4, Insightful)
I wasn't implying that I have to belong to a certain clique at all, or even have the need to be labeled as a geek. You could call yourself a flaming queer for all I care. What I'm saying is that a lot of these people lose their happiness as they're moved away from doing the things they love and toward bickering and politics and increased unhappiness, all in the name of a bigger paycheck and more power.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)
you are not to reign over them, you are to serve them so that they can be more productive and in return generate more money for the company.
managers that rule with an iron fist and micromanage are those that DO NOT know how to be a manager.
Step 1 - if your employees are having trouble meeting their goals, it is your fault as a manager.
Step 2 - you employees are the experts of what they do, not you. Do you listen to them on how their job can be improved?
Managers NEVER know the best way to do something they hired a specalist for. you only hinder their job by butting your nose in, steering is acceptable as well as getting updates, telling them exactly what to do is highly unacceptable in all cases except for fresh recruits.
Oh, NONE of this can be learned in a classroom. Leaders are born not made.
Re:You have an advantage (Score:5, Insightful)
An advantage, yes, but not a huge one.
What you want as your manager is a good manager. If they're a good manager then whether they're good at $YOUR_JOB is almost irrelevant. If they're a bad manager then they're a bad manager regardless of their level of knowledge of $YOUR_JOB.
Good managers know which of their staff to trust the opinions of, and which not too. They ask their staff for recomendations, and take that into account in their decision making. They know enough of the field and the language to understand those recomendations, even if they don't have the specific skills to do the job themselves (for instance, as a software developer some of the best managers I've had could code circles around me, some of them hadn't programmed in years, some of them didn't have a background in development at all).
Good managers protect their staff from the crap going on in the rest of the company, but make sure they know what they need to about what all else is going on. They make sure that their staff get the resources and training they need. They know what all their staff, and ideally staff in related groups are doing on a general level, and do a lot of "Hey, you should talk to $OTHER_PERSON, as the stuff they're doing is similar to what you're looking for." - making sure that people actually get the benefits of working together.
Good managers are like gold. When you find one, do your best to keep them. Becoming one is tricky and takes a lot of work and experience. Strive for it. Meanwhile, don't call meetings for your whole group more than once a week, keep 'em short and bring donuts. Your staff will cut you a lot of slack for donuts.
Re:Must Read (Score:3, Insightful)
For example, one chapter is dedicated to smiling. You should smile often, because it makes you seem happier, more approachable, and a nicer person in general.
God.. smiling more? Think about what you're turning yourself into by smiling all the time. Plastic. We aren't all idiots that can't see through someone that's just smiling because they read it in a book somewhere.
Rather than just putting on a nice mask, maybe you should figure out why you're not happy? If you are happy, hey great, find a way to express that. But simply telling people to bulldoze over true feelings with masks is just terrible advice.
Some management thoughts... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:It boils down to trust (Score:3, Insightful)
Even if you fail here, you can learn, but it'll be ugly.
The Attila The Hun management method doesn't work unless you actually have the power and are actually willing to cut out their tongues. It'll just piss them off and they'll find a way to screw you over, and will be justified in doing so. It probably won't take any overt acts on their part, they'll just not save you from yourself when you really need it.
I think that the original poster may not have any serious power so the Attila method is out, and it is not really any good anyway, in the long term.
Important points of a good manager (Score:5, Insightful)
Its OK to challenge them a little, but never give them more than they can chew. You will be confronted with this when senior management gives you tasks that your team are incapable of meeting. The easy thing to do is simply delegate the tasks and put your head in the sand, but this will lead to unhappy workers, the job won't get done, you'll discipline your workers for their failure and kill morale, and you'll look like a failure to your superiors. The harder thing to do is tell your senior management upfront that you can't do it. But that's what gets you respect. If your senior management won't listen to reason, tell your team frankly what the situation is, tell them you don't expect them to be able to achieve the impossible, but that you've got to do your job, so can they do the best they can and let you make the excuses later.
2) Know what is going on.
Your manager is going to ask you things like "How long will this take" and you're going to go and ask your people the same question to enable yourself to answer. Don't make the mistake of giving people questions that they cannot answer and expecting them to do so. I don't know how many times in the past I've had a dumb manager ask me how long this task will take, and refuse to accept "I don't have enough information to answer that and here is why" as an answer. Work with your people to get the real facts, and instead of presenting a number pulled out of your teams respective asses, present a break down of knowns, unknowns, mitigating factors, etc so that you're not promising something you don't know if you can deliver.
3) Manage your planning.
You don't want to micromanage, but you do need to juggle a whole bunch of different peoples estimates and manage to coordinate peoples working together. Typically managers will either make the initial plan then let things go and remain in the dark, or they will have way too many meetings to ensure that they are up to speed. If you have too many meetings, only the few will have something to add, and it will be irrelevant to most present, with the result that everyones time is wasted and people percieve meetings as a waste of time. Not a good perception to engender in them. Instead, help each person involved understand what the red flags are that you need to be notified of and make them feel safe and welcome bringing them to you. That way you don't need to micromanage but you will always know what is going on and will know where to reallocate resources before its too late.
I'm sure I can think of more things than this, but I'd say these are the most important points.
Oh, and I don't have any formal management training whatsoever, so I don't know how this holds up with conventional wisdom. I just know it seems to have worked for me.
BTW: Don't read those books on Making Friends and Influencing People. You're not there to make friends, you're there to make shit happen. Try looking for How To Make Enemies And Infuriate People instead. Much more useful.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:3, Insightful)
What kind of manager do you want to be? (Score:2, Insightful)
Unfortunately, being "good" often doesn't lead to advancement as quickly as being "successful". We all admire the person that can step in and take control of a crisis. It's too bad we don't usually notice the person that prevents the crisis from ever occurring.
So, first you need to decide what kind of manager you're going to be. Then go out and [wreak havoc | do good].
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:4, Insightful)
WRT being a manager. I own 2 companies, and also work a FTJ for a major corporation. Becoming a owner has made changes, but I have not lost my "geekness", only refined it.
As an employee, I find that I try harder to get things done and work to get others to do the same. As a manager, I find that I am having to balance the carrot and the stick, so that I can get the job done, but without killing my people.
Take a look at books like "One Minute Manager" or anything by John Maxwell and/or Zig Ziglar. For a real expensive but rather really informative way, join a successful MLM. The really good ones have excellent self improvement and management training systems. Just don't spend all your money on their products.
Re:Best management advice I ever heard (Score:4, Insightful)
When both sides understand and adhere to this social contract, everyone wins. You end up looking good, and your people are happy, because they actively see you fighting for them. People are much more willing to go to the wall for you if they believe that you care about them.
A few tips (Score:1, Insightful)
1. People are your most important resource. You can't invest in people expecting to get something out of them. If you have 5 free minutes spend them with one of your employees. Don't ask him how the project's going, ask about girlfriends, parents, pets, and hobbies. Treat your people well and they will not only do what you ask, but they will cover your ass when you make your inevitable screw ups.
2. Be decisive. You should always listen to your people, but the final decision rests with you. Trust your people to make small choices and use initiative, but if there's a tough call to be made you make it. People criticize George W. Bush, but he may be the best example of this in the world. He encourages debate and even argument in his cabinet (which he recruited very smart people for), then he weighs the arguments and makes the decision. Finally, the entire cabinet (regardless of personal feelings) backs it.
3. Manage resources. Don't manage people (see 1 above), but manage resources. Make sure your people have what they need to do their job. People's time is also a resource. Make sure you assign your teams efforts effectively.
4. Make sure expectations are understood. Make sure you know what your boss wants from your team. Then make sure members of your team understand what is expected of them individually, and how they fit into the team.
5. Be Proactive, this is stolen from the "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Don't wait for problems and then fix them. Seek out solutions before the problems present themselves. This should be familiar from software design. Don't wait for people to find and report bugs, think your product through at the beginning and eliminate bugs in the design phases.
6. Ask for help and provide help.
A few reading tips:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey [amazon.com]
The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen R. Covey [amazon.com]
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't by Jim Collins [amazon.com]
Built to Last : Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins [amazon.com]
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:2, Insightful)
And this attitude is why software products SUCK!!!
When the people who care about the technical aspects refuse involvement in management, they cede control of those technical aspects to people who don't care.
Yes. It really is that simple, Dilbert.
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What Helped Me (Score:5, Insightful)
- You are NO LONGER a peer. Do not act as such, it will undermine your ability to manage
- Protect your people. I try to take the PM view I learned at IBM. I try to shield them from BS so they can focus. _I_ am the "bad cop" to outsiders who are out of line. I NEVER ask my folks to take that role.
- Listen to your folks, discipline is ALWAYS a secondary (or later) tactic for addressing issues. I have listened to a lot of screaming from my team. If they're pissed, they barge in my office and let loose. They're not disrespectful, they're frustrated, angry, and want someone to listen and help. After they're done, we figure something out. I'd rather they yell in my office than at some jackass outside the group.
- Honesty. Whether it's reviews, promotions, good, bad, whatever - be honest. Even if it's - I can't say right now.
- Your tech skills will be gone soon. You'll have exposure, but at a high level. I finally had to give up on the hands-on tech stuff. It's not easy, but it's the way it is
- Have a spine with upper mgmt. This doesn't mean shoot your mouth off, but be ready and able to say "no" in a firm but calm manner and help them "make better decisions" when appropriate. Holding my ground and remaining calm has helped me a LOT. You will be granted precieved authority beyond your title which can make life easier.
- Look long term and don't get shaken my short term events. Your team will react in a similar manner to your reaction to news (merger, layoffs, uppermgmt change, etc).
- ALWAYS remember - Karma is easier lost than gained.
- Listen to older SUCCESSFUL managers who offer advice
That being said, I'm not totally certian I like this role, but I'm getting used to it.It's better than unemployment. Bonuses are better
Moved from Geek to Manager 6 years ago (Score:5, Insightful)
1. You will loose some of your technical skills over time. You're spending less of your day on that sort of skill. Knowing this, identify what you cherish the most and what will make you a valued staff member at another company and keep those up-to-date.
2. Recognize that when you take manager as your title, you've walked away from some mobility opportunities. Managers aren't keen to hire former managers to staff positions and there are less manager jobs around.
3. Recognize that not everyone is as productive, smart, or responsive as you are. You'll have to set a standard of performance for the positions you manage and judge your staff by that standard and not you. Keep it in perspective, if they were as good as you; you'd be doing their job.
4. Make the workplace fun. Carnation used to put on their milk "Content Cows Give More Milk". In other words, happy people are more productive.
5. Learn to let the little things go. Just because someone brings an issue to your attention doesn't mean you have to follow through on every one. Learn to establish a split between when people see you to vent and when people see you for action.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:3, Insightful)
If you want to focus on the pure math or physical sciences then yeah sure, stay a 'geek'. Me, I'd rather have the skills necessary to achieve true greatness and success. "Management" is no more evil or insidious than "fluid dynamics".
Re:Must Read (Score:3, Insightful)
All the world's a stage. Your attitude is really no less plastic, no less a pose, than the one that Carnegie promotes.
I nice bit of sophistry, but you haven't really said anything. How is not posing posing? I guess we can't reflect what we feel anymore.. that's posing.. somehow.
Here's a thought: Maybe if you smile more, you'll have more effective or more enjoyable interactions with others. Couldn't that be something to smile about? Perhaps the effect precedes the cause, in this case.
Maybe, or maybe you'll just feel more miserable because you didn't "let your emotions out". I could probbably make up a dozen other good sounding theories as well, but it wouldn't matter. Theories are all great, they can sound good, people can like them but they don't mean squat without evidence to back them up.
Biggest advantage -- tools (Score:3, Insightful)
For instance, I have a web site that tracks my team progress against deadlines, lists what they are working on, major risks, etc. Set it up according to the suggestions in the Software Project Survival Guide [stevemcconnell.com] but it applies to any kind of management.
Read, and follow the suggestions of, the One Minute Manager [amazon.com]. Be sincere, I ignore a lot of the touch feely stuff, but the delegation, goal setting etc. is key and easy with this method. Use advanced management techniques later.
Management Geeks (Score:1, Insightful)
Ha... I know exactly what you mean. I left a MIS degree to get involved with an early dot-com startup. After that venture, I've been put into quasi-tech management roles in company after company where I'm expected to be the ruthless SOB that saves all the disaster projects from the mid-level Bellheads that blow their money on the wrong vendors, empire build by hiring useless employees, and focus on everything except getting the project done.
I'm assuming the poster is in that category of competence and not some high-self esteem low competence poseur. You'd better understand a few basic facts rather quickly - if you are not only technically exceptional, but get results for management and have moved up into this world, you need to understand you are one serious threat to the 'order' of ineffective suits with degrees. Your lack of credentials will very quickly be used to take you down unless you take heed of some necessary actions:
1. find a powerful higher-up you respect (hopefully your boss; if your boss isn't of this caliber, arrange to get under one of this nature quickly or plan on a new job soon. You won't survive with a no-backbone boss.). Make him/her look awesome, and most importantly, establish a mentoring relationship. Not only will this probably save your ass af few times if you're damn good and make enemies being efficient and effective, but you will learn something about how the game works at the upper levels. They need credentials too, if you can manage - Harvard, Wharten MBAs are awesome at deflecting this crap in a political environment. Read about mentoring relationships - it works on two levels. Not only are you learning pretty important stuff, but there is an overt channel of communication your boss knows exists that is critical when you don't play things right politically. Think of it as out-of-band management on a circuit - when you blow the circuit down through well-intentioned but stupid political moves, this channel will be there for the boss to explain your errors (rather than just getting pissed and firing you). You've become an understudy, and in the bosses eyes, it would be his/her failure too if they had to fire you.
2. Learn how to be nonconfrontational publically and use your boss as a screen for unpopular decisions, like getting departments of ineffective people fired. Again, you make the boss look great and he/she will use their clout to protect you. You absolutely must use this mode until you get the credentials to take on the upper level yourself. Really, this approach can be fun. It took awhile for me to get used to it, but it really can be pleasurable letting some programmer shit mouth off to you, only to participate in the decision to lay him off when the bosses decide on the annual fat trimming.
3. GET CREDENTIALS! Don't let people keep that held over your head. Certifications are quick and dirty solutions. Keep in mind, however, that they are not equal with degrees in the political management world. Start taking 6-9 hours a semester somewhere to get a business degree. If you really want to piss them off, kick it in gear and get a finance degree. Most upper level suits automatically assume geeks don't understand numbers (hey, we do it to ourselves). I'm finishing a finance/banking double major and taking the LSAT for a JD (intellectual property law track). I just *love* it when some suit assumes since I understand tech more than they ever will, I must not understand finance. Imagine the horror this management or marketing graduate has when he tries to talk finance with me and discovers his three semesters of intro finance can't match up either.
4. Treat confidential information absolutely. Never, ever leak, share, etc. information from your boss - ever. You will find you'll actually be tested - my mentor boss slipped layoff info to me and had someone else ask me that he set up. Keeping my silence earned me considerable knowledge and trust. You will be tested!
Re:Important points of a good manager (Score:5, Insightful)
Some of them were simply not capable of performing 'higher level' tasks, so those are the ones you honestly cannot push - and they don't want to be pushed. They are good at mundane tasks, and enjoy those tasks. Give the higher risk - higher reward tasks to those that want to do it.
As far as 'knowing what is going on' with each person and 'manage your planning', I found it beneficial and useful to have a meeting with each person individually. This allowed me to help them work through any problems they were having, as well as get an idea of the progress they were making. If there was something that affected the entire group, then I called a 'real' meeting. But, otherwise, the one-on-one meetings worked out better for me. (Yes, unless of course they are pair programming - but you get the idea).
Ideally, as a manager, one of your main tasks is to remove obstacles to progress for those working underneath you. Sometimes that means re-arranging furniture. Sometimes it means talking extensively to the customer. It rarely means working 18 hours a day to correct one of your workers poor results. As it has been said elsewhere, your overall picture is to make sure the job/project gets done. Late night heroics usually don't get the job done - but a manager that can tell when a task is falling behind and can at least do something to change it has a much better chance of getting it done.
BTW, I also have no formal management training - but I have worked for really stupid people, and really smart people. Choose what works, discard the rest.
Re:Important points of a good manager (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What Helped Me (Score:4, Insightful)
The key is to recognize who these people are. Official title is not always correlated.
Re:Best management advice I ever heard (Score:3, Insightful)
This get's really close to an issue that seems to me to be a defining difference between a good manager and a bad manager. (In my experience, anyway)
A bad manager tends to see himself as the real actor in the business. What I mean by that is, he thinks it's he who is doing the job, and his subordinates are merely "tools" that allow him to complete his tasks. Managers like this tend to micromanage, annoy their subordinates, and generally suffer from minor uprisings.
Good managers tend to see their subordinates as the real actors in the business. They do all the work, and all the manager really does is help organize. Someone has to deal with the execs and customers. Someone has to resolve internal conflicts, and someone has to be the final word when the group needs to make a decision. Someone needs to set schedules and make sure everyone knows what they're supposed to be doing. But in this sense, the role of "manager" isn't far different from that of an outstanding "executive assistant" (i.e. personal secretary): Their job is to remove the obstacles that keep you from focusing on your work.
Don't Sell Out Your Staff for Personal Benefit (Score:4, Insightful)
If your staff thinks you've offered them up as sacrificial lambs, your are dead meat. If you've actually done that, your deserve to be dead meat.
good god no - that's just wrong (Score:5, Insightful)
Military leadership and overstucturing is COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE for the vast majority of jobs. Consider it. Military leadership techniques are designed to allow people to perform a finite range of tasks with zero chance of screw up, redundancy when necesary, and replacability. If you treat an employee like a soldier, you get minimal efficiency because you're discouraging creative thinking and self-direction. Perhaps more importantly, soldiers have something that employees lack: absolute dedication. If a solider hates the job he toughts it out, that's why they call it "service." You can shoot him if he flips and decides to leave. If an employee hates it, she will quit, or at least do the absolute minimum excepted and bitch about it. And you sure as hell can't cap her for it. "Normals" aren't really that different from geeks, they like to be treated with respect too, and work harder for bosses who "get it" and respect them (or at least seem to).
The parent does make one good point: ask why you were selected. Because if you're such a far-gone geek that you belive that all "normals" need "a firm structure," then clearly your bosses just f*cked up in a big way promoting you. You're a geek, that means you have great technical skills and perhaps a unusual point of view. That menas you have some skills to apply to management, but it doesn't mean you're some sort of Neitzchian ubermenche entitled to treat everyone like idiots.
Sorry to pounce all over that post, but my god did I have a bad experince with a manager who may as well have taken that exact same advice.
Bizarre (Score:3, Insightful)
Engineering and management are two totally different skillsets. Its like taking a good carpenter and 'promoting' him into bricklaying.
I'm a good engineer, got promoted into management then moved myself back to being an engineer, and am more happy than ever. I suggest you should do the same.
If you decide to stay in management, here's what you need to do. Change the way you think about being a boss: start to think of yourself as a facilitator, not a controller. Be there to provide the resources to the engineers that they can't get for themselves. Stuff like involving them with (or at least informing them of) management decisions is a good.
Stop micromanaging. Give them deadlines then trust them to deliver on time. You can ask for progress updates every now and again to check there's not a problem coming up, but don't tell them how to do their job unless they ask you for help.
Most of all, remember when you were an engineer and what you wished your boss would be more like.
Re:Easy thing to do- (Score:4, Insightful)
If you're looking for a protocol specification, then start with:
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:5, Insightful)
The job of the manager truly is to serve his employees, structured along the lines of 'what do you need in order to accomplish these goals that I have outlined and expect you to finish?'
I only want to add that in a well structured business a manager has goals that are generally driven by the business needs - and the manager's job is to see to that those business goals are met. Even a manager of 'techie geeks.'
What business goals are
Reliable email services
Reliable network file and print services
Business processes that facilitate working with some business client (ie, process claims or payroll, or put a space shuttle into orbit.)
A business goal isn't
More RAM in a server or in your developer's desktop
A new laptop or LCD for the developer
Run Linux
My boss comes to my team with business goals and asks us what we need to accomplish them, and keeps the lines of communications between the tech and business teams. Also keeps the business folks from hassling us (aka administrative overhead or politics.) She wouldn't dream of telling me how to write an SQL statement or which language to write the application in - we have driving standards for most of that and the rest
Want to be a good manager?
Define what you need to get done. Someone above you has probably already done this for you.
Get your people together and explain what the business goals are for this time period.
Explain that they are going to do the work.
Come up with a working phrase book that accurately defines the difference between 'I want' and 'I need'
Ask them what they need in order to succeed.
Get them what they need in order to succeed.
Ask them what they want.
Get as much of what they want as you can. If a 20" LCD really is that big a deal, fiscally ($600 delivered), consider a 17" LCD at less than $250 delivered. Hell, give them the option for two 17" LCDs that they can put side by side or a single 20" LCD. To a developer spending 2500 hours a year in front of it - it is one step away from saying 'this company loves you.' That's about five cents an hour, if it lasts five years.
Stay out of their way.
Hold weekly one-on-ones so you don't get surprised.
Praise in public / bitchslap in private.
Work on their behalf. Accomodate their needs both personally and professionally.
If the work isn't getting done, ask why. Don't accuse or blame, just ask what is it going to take to get this done?
I have a boss that does this, and I love my job.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:3, Insightful)
The Russian space program is a much better example of great engineering. If we had been that efficient with our time and money, we'd have a fully functional space station and a moon colony by now.
Always remember (Score:2, Insightful)
2. Don't sweat the small stuff. A guy who just spent his entire weekend (uncompensated) nursing a project "go-live" doesn't deserve to be called on the carpet for taking an extra 15 minutes on his lunch break.
3. And above all else, never *ever* hang your people out to dry. You take the heat for them and then deal with them appropriately later, but never make them feel like you are not backing them up 100%.
Treat people as outlined above and they'll be willing to walk through fire for you when the time comes. It's a karma thing.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:3, Insightful)
He was showing some young engineer around his gianormous mountain-top home, and the young engineer looked at everything with ever-increasing awe. Finally the young engineer bursts out, "This is incredible! And you got all this just from inventing Ethernet!"
Not so, said Bob. "I got all this from selling Ethernet." Point being, geek skills are great, but by themselves they're not necessarily all that great. It helps to know marketing, or management, or some other people skills if you want to apply your geek skills to the world you actually live in.
Re:Pretty Ironic... (Score:3, Insightful)
Ah, another one who defines greatness and success as a monetary achievement. Thats BS.
I think what the original poster was trying to say, is that he was forced into this role, but would prefer to spend his days "geeking out" to the stuff that got him into the field in the first place.
Yeah, we all want more money, but lets face it. That is not greatness, success or happiness. Happiness is not something your environment can control - ask some surviving POWs. Ask some former slaves. There have been happy individuals in both cases, while in those situations. Happiness is the ability to be content with your station in life. If you constantly want more, you'll never be happy. You'll always want more, and if your "stuff" gets taken away - you're an unhappy person.
We need to focus on meaningful things in life - not materialistic things.
Decide whether you want to manage (Score:2, Insightful)
If you decide to move to the world of pie charts and performance evaluations, take the change seriously: you're learning a whole new job, and it will take study and attention.
Re:Important points of a good manager (Score:3, Insightful)
Secondly, I am a huge fan of defending your people. At work I am a jealous defender of my people. When people sense and see your loyalty to them, then they are more likely to perform.
People are also an asset. The goal of managment is to get people to perform. Those doing the work are the people that are likely to come up with the ideas that help you. Create an enviroment that allows for effective communication. Something that I had to learn the hard way was taking feedback. Sometimes a worker will tell you that you aren't doing the job right -- allow them the opportunity to tell you that you suck. Don't allow them to walk all over you, but take their opinion, and when warented, make changes.
Empower your people. Allow them the opportunity to succeed. This also creates the opportunity to fail. But realize that allowing the opportunity for failure and success can yield rewards that will get you noticed. Don't be afraid of the guys under you looking good. If they look good, your leadership will be noticed.
Finally, you never hear in business that so-and-so are good managers. You usually hear that they are good leaders. Hardly do people get promoted on management potential than proven leadership skills. Remember, leadership is the capacity to build those around you.