I used to be in the exact same situation. I would be the geek, and my boss would handle the managerial duties without understanding what exactly it was that I was doing. It often crossed my mind that someone who knew the technical end of my department better should be the one managing it.
After putting in my time as a lowly tech, the company grew, and my boss got promoted. Having now spent close to 3 years as Technical Manager, I see things in a much different light.
My job is to MANAGE, and let my techs do the tech, just as our respective job titles imply. I oftentimes find myself losing a grip on current tech and learning technical tricks from the people that I trained, and this is OK.
Sometimes the current task that I may be working on may seen trivial to some, as I used to think of my boss, but things are a lot different on the other side of the fence. I am simply a spokesman, they are the ones that get the job done and they are the ones that deserve the credit for the work.
When it comes down to it though, I do miss being a tech frequently. Just be thankful that someone else, technical or not, is writing reports and sitting through meetings instead of YOU.
Slashdot Mirror
I used to be in the exact same situation. I would be the geek, and my boss would handle the managerial duties without understanding what exactly it was that I was doing. It often crossed my mind that someone who knew the technical end of my department better should be the one managing it. After putting in my time as a lowly tech, the company grew, and my boss got promoted. Having now spent close to 3 years as Technical Manager, I see things in a much different light. My job is to MANAGE, and let my techs do the tech, just as our respective job titles imply. I oftentimes find myself losing a grip on current tech and learning technical tricks from the people that I trained, and this is OK. Sometimes the current task that I may be working on may seen trivial to some, as I used to think of my boss, but things are a lot different on the other side of the fence. I am simply a spokesman, they are the ones that get the job done and they are the ones that deserve the credit for the work. When it comes down to it though, I do miss being a tech frequently. Just be thankful that someone else, technical or not, is writing reports and sitting through meetings instead of YOU.