May 7, 2014 at 9:02 am
Jack Corbett (5/7/2014)
Good editorial today. I want 3 things from a manager:1. Direction - I don't always want to be picking my tasks, I want to know what needs to be done and when.
2. Accountability - I want to be held accountable for getting things done on time and in the best way possible.
3. Insulation - A manager should have my back, praise publicly, chastise privately. If a project is behind, take the heat from above and then pass it on. If timelines are unrealistic, push back to the people setting the timelines.
All three of those involve good communication. I've had bosses that did all 3 and had a great time, and I've had bosses that did none of the 3 and it was miserable.
As far as pay goes, I disagree that managers should be paid less than the people they manage as a general rule. There may be instances where that makes sense or where there is an exceptional technical person that should be paid more than the manager, but since I expect my manager to take the heat for me, that person deserves to make more than me.
Nice set of 3 tasks, and I mostly agree.
I disagree on the pay. For the most part, managers don't end up taking the heat in practice. Especially when they make more. They quickly can push that heat/blame down to you.
Pay should be based on value. A good manager brings some value to the team, but if they're bringing a lot more than the technical people, the technical people aren't very good (or junior) in which case the manager may be doing some teaching/mentoring from a technical sense, or helping them grow.
I think it should be an exception, or maybe 50/50 where a manager makes more than valuable technical staff. The idea they manage people and that equates to more value is a holdover from non-thought work.
May 7, 2014 at 9:14 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (5/7/2014)
I disagree on the pay. For the most part, managers don't end up taking the heat in practice. Especially when they make more. They quickly can push that heat/blame down to you.
A manager should never be blaming someone in his department to a higher-up manager, if that's what you're saying? They should take the heat for the failures and then deal with that internally in the department, not use one of their staff as a scapegoat to their bosses.
May 7, 2014 at 9:18 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (5/7/2014)
Jack Corbett (5/7/2014)
Good editorial today. I want 3 things from a manager:1. Direction - I don't always want to be picking my tasks, I want to know what needs to be done and when.
2. Accountability - I want to be held accountable for getting things done on time and in the best way possible.
3. Insulation - A manager should have my back, praise publicly, chastise privately. If a project is behind, take the heat from above and then pass it on. If timelines are unrealistic, push back to the people setting the timelines.
All three of those involve good communication. I've had bosses that did all 3 and had a great time, and I've had bosses that did none of the 3 and it was miserable.
As far as pay goes, I disagree that managers should be paid less than the people they manage as a general rule. There may be instances where that makes sense or where there is an exceptional technical person that should be paid more than the manager, but since I expect my manager to take the heat for me, that person deserves to make more than me.
Nice set of 3 tasks, and I mostly agree.
I disagree on the pay. For the most part, managers don't end up taking the heat in practice. Especially when they make more. They quickly can push that heat/blame down to you.
Pay should be based on value. A good manager brings some value to the team, but if they're bringing a lot more than the technical people, the technical people aren't very good (or junior) in which case the manager may be doing some teaching/mentoring from a technical sense, or helping them grow.
I think it should be an exception, or maybe 50/50 where a manager makes more than valuable technical staff. The idea they manage people and that equates to more value is a holdover from non-thought work.
What would motivate anyone within the organization to want to move up to a manager, knowing you would take a pay cut? Doesn't it defeat a 'promote from within'? Let's see now, stay at my current position which I know well and do well at, or move up to manager and not know what I need to know and struggle to learn and make less money. Doesn't sound like anything I would want to do.
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we travel not to escape life but for life not to escape us
Don't fear failure, fear regret.
May 7, 2014 at 9:27 am
Phil Factor wrote a nice piece about an IT department training their manager. Basically training him or her to be a good manager.
Each level of management attempts to manage the one above it.
May 7, 2014 at 9:56 am
Has anyone else heard of the Peter Principle ...
that people will tend to be promoted until they reach their "position of incompetence"?
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle
We know this problem has been around as long as there have been hierarchies, and nobody has yet found a good solution. Personally, I have refused promotions because I knew I would stink as a manager, and currently I earn more than my manager (mostly because of seniority) who is not a technical person. Guess I'm one of the lucky ones!! 😀
May 7, 2014 at 10:27 am
below86 (5/7/2014)
...What would motivate anyone within the organization to want to move up to a manager, knowing you would take a pay cut? Doesn't it defeat a 'promote from within'? Let's see now, stay at my current position which I know well and do well at, or move up to manager and not know what I need to know and struggle to learn and make less money. Doesn't sound like anything I would want to do.
I am not a huge fan of technical people becoming managers unless that is where their skills and abilities truly lie. When they do they do tend to not be the best technicians. There are plenty of exceptions but I do believe that it is true (only) in general.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
May 7, 2014 at 10:41 am
I started a little development business about 12 years ago, and I did find myself falling into the trap of being a bad manager, and losing my technical skills as a result.
About a year ago, I hired someone to come at 5pm, drag me away from my desk, and let me vent all my day's frustrations. While doing so, I'd constantly come up with, "OH! I have to remember to call so-and-so." or "I promised So-and-I'd finish XYZ this week."
Once I finish, she summarizes the day in a few sentances, and writes it up under a heading "Yesterday". Then, all the things I mentioned I had to do, she puts beneath it in a "To Do" section, broken down by customer/employee. Then, she goes over what got done from my to-do list.
Also... If someone asked me to write a report about XYZ, and I did it the same day, I put it on the to-do list and strike it out. That way I can actually see things are accomplished!
When I'm done, I wonder on home, and she prints it out and pops it in a 3 ring binder on my desk, where my Agenda page is on the left and a blank page for notes is on the right. All ready for when I come in the next morning. It leaves me a fantastic record of notes an to-do lists. -note: it has to be all in one page
Anyway... this has become a great management tool that allows me to spend more time developing and less time "managing", since I can look right at someone's sub-heading in my own to-do list when I talk to my developers.
Now, believe it or not, I simply do it over the phone and I have an internet printer with 3 hole punch paper next to my desk. The call costs me about $5/day.
Probably the biggest benefit of this is the "release". Basically, if I want to complain about a client or a project, she really doesn't care and it isn't going to come back to me they way it might if I was doing it in-house. Also, when I come home, I don't have to unload on my wife. 🙂
So, I'd say that in a development world, you really just need a couple good developers on a team and someone to keep them from wandering off target.
May 7, 2014 at 11:19 am
In my experience, a good leader/manager passes/acknowledges success to the team/staff. Failure stops with the manager. The managers job is to manage the resources so a project will succeed.
Sadly, if a company has a culture where success goes to the manager, while failure goes to the team, the organization is on a path to failure. Maybe not tomorrow, but eventually.
The more you are prepared, the less you need it.
May 7, 2014 at 11:21 am
paul.knibbs (5/7/2014)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (5/7/2014)
I disagree on the pay. For the most part, managers don't end up taking the heat in practice. Especially when they make more. They quickly can push that heat/blame down to you.
A manager should never be blaming someone in his department to a higher-up manager, if that's what you're saying? They should take the heat for the failures and then deal with that internally in the department, not use one of their staff as a scapegoat to their bosses.
Never should, often do in my experience.
May 7, 2014 at 11:22 am
below86 (5/7/2014)
What would motivate anyone within the organization to want to move up to a manager, knowing you would take a pay cut? Doesn't it defeat a 'promote from within'? Let's see now, stay at my current position which I know well and do well at, or move up to manager and not know what I need to know and struggle to learn and make less money. Doesn't sound like anything I would want to do.
Why is manager a move up? It's a different job. Certainly some people might move over, and be willing to take a pay cut. I have at times when changing jobs.
I'd argue that if managers ended up working less, no on call, etc, maybe it's worth less money and worth the pay cut.
May 7, 2014 at 12:42 pm
Dang Steve!
All these times I've read your blog and you haven't been wrong until today! At least on a few of the points you made. I concede that there are bad managers, I concede that managers' technical skills can diminish (but that's obvious: practice makes perfect right?). If your argument was limited to "bad managers should be paid less than [skilled] technical workers", you would be right in part - but that's only because bad managers should be let go. A good manager, is worth 2 times what a technical worker is worth. Why? Because most technical workers (not all) aren't great either Steve - and you know it. Most (not all) do the absolute minimum that they can throughout a day. Most would rather patch a problem than really fix it, and left to their own devices most would spend more time on the things that they prefer to do than the things need doing. Now I'm sure you agree there's bad to be found in both the technical worker and the technical manager. On the flip side, comparing apples to apples - a good technical manager is still more valuable than a good technical worker. That's because a good manager leads not just one but sometimes many skilled employees. They get results by combining skill sets, fixing under utilization, increasing productivity wherever possible. They also are able to marry the needs of the business to the talents they are managing.
I hate Nascar, but I'll use an example from it. Any good Nascar driver will tell you that without their pit crew - they're done. Why? Because they have tunnel vision, they know how to drive masterfully, but that doesn't tell them everything they need to be successful. The manager has the view from above, they know more than just the single irritation that might be bothering their best technical worker. Beyond that, they know WHY things need to be done (and if they were skilled technically before, they also know how).
In the summed up words of David Lee Roth:
The guy who knows HOW will always work for the guy who knows WHY.
May 7, 2014 at 1:11 pm
tscott541 (5/7/2014)
Dang Steve!All these times I've read your blog and you haven't been wrong until today!
Ha!, I'm sure I've been wrong many times. Past, present, and future.
...
On the flip side, comparing apples to apples - a good technical manager is still more valuable than a good technical worker. That's because a good manager leads not just one but sometimes many skilled employees. They get results by combining skill sets, fixing under utilization, increasing productivity wherever possible. They also are able to marry the needs of the business to the talents they are managing.
...
Fair points. Certainly lots of technical people aren't that great at their jobs. Completely agree.
However, I guess I would advocate for bad people to be paid less than good people, manager or techie. However a really good techie is worth more than a really good manager, IMHO. If you have good techies, often you don't need as much managerial work.
Certainly business people tend to rule and technical people work for them. True in many industries. However I'd argue that apart from the people at the higher levels, directors of larger groups, VPs, most managers don't add more value to the process. Project managers, the people doing the work, often they are really adding more value to the company.
Not that I think it will change, but that's what I think is a better way for things to run.
May 7, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Read it, Loved it, and have only one complex thought. If the manager is not technical that manager must listen and understand when the Tech Professional describes a problem and why it is a problem. And conversely the Tech Professional must use the vocabulary the manger will be able to understand so there is a chance of communication happening. Then there is a chance of the manager managing and the Tech being productive. 🙂
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
May 7, 2014 at 3:01 pm
Miles Neale (5/7/2014)
Read it, Loved it, and have only one complex thought. If the manager is not technical that manager must listen and understand when the Tech Professional describes a problem and why it is a problem. And conversely the Tech Professional must use the vocabulary the manger will be able to understand so there is a chance of communication happening. Then there is a chance of the manager managing and the Tech being productive. 🙂
I agree with you, so long as all of the technical people are in agreement. Or at worst aren't arguing with each other over project matters. If that's the case, then the manager hasn't any clue what's going on or how to fix it.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
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