I recently got a message from a colleague and friend who was embarking on a bit of a career adventure, going from a strictly technical role to one where some formal management was going to be required. After (tongue-in-cheek) offering my condolences, I shared the story of the first real lesson I remember learning as a manager.
Entries Tagged 'Management' ↓
New manager?
January 3rd, 2012 — Management
Areas of concern
May 3rd, 2011 — Management
Early in my career as a manager, I attended a discussion where the question was raised: are we people managers or business managers? Is it more important to be good with people, or to know the business side of your product? Over time I have realized it’s much more than just those two – and I’ve begun calling them the axes of concern.
Iterative development of performance reviews
February 9th, 2011 — Management
If you’re in software, you’ve heard of iterative development. Simplified, its intent is to rapidly create a working piece of software and then continue on small cycles of improvement on that software, until the stakeholders want it released.
This isn’t a post about software development, though. Instead, I’m sharing how iterative development has changed my approach to performance reviews.
Why managers matter
December 6th, 2010 — Management
I am a technical manager, and work with many others. We’re people who “grew up” in the industry with our arms elbow-deep in source code. It’s not unusual for me to hear my peers complaining about “overhead” work and wishing they could do “real” work. But what they might wish for as work isn’t necessarily what their teams need them to be doing.
So what is it that we as managers do that matters?
Management as a practice
October 11th, 2010 — Management
Working at EMC, I often run into highly technical people in management roles. Almost every manager I interact with could tell a story of transition from technical contributor to manager. It’s not unusual to have senior managers directly contributing to a product, and recently my senior director recently called in an individual contributor to discuss coding practices after he stumbled onto some things while reviewing the code quality dashboard.
With this in mind, I am not surprised when I walk into a manager’s office (or cube) and see a bookshelf with books about programming languages, software design, code quality, and so-on. I think it’s healthy, actually. In the role we’re expected to play, it’s important we be able to speak the same language, be able to detect poor practice from early signs, and so on.
Becoming a manager – fear of politics
September 7th, 2010 — Corporate, Management
Last time I wrote on this subject, I covered only a third of the equation of the decision to become a manager. There were still some open questions, including figuring out what skills and talents I could bring to the management table, and how to deal with the vague “ugly stuff” that most technical contributors seem to fear hides behind the manager’s job title.
In praise of deadlines
October 20th, 2009 — Management, Software Development
A pressing deadline is a powerful thing. Without a deadline, ideas can drown each other competing for supremacy in a sea of data. People use and abuse their own value functions to find fault with any possible approach. But faced with a deadline, thinkers break out of analysis paralysis and become doers. Of course, an unrealistic deadline just causes panic and sloppy work as people scramble to meet impossible goals and push themselves deep into technical debt.
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Brothers (and sisters) in arms
July 13th, 2009 — Management
A couple weeks back, I got quite a surprise when I was informed of a reorganization within my division which was moving me, and my team, out from the senior manager we had reported to and under a new one. You read my post last week about Ionix — it’s worth noting that my team had quite a few more questions about this move than they did about the launch of the Ionix brand. This isn’t to say that Ionix is not a big deal, it’s just that people tend to focus on their immediate surroundings.
Quarterly Self-Appraisal
April 6th, 2009 — Corporate, Management
Last time I wrote about the self-appraisal process, I was giving out last-minute tips. At the time I said that there were ways to invest year-round to make the process less painful. As Q1 comes to a close and we start Q2, I figured it was about time to elaborate on that, and perhaps take a bit of my own advice.
Same problems, different worlds
March 16th, 2009 — Corporate, Life, Management
I spent some time chatting with extended family members this weekend, after attending a funeral. As tends to happen, the subject of work came up, and we got to talking about difficult times at our workplaces. I’m changing some details to protect some identities, but I thought the stories were interesting enough to share. Though we all find ourselves in different worlds, the major issues we face are very similar. One family member told me that in over 20 years of working, this was the only time he had truly hated going in to work. That’s quite a statement. What sort of environment could cause that?
