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Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

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Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#171

Post by juangacovas »

paulie_a wrote: post #25
davismwfl wrote: post #5

Most important thing to me, learn the difference between leadership and management. A long time ago I was mentored by some great leaders who taught me the difference, and also taught me when to manage situations or specific people. Management isn't a bad word, but applied the way it is most places it should be. My goal with teams is to inspire them to make good choices, show them the right paths and help them succeed…

I honestly don't believe flat organizations exist. They claim to be but there is always an informal heirachy. Which is trickier to navigate then just having a bit of structure. No need to go overboard but at least formalize what exists but unsaid.

Wasn't Valve who had a record of flat organizations? Their employee book leaked/was published and sounds good or perhaps work for them...

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#172

Post by billbrown »

BrissyCoder wrote: post #130
mathattack wrote: post #126

A basic podcast that I’ve found useful is Manager Tooks. It contains a lot of good habits and tools. Listen to it on your commute for a month or two and you’ll get the gist of it. The Effective Executive by Drucker is a great intro to leadership. He puts the role in the context of getting results. A couple other thoughts: 1 - Communicate the same message over and over. Do it verbally and in writing. 2 - Have weekly 1…

Weekly 1 on 1s with all reports is not useful or feasible. If you have 8 reports that's 10% of your work week swallowed.

I did weekly 1 on 1s with 8 direct reports. I made them all on the same day and I didn't budget them for an hour each. I found it extremely valuable and I left it up to the employee to drive the meeting. If they needed to cancel the 1:1, then that was fine but I never would without rescheduling. It really reinforces that people are #1.

This is all Manager Tools basics. I think it's the best set of guidelines they offer. (The Hard Thing about Hard Things also emphasizes weekly 1:1s as does Managing Humans.)

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#174

Post by mathattack »

billbrown wrote: post #172
BrissyCoder wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weekly 1 on 1s with all reports is not useful or feasible. If you have 8 reports that's 10% of your work week swallowed.

I did weekly 1 on 1s with 8 direct reports. I made them all on the same day and I didn't budget them for an hour each. I found it extremely valuable and I left it up to the employee to drive the meeting. If they needed to cancel the 1:1, then that was fine but I never would without rescheduling. It really reinforces that people are #1. This is all Manager Tools basics. I think it's the best set of guidelines they off…

Exactly. It’s best if they’re prescheduled. That way they can be moved but not accidentally forgotten.

I try to spread mine between slower days.

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#175

Post by alanzhong »

many good answers here, but i would like to highlight one thing - like programmer to take care of the code, as lead or manager, you need to take care of your team members. You need to respect there are different team members - different characteristics, different strength, different background. People has different emotion from time to time. People have different expectations. These are very unique to human being and manager need to address human problems while a developer/programmer addresses mainly coding/technical problems.

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#176

Post by MichaelMoser123 »

mharroun wrote: post #153
MichaelMoser123 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you define 'toxic'? How often do you fire workers for being 'toxic'?

Toxic examples: - "This is stupid" or other negative comments in code reviews (aka non-constructive criticism) - Yelling or cursing at people because they question you and your decisions. - talking bad about the company or other teammates to people behind their back. - throwing a "temper tantrum" when you don't get your way when it comes to some architectural decision. - refusing to work with certain people or only w…

I agree with these points, however some level of quirkiness is defined as a hallmark of very effective workers here [1] I wonder if it might be possible to misconstrue behavior and label off such an individual as toxic.

[1] https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/8-signs-an-employee-is-except...

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#177

Post by flyte-solutions »

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Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#178

Post by kopos »

Please spend reading High Output Management by Andy S Grove - the best reference book for would be managers.

The biggest difference from developer to manager is understanding the value of leverage. As a developer, the biggest feedback / dopamine hit is the completion of tasks ... while being a manager is about the feedback + monitoring + productivity cycle.

I’ve been a CTO cum TL cum Manager all at the same time and I’m sure that reading the book might have helped me focus correctly on the getting thr best leverage.

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#179

Post by chiefalchemist »

mharroun wrote: post #148
fencepost wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds like a good example when getting pushback on estimates: "Here's a 24x36 picture in a wooden frame, how long will it take you to hang it on that wall over there?" After getting an estimate ("15 minutes?") come back with "OK, let's plan it out. Does the picture have hanging hardware on the back or are you going to need to get some screw eyes and wire and install some? That's a pretty heavy frame, do you hav…

My suggestion is when asked off the cuff always toss an estimate that is astronomically bigger then what you expect it to be. Then come back a day or 2 later and claim after further research we can do it in (2x your real estimate).

Agree. __Always__ start high and then you've "reserved the right" to adjust down. Else, most people will think you're trying to rip them off.

One of my TODOs for 2019 is to come up with a checklist (for building websites / basic web-based applications). There's no sense assuming the client is thinking of all the things I'm thinking of, and vice versa.

The little things always add up. For example, does the client expect 1 hour or 3 hours of edu on using the CMS?

Re: Ask HN: Going from Developer to Manager. What should I know or learn?

#180

Post by alexbanks »

paulgrimes1 wrote: post #132
alexbanks wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to go back. I'm not enjoying the change (or at least my company's implementation of management). It's not even that the feedback loop's length is different, it's just that there isn't any. If my team performs better, the expectations are just upped and we're still "needing improvement". Other managers here have said the same thing. I feel like I am not a leader; I am not positively impacting people's careers o…

You don’t happen to work for a digital agency by any chance? I’ve seen multiple agencies botch implementing “management” after growing and needing to shift from a flat structure

No, I work at a product company in the video games space.
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