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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?"
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!
Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
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.
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.
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
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
It is an advantage to understand what the people you are managing are supposed to do, but remember one thing:
EVEN IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THE JOB, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LEAVE YOUR TEAM ALONE.
The worst thing is the engineer-turned-manager who constantly has to have his hands in everyone and the dog's work because he thinks he is still hot and knows better than those kids how to do stuff. Even if this is the case: If you find out your team is staffed with total idiots rather fire them and get better ones than try to do their work for them. Just won't work out.
You still can give a demonstration of your geek-god-like skills from time to time at chosen occasions to show them that they cannot tell you an X for an U, and you can give them good advice IF THEY ASK YOU FOR IT, but otherwise just manage them and don't do their work. Been there, done that, and it just didn't work out, neither for them nor for me.
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).
I moved up into management a few years ago and have found 2 basic rules to follow. 1) Take care of your people. 2) Get the job done. If you don't take care of your people, you will NEVER be able to get the job done. -Doug
Honestly the best managers are those that SERVE their employees. and that truthfully is your job.
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.
- 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
Computer Science is Applied Philosophy
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 certainly agree with this. I was in charge of a group (about 5) of developers on a project.
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.
I for one welcome our new [insert main topic] overlords.
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.