October 19, 2015 at 9:17 am
Bad manager for people who care about the work means "someone I now have to circumvent without making it obvious". Came to that realization after reading the article below, and recognizing it in my own workplace: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2527153/it-management/opinion--the-unspoken-truth-about-managing-geeks.html
if people are not fighting the bad manager anymore, then that's *really* bad, not getting better.
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October 19, 2015 at 9:47 am
Bad management can impact the effectiveness of our technology organizations, and it's silly to accept bad managers. This is something that can be fixed ...
... by the staff grabbing pitchforks and torches, and running off the bad manager.
(Sire! The peasants are revolting!)
(Somewhat) more seriously, Steve, I think you may be not only under-estimating the ability of staff to turn around (or replace) bad managers, but the ability of bad managers to run off good staff.
Short of a wooden stake driven through the heart, the only way to get rid of a bad manager is .. to walk (or run!) away.
October 19, 2015 at 10:05 am
william-700725 (10/19/2015)
Steve, I think you are seriously understating the potential damage a bad manager can do.The two worst-case scenarios are managers who actually increase divisiveness on a team, eliminating synergy and reducing the team's output to less than the sum of the individual contributions, and when managers do not manage workloads and priorities, so that critical tasks remain untouched while resources are expended on less-important tasks (or allowed to sit idle, waiting to be assigned work). Both of those are potential project-killers, and both of those are mismanagement-induced.
Perhaps, but I also see many, many people put up with this and stay at their jobs for years. Companies also survive long periods with really, really poor managers.
October 19, 2015 at 10:07 am
GoofyGuy (10/19/2015)
Bad management can impact the effectiveness of our technology organizations, and it's silly to accept bad managers. This is something that can be fixed ...
... by the staff grabbing pitchforks and torches, and running off the bad manager.
(Sire! The peasants are revolting!)
(Somewhat) more seriously, Steve, I think you may be not only under-estimating the ability of staff to turn around (or replace) bad managers, but the ability of bad managers to run off good staff.
Short of a wooden stake driven through the heart, the only way to get rid of a bad manager is .. to walk (or run!) away.
No need to grab the pitchforks or risk throwing yourself under a bus. Many organizations have an envelope box or email address where employees can submit suggestions (perhaps anonymously) for things like eliminating waste or improving efficiency ...
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 19, 2015 at 10:07 am
GoofyGuy (10/19/2015)
(Somewhat) more seriously, Steve, I think you may be not only under-estimating the ability of staff to turn around (or replace) bad managers, but the ability of bad managers to run off good staff.Short of a wooden stake driven through the heart, the only way to get rid of a bad manager is .. to walk (or run!) away.
Easier said than done. We have had many dysfunctional organizations keep developers, or replace them with worse ones and continue to produce software for years. Among others. EA is an example here.
October 19, 2015 at 10:34 am
No need to grab the pitchforks or risk throwing yourself under a bus. Many organizations have an envelope box or email address where employees can submit suggestions (perhaps anonymously) for things like eliminating waste or improving efficiency ...
October 19, 2015 at 10:36 am
We have had many dysfunctional organizations keep developers, or replace them with worse ones and continue to produce software for years.
There's this company in Redmond ...
October 19, 2015 at 10:39 am
Steve's Moving Co?
20245 Redmond-Fall City Rd NE, Redmond, WA 98053
412-977-3526 call/text
October 19, 2015 at 10:42 am
Steve's Moving Co?
Always a moving experience.
October 19, 2015 at 11:04 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/19/2015)
william-700725 (10/19/2015)
Steve, I think you are seriously understating the potential damage a bad manager can do.The two worst-case scenarios are managers who actually increase divisiveness on a team, eliminating synergy and reducing the team's output to less than the sum of the individual contributions, and when managers do not manage workloads and priorities, so that critical tasks remain untouched while resources are expended on less-important tasks (or allowed to sit idle, waiting to be assigned work). Both of those are potential project-killers, and both of those are mismanagement-induced.
Perhaps, but I also see many, many people put up with this and stay at their jobs for years. Companies also survive long periods with really, really poor managers.
I wasn't saying that companies can't survive, I was saying that you're wrong to say that a "bad manager can also lower productivity, but only to an extent" -- unless you consider near-zero useable output to be within that extent. Management isn't just motivating people to work, it's also orchestrating their work so that something sellable is produced. Bad management can have everybody running in circles, and think that all is well because employee utilization is near 100 percent. The damage which can be done that way may not kill a company, but it will drive off business and ruin a reputation.
October 19, 2015 at 11:18 am
Bad management can have everybody running in circles, and think that all is well because employee utilization is near 100 percent.
Exactly so. It's astonishing how many managers seem to confuse 'running in circles' with 'running ahead'.
Activity, of and by itself, is no metric of progress.
October 19, 2015 at 11:31 am
GoofyGuy (10/19/2015)
Bad management can have everybody running in circles, and think that all is well because employee utilization is near 100 percent.
Exactly so. It's astonishing how many managers seem to confuse 'running in circles' with 'running ahead'.
Activity, of and by itself, is no metric of progress.
It can, but it's not any certainty that the business will not continue to do well. There have been numerous examples of this, where bad management, even bad policies were in place, but companies continued to do well.
Don't also misunderstand that bad management is not always universally bad. Some people like managers that many others consider bad. Some continue to prosper, despite bad management.
October 19, 2015 at 12:26 pm
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/19/2015)
william-700725 (10/19/2015)
Steve, I think you are seriously understating the potential damage a bad manager can do.The two worst-case scenarios are managers who actually increase divisiveness on a team, eliminating synergy and reducing the team's output to less than the sum of the individual contributions, and when managers do not manage workloads and priorities, so that critical tasks remain untouched while resources are expended on less-important tasks (or allowed to sit idle, waiting to be assigned work). Both of those are potential project-killers, and both of those are mismanagement-induced.
Perhaps, but I also see many, many people put up with this and stay at their jobs for years. Companies also survive long periods with really, really poor managers.
Aye, I have because it's not the manager keeping me sticky to the company, it's the project. I've been truly excited about the idea of the company so much where I deal with bad managers. It's hard, unfair, chews you up and spits you back out.
I honestly believe all managers should be focused on building people, not themselves.
October 19, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Don't also misunderstand that bad management is not always universally bad. Some people like managers that many others consider bad. Some continue to prosper, despite bad management.
Don't worry about my misunderstanding that, Steve. I've been in IT for about 40 years, in any number of roles - including manager. I can tell you from first-hand experience you're right - because not everyone thinks I'm doing a great job as a manager.
And that's all right. I encourage staff to let me know what I'm doing right, and where I'm messing up. I try to improve my performance - and theirs - that way.
October 19, 2015 at 12:56 pm
Buck Woody said "The saddest day of your life is when you realise your staff are better coders than you. The happiest is when you realise it doesn't matter".
If you've been promoted into a management position and are unable to make that mental switch then you will struggle to be a good manager. He also said that no matter how brilliant you are you can only sustain say 50% higher workload than average. Therefore the only way to continue to increase your value to the organisation is to make it possible for your staff to do well. The question I have to ask myself is " how can I change things to benefit my staff and still pull in the same direction as the corporate strategy "?
I read all the Patrick Lenceoni books and they really helped. Easy reading and poignant.
I want to be a good manager and wanting that is the first step to becoming one. I'm not sure I want to be a manager but if I have to be then there's no point in not trying to be a good one
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