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Geeks in Management?
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?"
I was just offered a management position yesterday. Being an engineer who will be going into management, I am also curious to what the responses will be.
100% Insightful
Treat your "normals" as you would like to be treated if the positions were reversed.
Will solve a lot of problems that way.
So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
It is absolutely crucial to read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. That will turn anyone into a good manager. Best manager I had was an analytical type like us back at GE. He read lots of books and practiced what they preached. The Carnegie book is the most important!
Employee hammocks!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
Assimilate them. Seriously management is 75 % personality and 25% ability.
if you can do the job of the people you're managing, you have an advantage. I cannot count time times where I've been in a job and the pinhead that was hired to be manager was just that - a manager... a manager that had absolutely no idea how to do the job I was doing. They were just a buzzword spouting talking head.
For me, the toughest part of getting "bumped up" was giving up control. Let people do their jobs. Let them make their mistakes. Yes, as management, you are responsible. But you are also building a team for the long term. Encourage and correct, don't micromanage.
My problem is: I have no formal (or any other, for that matter) management training.
Everything I ever needed to know about management, I learned from Dilbert.
Now, granted, I don't actually have a job. . . .
When things get complex, multiply by the complex conjugate.
He always insists that we call him Darth Vader. And on casual Friday, he dresses up in a Tron costume.
You are likely to be better at something if you enjoy it. If you feel like you were "pushed" into management and don't want to be doing it, then find a role as a technical lead, architect or similar where your primary responsibilities are still deeply technical, not managerial.
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.
Geeks in management make for a pretty good structure, though they may have little vision for the direction of the organization, rather like having accountants run the company. Dow Chemical used to have engineers at the top and was a pretty decent company to work for. Now it's all suits and they're more concerned with Profit(!!!) & Loss and Stock Value, like too many companies.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
How about you stop calling them "normals"?
Think about what you like most in the managers you've had over the years. You probably did your best work under those who didn't "manage" you at all, who just tried to help you to remove hurdles.
Try to emulate that.
I asked the same question to a former manager of mine and his reply was that managing a business or people is a lot like managing complexity in software design. Of course you can't treat people like objects(pun intended) but principles of modularization, etc. still applies. Just as you don't put all your logic in one method, function, or object, you shouldn't do everything yourself. Delegate stuff out and have some people concentrate on certain things. The old *nix philosophy of doing one thing and doing it really well still applies. Trust your employees to do the right thing without you micro-managing it. In the end, you become the thing that brings all these pieces together.
Good programming practices/philosophy goes beyond CS. It's all managing complexity after all.
EvilCON - Made Famous by
That will affirm your dominant position and noone will question your authority.
Boredom's not a burden anyone should bear.
i see, like posting on /. :)
The first thing you need to know is what exactly is expected of you. You need to know this for two main reasons. First, you need to know the extent of your job and second you need to make sure you meet managments expectations.
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.
My sig left me for a younger user id.
Another excellent read is Leadership secrets of Atilla the Hun (no joke) the man turned yak herders into a formidable force.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
For starters, I'd get rid of the geeks vs. normals mentality. Look at the individual characteristics of the people you're managing. Figure out what parts of the job they like and what parts they don't like. Figure out what they like to do outside of work, as that will give some insight into what makes them tick. Think about what you have in common with them. Basically, just treat them like people.
5. Learn "br" html tag. :)
I've moved into Project Managment myself, voluntarily. What I've found is this:
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.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
And you may hate yourself.
After being part of the "mobile work force" for more years than I can remember, the biggest problem encountered in larger companies are people that have been promoted to management based on seniority as opposed to training or skill.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to start a flame war, because I've worked for some people that have no training that were great, and conversely I've worked from BComms where I wanted to go postal.
Managers who are technical sometimes have the tendency to still poke their fingers in where they can. DO NOT POKE. Delegate. Otherwise you are discounting your minions and taking on more than you can chew.
The best manager is the one that recognizes accomplishment, delegates, and rewards. Micromanagement is a trap many fall into - so remember what it is all about: facilitating people who work under you to feel empowered, and be empowered to do the work. The day you complain some guy is always 5 minutes late, when he is twice as productive as the guy next to him, is the day you need a smack upside the head.
I've worked for so many clueless managers that either have sales backgrounds or technical backgrounds... the sales guys always promise more and the client, not the worker, is their priority. The technical guys usually have stale skillsets and think they can do everything better with PowerBuilder.
Remember - work your people skills. Some people shouldn't be management. Some belong in the trenches.
/\/\icro/\/\uncher
We've all seen it, or borne the brunt of it. A very skilled coder/plumber/accountant/scientist gets promoted into a management position and turns out to be a lousy manager, who makes life difficult for his underlings with his incompetence. Why does this happen?
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.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
2.5.- Get laughed at by your underlings because it is "All your BASE" and not "All your BASES".
2.75.- Reprint banner, getting it right this time.
3.- Learn to use <P> and <BR>
I am lucky in that I have capable and self motivating staff. And you would be amazed how rare that actually is . . . Communicate, don't dictate. Talk to people about where they are and what problems they are having. Stress that there is no blame for problems and that you want to catch them quickly to correct them. Reassure and praise where appropriate. From dealings with other companies and departments I am aware that competency is not necessarily the minimum level that you can accept. Tell people when they do things right. Praise them when they do them well. Understand and appreciate what your staff have to do and what their job likely entails. Being able to do their jobs is actually a bonus as it means you can train them if necessary, and dive in if their workload is too much and needs redistributing.
I was a geek 6 years ago than became a manager. I would say the most important thing to do is understand the difference between being a manager and a leader. The key difference is a manager will tell you to do something. You will only do the action if it is in your best interest. A leader will convince you to do something that isn't necessarily in your best interest and you will do it. I haven't read any management books and I wouldn't recommend any. Just treat your people with respect and remember that they are always watching you .
It's kind of funny, but our personalities do, generally, suck! I have finally given up fighting it, though, and realize that by becoming a decent manager I can actually improve my people skills and better my life in general.
If your company is behind you and realize you are a geek but have intelligence, they'll help you. See if they can give you a psychological profile. It sounds worse than it is, and you need to be open to it. they'll tell you what you are like (although you should already know) and what is desireable in a manager/leader. But most importantly, they'll tell you what to do to go from here to there.
I also reccommend reading the books by Geald M. Weinberg, such as "Becoming a Technical Leader: An Organic Problem-Solving Approach" and "The Psychology of Computer Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition." Good luck, you'll appreciate the effort and so will your boss.
My user name was a mistake. Input wasn't restricted, my bad.
Also:
The meetings will continue until we find out why nothing gets done around here.
(This really was the case where I worked years ago, I was found to be a very useful person to invite to meetings as my analytical nature cut to the chase quickly and resolved issues, sometimes in as little as five minutes even, though the meeting was scheduled to last hours. Problem was, I got invited to so many meetings I couldn't get done all my work and other things from other meetings.)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
I as well am a geek who made the leap to management. I've found that, geek or no, people are people. Treat them with respect, listen to their concerns, solicit input, encourage development and accountability, promote teamwork, and all the things we wanted when we were doing the geek work. Geeks often make good managers because of their problem solving skills, but sometimes encounter problems (I did at the beginning) with the arrogance we often feel speaking to non-geeks. Don't make that mistake, you'll be fine.
better than you. Ask them for input. People generally are interested in making themselves more productive, and almost always know better than management what is holding them back in their job, or where they can improve their efficiency. If you think you know best how they can do their job (and therefore, don't listen to their suggestions), you will most likely end up hurting the company.
Oh, and also, watch Office Space.
-=Lothsahn=-
"Surround yourself with the best people and you will succeed as a manager."
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.
What you are asking is actually a question that people who are not geeks wrestle with daily as well. I would suggest a few books to get your thoughts in place, and weed out the useless.
1) "A force for Change: How Leadership Differs from John Kotter (Kotter also writes a number of other papers I highly recommend.)
Management" by John Kotter
2) Good to Great by Jim Collins (SOLID Research!)
3) Built to last by Jim Collins
I recommend that you consider a couple personality assesments. Include those that consider your perspective, and one that also infers your social style. One you understand this better, you may see how your personality can mesh with people who have differing styles.
Finally, consider stufying for an MBA from a school that emphasises leadership.
Good luck! It is alot of work to sharpen the people skills when you have been so sharp technically. However, your intellect can carry you through if you consider how you best interface.
1) be secure enough in yourself that you aren't threatened by your underlings. It is perfectly fine that people under you are right or know more than you. Accept it and treat them with respect.
I was a teacher at a University and I was also a student in the 4th year. I taught first year students. They never challenged me and I was a great teacher (or so I like to think). I also taught 3rd year students. These students challenged me in every way they could. They tried to ask me questions to show that they knew more than me. In this scenario I was a terrible teacher (until I realised what I was doing) because I would either, if I knew the answer, react by putting them down or if I didn't know the answer, I reacted defensively.
2) Don't base your self esteem on knowing more than everyone else about technology. You have to accept that you now are expected to be good on something else.
I am a geek and was promoted to a manager. And I really love the technical side. I was secure in myself but after a while there were inevitably situations where people knew more about the parts of the system that we were building, and the technology we used. I started loosing the platform from where I had previously gotten my self esteem. This can be a bit painful.
3) Don't be a detail fascist, unless you really have to. You'll have people under you which are good. Don't lean over their shoulder and tell them how to do things. You should however oversee that interfaces between people work well (unless you have a guy that is responsible for that).
If you are a fascist about details, then you will have to be one forever. Noone else will step up and take responsibility for good designs.
4) Management by walking around.
There are different ways of managing people. I don't know which one is best, but I know what I prefer, both to use as a manager, and for my manager to use. Make a habit of walking around and have little informal talks with people. Talk about the NY Yankees or some interesting problem, or an actual management issue that you need to discuss with this person. The upshot with this is that you'll always stay very aware what is going on and if someone is brooding over something they will let you know before it becomes a big issue.
Well, that's what I can think of straight off the bat. Good luck. And if I had to summarize all of the above and give you one advice, then don't let your insecurity lead you to react defensively.
The Internet is full. Go Away!!!
Peopleware (out of print last time I looked, but you may be lucky) is a superb book, and very readable. I particularly like the story about the Bell-o-phone, which sums up my attitude to telephones perfectly. It's not just about management, it's about working productively. If more managers read this book, I would consider going back to the real world (until I remembered the whole thing about mornings).
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
You can start by stopping referring to non-geeks as 'normals'. I understand that it's a defensive reaction against being called a 'dork', but as a manager, you can't afford the luxury of name-calling anymore.
The best boss I ever had focused on results. I was the project manager for a team of 5 smart young developers. I did the project management stuff to keep my developers working on what they want to do -> programming not meetings. We showed up for work at 2pm and worked till 12am. It was pretty crazy but we were all night owls. Somebody approched my boss about our weird schedules. My boss went to the CIO about it. The CIO basically said, "What he is doing is working. I'm not going to ask him to change a thing." During my 2+ years there my team finished several large enterprise-wide web apps (using Java & DB2). /.ing too much. Tell them that you completely trust them. If you can't, why not? Address that problem on a person-by-person basis (don't revoke everybody's freedom because of one lazy bum). Have clear goals that you expect them to accomplish.
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).
Find a great manager you respect, and have her/him become your mentor. Best think I ever did.
I hate to say it but "managing" is usually something most people do poorly without some serious background in techniques and training to be effective. You'll never be a great manager if you're pushed into it. And worse, you could end up hating the situation that you're in.
MBAs are for people with no management background and the coursework most programs provide is a good foundation. Sure, a lot of it is crap. But without it your odds of success are less good. That's not to say MBA grads can't be bad bosses, but if you have the personality it takes to be a manager, the MBA coursework will get you down the home stretch. I know everybody thinks they just product pointy hairs, but that's not the case.
I started as a self-taught programmer (probably ended as a bad one), but I have always wanted to move to management. Here is a story my Dad related to me about being a camp counselor at a summer camp:
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.
"This isn't a study in computer science, its a study in human behavior"
Management is like playing an RTS game, but without the pretty interface.
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.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
You couldn't be more completely wrong. The best manager I ever had, had no idea how to do my job. He didn't need to know that, there were senior engineers who did know how to do the job that he turned me to when I needed technical leadership. However he did an excellent job of running interference for me so that I could work. I didn't have to worry about went on over my head because he did all the political fighting, and reported back to me what happened. He was smart enough to find out what would be an issue in the future, and start the political process to solve them now, before they became a big deal.
While working under him I was under some of the worst upper management I've ever seen, but my day to day job was a pleasure because I was only vaguely aware of how bad things were.
Management's job is not to get things done, it is to get others to get the job done. Sometimes management must jump in and hands on get things done, but even then the manager must never forget that the first duty is to get the others to do the work.
Another thing that has been very important to me...a great manager (IMHO) is someone who doesn't forget about their employee's career development. Many times I have been involved with projects where if I could work 24 hours my manager would want me to work 24 hours. But no matter the project, everyone has to have time to continue their career development (most projects add experience but rarely address what you need for The Next Big Thing). A great manager will insist his employees take time for education, etc., even when they are super dedicated to the current effort (i.e. workaholics). I think geeky people are especially prone to being workaholics, so sometimes a manager has to make them stop working on the project and take time off for education (at least, that's been my experience).
Another thing, you will usually find one person who does a certain task better than anyone else and teams naturally tend to orient themselves so that that the person most talented always does that one job. However, a good manager will make sure everyone learns every aspect of the team's tasks, even if it means sacrificing some efficiency for a time.
My two cents...
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
1. Get a banner that reads "Is this good for the Company" 2. Get a big coffee mug and walk around with it... 3. Wear a binary tie... Seriously, management is about teamwork. Project to your team that you trust them to do a good job. Give them random perks (i.e. Pizza, sodas, etc.) Take time to understand the people you manage; some people want a lot of recognition, some want to be left alone. Understand that as long as they know you care, you probably won't have to do much managing at all. People respect management that understands the tasks their subordinates perform. If your "normals" want to talk to you about the latest news and you have no clue, "respect -1" There will be a learning curve for you and them. They are probably as nervous about you being the new boss as you are. People tend to assume the worst when new management arrives. In my personal experience, new management is truly a bane to all that is good and happy. Your new team is probably quite nervous that you are about to go in and start customizing the office a way they don't approve of. I would say just lay back and learn about the position and try not to be super manager of the dacade.
Yeah, I managed to piss off my subordinates in my one management experience. Once you lose the trust and respect of your crew you're permanently screwed.
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.
Why do I have this? I don't smoke.
A good manager works for his team -- he provides the resources that they need (within reason), acts like a shit umbrella, to protect them from upper management, and lets them know the things going on in the company that they need to know.
1) Know your peoples capabilities and never ask them to do anything they are incapable of.
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.
-1 Uncomfortable Truth
Take stock of your surroundings, and decide if you want to be a "Successful" manager or a "Good" manager. "Successful" managers are dynamic, demanding, decisive, and action-oriented. These are all good qualities, as long as they don't lead to disaster. "Good" managers have these qualities too, but they are also dependable, respectful, thoughtful, and solution-oriented.
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].
Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
...I always prefer to call them "underlings" or "slackers".
All I know about Bush is I had a good job when Clinton was president.
I have no formal (or any other, for that matter) management training.
I think you should hang motivational posters everywhere and put a big sign above your desk that reads "The floggings will continue unitl morale improves!"
Also talk behind peoples backs. Say one thing and do another. Promote paranoia and backstabbing. Fire people who make you look bad. And start asking people "Did you get the memo? It's just that we've started using these new cover sheets for our TPS reports."
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
Some advice...
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.
STFU & GBTW
I understand it can be a little strange. About 4 months ago I was a ditch digger (sometimes called a helper). I had filled this role for 2 years. Then all of a sudden they pulled me in the office to setup a new computer. I am now running jobs, dealing w/ customers and have about 12 people under me who used to be my supervisors. Its all kind of wierdgoing fromdealing with a shovel to negotiating contracts that are 50x my income. Just a little to weird.
I no longer question my sanity.
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.
Okay, we know the "why", but what about the "how"? I never was good at faking smiles for photo sessions. How does one learn how to fake a smile over long stretches? It is really tough to be happy around people who you would zoom away from at warp speed given a choice.
Table-ized A.I.
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 but it applies to any kind of management.
Read, and follow the suggestions of, the One Minute Manager. 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.
1) Give credit where credit is due. Don't tell your boss you did things you didn't. Tell your boss who did the work and when someone does a good job make sure your boss knows it. You'll look good because the people you manage look good and your employees will be glad to be acknowledged.
2) Manage expectations. Make sure people know what the should be working on and when it will be due. Don't spring things on people and demand they be done immediately unless you really have to. Don't be the manager that cries wolf.
3) When there is work to be done and everyone else is working, do the work. Assuming you can. If you can't, help do the stuff you can so you free up someone to do it. Don't just complain, lead.
4) Listen. It is likely you employees have some skills and will have something valuable to say. Get their input when something is in their skill set. Don't disregard their input when you get it. If it isn't incorporated, explain why.
5) Stand up for your employees. When they are unnecessarily attacked, defend them. Don't jump on the bandwagon and don't throw them to the wolves. Employees will respect you if they feel you have their back and their interests in mind.
6) Be respectable. If your team doesn't respect you, they won't work for you and they won't stand up for you when you need them to. Be someone you'd respect.
You'll also have to manage up as well as down the ladder, but I'll admit I'm not as good at that. Maybe someone else can help with that.
Follwing up on the "protect your people" admonition, never, ever, sell out your staff for your own benefit. Never give that impression.
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.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
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.
how in the USA is management is considered more important (i.e. a promotion) than an engineer.
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.
36 of D?
May as well.
I've got no management experience, but I've worked for enough people, good (rarely) and bad (mostly) that i've identified what i like.
The superhero of middle management is my former boss, Ron, at a now-utterly-defunct embedded linux vendor.
Ron was Not A Programmer. He wasn't even technically speaking a geek, except in the strict jargon file definition. He was an old HAM operator and a former QA manager for various semiconductor fabrication facilities. He was managing a bunch of software QA people, me among them.
So, this was the basis of his attitude:
"As your manager, I am a man who is not competent to do your job, someone who, in fact, has only a cursory understanding of how you do your job.
What i need from you is for you to get your work done. How i intend to make that happen is by making sure:
a: You know what your job is
b: You know what your priorities are
c: You have everything you need to get the job done
d: Nobody will get in the way of your doing it, even if i have to jump in front of the bullet for you."
It was great. If people from other departments interfered with my work, Ron got on their case for it and hasseled their supervisor about it - so people from other departments rarely hassled me.
I knew exactly what my #1, #2, and #3 projects were, when they were due, and what was expected from them.
This rocked. If you've ever caught flack for not delivering something that you were never given any sense of urgency about, you can appreciate this.
If i needed anything - a particular cable, a memory module of a certain type, more clarification from marketing or engineering exactly what they wanted from me, an OK to take the rest of the day off if i was getting nowhere fast, heck, a sandwitch, Ron was on it.
I probably could have asked to take his daughter out to dinner and he wouldn't have said no right away.
Ron wouldn't make me work late unless he was working late too. Often this meant that he was in the office doing nothing important, so he'd fetch dinner and send flowers to the significant others. I'm serious.
If Ron was cutting out early before a holiday, he'd send me home first.
So, it was like this. I was certain - absolutely certain - that Ron would do whatever it took to make sure i could do a good job at what he'd asked me to do.
And, lets face it, that's what job satisfaction is all about.
I was entirely sure that Ron wouldn't ask me to do something unless it honestly needed to be done. That he would never bullshit me or sell me out.
I had no doubts about the fact that if upper management asked him to have us do something that he felt was unreasonable, he'd do whatever he could to talk them out of it.
So, whatever Ron wanted, Ron got. He treated us like princes and in return we exaulted him as our king. I'd work for him again in a heartbeat.
I'm not sure I'd even ask what the job was.
This is just like television, only you can see much further.
1. Give your people the tools they need to do their jobs and then stand out of the way and let them work!
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.
Excessive drinking is fine...in moderation.
The best sound-bite description I've heard of the responsibility of a manager is: "Eliminate uncertainty." A lot of the advice given here falls into this (clear goals, "run interference", "select good people" etc). It runs both ways: make things clear and unambiguous for your staff and ensure you provide consistent results for the company.
Don't "manage" -- "accomplish." I believe John Walker said that managers do just that: they manage a problem in perpetuity rather than make it go away which is what an engineer would. Don't fulfil his stereotype.Don't try to be the friend of the people reporting to you. Respect them, of course. Be friendly, by all means. But you are not their friend, and if they have a problem you can't cut them slack you wouldn't cut anyone else (and likewise when they're awesome, don't take them for granted but let them know you know).
Keep your perspective. I once worked for a CFO who referred to all the developers as the "direct contributors." Her biz-school point was they were the ones whose work our customers wanted. The rest of us (except for the sales guys) were overhead.
I've been told in the past I was a great manager and I also know that at times I was a dreadful manager. It's a skill like any other and has its own disciplines, problems and rewards. As long as you don't crash the plane along the way you can get better at it. Good luck.
1. Listening to complains
People will bitch about almost everything, when they do please put 100% attention to them, I typed while listening which made them feel bad.
2. 80% of the people "feel" and 20% "think".
We geeks tend to believe we think where we actually feel more, it was my mistake to assume that geeks think and make the logical choices--killed me at least twice when I believed that way.
3. Keeping your cool when you yourself could do someting in 20 min. but you get an estimate of 2 weeks.
Not Kidding ! please practice this--I finally had do things like lying about stomach ache (which I never get) before I can put up the face which shows interest and respect for the geek--this is 100% true. I fucked up once very bad when I could not take the BS from a senior programmer about something taking 2 Months and did the coding 15 mins right there while the one account manager watching this whole thing. Did not go well at all after that I rubbed her programming ego so bad that I got fucked later many times by her in totally unexpected ways. It took me 2 yrs to make up with her--after all she was a senior programmer and had some say about projects etc.
I guess this is what I did not do and paid for it so I can share this with the group.
- People who believe other people have no right to live, got no right to live ...
Not too technical, but in 3D computer graphics a "normal" is defined as a vector that is perpendicular to the face of a polygon. They are used for texture mapping and determining which side of a polygon needs to be rendered. Referring to people as "normals" just sounds really weird, imo. This is a very commonly used term in 3D graphics.
As far as moving into management goes, never turn down a promotion, even if you don't want it. You are dead at the company if you turn it down. Some people here say to "stick with being a techie". That's fine, but if you are offered a management job (more $) and decline, you will not be offered it again, at least with the same company. That's my experience, anyway. If you are nervous about a promotion like that, just take it when it's offered and forget about trying to preserve an existing positive work situation that is guaranteed to change regardless of your efforts to keep it the same. I've put this into practice and I'm much better off (professionally and financially) going with the flow instead of staying with what's comfortable.
Like you, I started with the Borgish tactics, which didn't work at all.
As soon as I realised what it was I was doing, I found some time, and contemplated what my options were. More speciffically, I reflected back on all the managers and supervisors I'd worked for. I was looking for the very best one supervisor or manager.
What I found was a man named Bob, that had the ability to motivate people, without being borgish, Bob also gave employees enough information to allow them to set their own priorities, additionally, when there were problems, he was quick to analize the facts, and either educate employees as to the causes of their trouble (letting them draw their own conclusions and solve the problem) or if need be (rarely) solve the problem and motivate employees toward implementing goals and objectives which would effect a fix of the problem. But most of the time, Bob just walked around - he called this MBWA (Management By Walking Around)
My reason for searching for a single best boss was to emulate as close as possible the things I admired about his management style.
From that day on, whenever there was a problem, or issue that needed my attention, I asked myself "What would Bob do in this situation?"
If I came up with a blank, the overriding ideas was to empower employees to make their best decision as to what to do, or empower them to effect the fix I knew was needed. I asw a tee shirt once that summed it up well - "Tell me what to do, Or how to do it, but not both (both is called micro-management, and that is worse than Borg tactics. Then ALWAYS follow up, to see how things are working.
Bob also had a lot of personal integrity - If he said "I'm going to do this, at that time" it was done at the time promised. Bob also solved his problems without snitching. He would never mention a wayward employee to senior management, with the exception being a time for action against an employee that was truely un-trainable, about 10 minuites before escorting him to ER, and he did this personally, and was honest and forthcomming about the issues, to the point that a terminated employee knew what was wrong with their behavior, and how badly they'd failed at fixing it. Oh, you might say that Bob might have been a hardass, but not so. To get fired,. an employee had to be unable or unwilling to learn and/or modify necessary skills and behaviors. And he NEVER discussed an employees performance, except with that employee alone, away from other employees. I asked him about this once, and his reply - " The only people that need to know about an employee's performance is that employee, and me. peroid"
But mostly, Bob was a resource that anyone could ask help from, that would spend time teaching you the necessary things so that you could succeed. And he never NEVER worked on product.
Hope this helps
toosmart
Take management lessons from Captain Picard. Seriously!
-Picard understood the strengths and weaknesses of all of his team members, and delegated tasks appropriately.
Engineering difficulties? Have Geordi take care of it. Ship morale low? Get counselor Troi on it. Unknown problem affecting ships computers? Have Data try to figure it out.
-Picard knew enough about everything on his ship (science, engineering, etc) to understand reports and make solid decisions, but he didn't try to do everything himself.
-Picard does his homework.
When the Enterprise is scheduled to cross through alien space, he reads up on their laws, customs, and politics so that he has a basis for making good command decisions and getting the most out of negotiations.
-Picard asks for suggestions and input from his team members, but isn't afraid stick to his guns when necessary (even if most of the crew disagrees with him).
-Picard stands up for his team members.
Paranoid starfleet admirals interrogating crewmembers without cause? Aliens trying to execute Wesley? Starfleet scientist trying to disassemble Data? Hell no! Picard won't stand for it.
If only more managers took lessons from Captain Picard...
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.
Get personal with your employees and think of crazy, personalized incentives to keep them going. Do work with them, and ask them for input and feedback as you give the same to them. Solicit suggestions for and hold discussions about process improvements. Don't forget the tiny things that need your attention as much as the big things--keeping on top of those helps you be prepared when the big things come along. Teach your employees how to do something new rather than just do it yourself--it'll strengthen your team and reduce the burden on you.
Good luck!
Read jack phelps dot net
Man oh man... where are those mod points when I need them?
I *really* wanted to mod you up for your statement! It seems like these replies are a sea of suggestions on how to take on that new management role - yet, the best suggestion of all may well be yours.
I faced a similar problem a few years ago. I had been working in corp. I.T. for nearly 6 years at the same place, and it became apparent that management's view of me was quickly turning negative. (Basically, it went from earning respect for being a rather "senior" PC support person with lots of experience, to someone who must lack motivation because I didn't make a strong effort to "move up" into some type of leadership/management role.)
For a while there, I really had to ask myself if I was "screwing up" or "slacking" or what? But I came to my senses and realized *NO*! The real problem was/is, corporate culture tends to "promote" people to management because they don't really have any other feasible way to reward you in a tech. position once you achieve a certain level of skill/experience. It's often a really bad idea, because it takes people away from what they're truly good at... throws them into a role they're typicaly NOT good at, and hampers the ability of the people they manage to be productive workers. All this because of such things as "salary scales/ranges" which place artifical ceilings on how much they can pay someone in a given role. (In my case, they all but flat out told me they simply didn't know what to do come yearly raises next time around, because they were already paying me the most they were allowed to, according to their salary limitations.)
The only mistake *I* made was sticking around when the writing was on the wall... I guess I thought my experience would see me through, but I was wrong. When management realized they weren't going to be able to cram me into a functional management role, they eventually gave me the boot.
Know what though? Despite some initial bitterness and stress about finding another job, I'm SO much happier now. I no longer bother with coporate I.T. at all. Instead, I work for a *small* business focused on on-site PC service and support, and I get to do what I love every day for different people - with no management breathing down my neck at all. It's just me, out there each day, making or breaking it because of my own skills (or lack thereof). The pay's not quite as good, but I'm not stuck watching my life get sucked away by paperwork, meetings, telling a bunch of intelligent people how to do their job, or whatnot.