July 15, 2010 at 8:53 am
berki (7/15/2010)
You'll always be 'one of the boys' to us.Looking forward to future editorials.
Moe
OK, who unchained Moe from the SQL Server console? I'm all for integrating him back into society, but one step at a time :w00t:
Back on topic - Good idea for an article, I'm looking forward to getting an insight that I can personally relate to in your upcoming posts.
Lots of people have expressed many different views above, in my own personal opinion I think that good managers are people who can adapt to the different personalities and needs of their staff, as not everyone who is part of a team will be the same.
In your article you say "being friendly isn't enough" which is probrably quite true, you need to walk the fine line of being approachable and friendly so that people "want" to work for you, but also be able to step back a few paces when needed and be willing to play the role of bad cop to sometimes "make" people have to work for you also....
Gricey
July 15, 2010 at 9:28 am
Congratulations and hope it works out for you!! As a lot of people have said already it is not for everyone and most of us find that out the hard way only. It largely depends to my mind on three factors 1 the managerial policy of the company and general quality of managers they have, 2 the type of people on your team and how well they get along together, 3 what you bring to the table. I was promoted this way too and went back to being a regular dba. My biggest frustration was #1, i wanted to be a proactive, supportive manager but was surrounded by other control freaks and those with very poor role modelling virtues. There is a lot a manager can do but a lot he/she can get away with not doing and doing poorly too, and again largely that is to do with company culture. As far as learning goes i suggest to attend atleast one conference per year to keep up to date on technical improvements. Good luck.
July 15, 2010 at 11:19 am
Best of luck, and looking forward to reading more.
A few pieces of advice:
- praise in public, criticize in private, even in the team.
- bad things are your fault, good things your team's effort. It pays off in the long run
- Read "Drive" on Motivation (Dan Pink). Very interesting.
Set expectations, and hole people responsible. They might gripe in the short term, but they'll respect you more over time.
July 15, 2010 at 1:35 pm
I am very interested in this series, also, because I now have my toe in the management pond. I'm a developer, but I am also now managing a small (thankfully appropriate for a beginner) project.
I'm not drowning yet ....:w00t:
July 16, 2010 at 1:47 am
Congratulations on the promotion. There are plenty of resources "out there" that will tell you what to do. Unfortunately, there aren't as many resources that tell you what NOT to do. In my experience, knowing that is equally important (if not more so).
So having said that, might I suggest getting yourself a Dilbert calendar and check your style against that of the Pointy-Haired Boss. There is wisdom to be had in the pages of Dilbert 🙂
James Stover, McDBA
July 16, 2010 at 7:25 am
There's companies that hire tech or DBA's to be manager's or boss's? Wow, from what I've seen, rarely does a manager have technical skills, and certainly not DBA skills. Almost always they have knowledge of other parts of the company the technical people do not deal with.
So basically, I know not of which you speak. But I'm really quite shocked to hear technical people get promoted to such positions. Maybe someday I'll use my Master's Degree after all.
July 16, 2010 at 7:30 am
Question Guy (7/16/2010)
There's companies that hire tech or DBA's to be manager's or boss's? Wow, from what I've seen, rarely does a manager have technical skills, and certainly not DBA skills. Almost always they have knowledge of other parts of the company the technical people do not deal with.So basically, I know not of which you speak. But I'm really quite shocked to hear technical people get promoted to such positions. Maybe someday I'll use my Master's Degree after all.
Exactly right, which points back to my "Peter Principle" post. Required reading IMHO. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
July 16, 2010 at 10:04 am
Our group got a new manager at the turn of 2010. He's was already a managing a group of developers in our company but none of us knew him.
So a couple weeks ago a few of us developers and analysts get on a call to troubleshoot an Oracle connectivity issue. The box had changed location and configuration the night before and somehow our team didn't follow suit properly. We spend some time floundering. Now the boss gets on the call to rattle some cages, right? On the contrary he comes on and SOLVES this technical issue.
That's someone I can get behind working for rather than a manager who's more concerned with paperwork being filled out properly and status reports being completed on time, don't you think?
Ken
July 16, 2010 at 12:38 pm
ken.trock (7/16/2010)
Our group got a new manager at the turn of 2010. He's was already a managing a group of developers in our company but none of us knew him.So a couple weeks ago a few of us developers and analysts get on a call to troubleshoot an Oracle connectivity issue. The box had changed location and configuration the night before and somehow our team didn't follow suit properly. We spend some time floundering. Now the boss gets on the call to rattle some cages, right? On the contrary he comes on and SOLVES this technical issue.
That's someone I can get behind working for rather than a manager who's more concerned with paperwork being filled out properly and status reports being completed on time, don't you think?
Ken
There is a whole lot more to being a manager than just filling out paper work and status reports. There is a complete range of skills required for this position that techies simply do not need to have and if you are not trained properly on the legal aspects of the job before you ascend into that position you can find yourself and your company in deep kimshi real fast, and thus reach a level of incompetence rather quickly, as the Pater Principle so aptly states. 😀
"Technology is a weird thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other. ...:-D"
July 16, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Steve Jones - Editor (7/15/2010)
Best of luck, and looking forward to reading more.A few pieces of advice:
- praise in public, criticize in private, even in the team.
- bad things are your fault, good things your team's effort. It pays off in the long run
- Read "Drive" on Motivation (Dan Pink). Very interesting.
Set expectations, and hold people responsible. They might gripe in the short term, but they'll respect you more over time.
I agree with these principles. Also, be HONEST.
Jason...AKA CirqueDeSQLeil
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