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“Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

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Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#71
post #24

These should be taken as the hypothesis statement at the start of an experiment, that will or won't be borne out by what actually happens. Show, don't tell. One reason: People can be wrong about themselves. Or they can, with varying degrees of either idealism or self-dishonesty, present a rosy view that amounts to little more than a sales pitch for themselves. If it's true, you'll find out soon enough. If it's not, y…

Too many teams I have worked in have way too little personal on-boarding in my opinion. At least with these presentations I know how the manager "wants" to present him/herself, if this turns out to be false, as you say, I'll know soon enough.

On the other hand there are managers that do not introduce themselves enough to new employees which forces you to effectively learn by trial and error how you should interact with them.

My point is I would appreciate an idealist sales pitch about a new manager more than just an unplanned, informal conversation.

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#72
post #18

Reads like managers dictating how they are and how things are going to be. Employee number whatever: Here are your new instructions, deal with it.

> Here are your new instructions, deal with it.

I wish this where modern workplace problems. Now when you deal with parasite managers you don't get any instructions, never. So you are stuck with getting bored to death or starting to do something by yourself. If you do the first at some point you start complaining so much about life that your group will exclude you. If you do the second your manager will keep watching and use every mistake, every mediocre decision, every conflict with a colleague against you. If you succeed he or one of his friends takes the credit. If you fail you are blamed 100% because you made all the decisions by yourself.

Getting shitty instructions sounds like paradise compared to that.

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#74
post #63

A lot of these README’s seem a bit samey. Is this a trend that was stared somewhere? Was there some dude middle-managers all look up to who suggested an example README that was used to provide inspration?

It's less about writing the same README, I think, and more about there being an industry consensus on what a "good" manager says and does.

Is there any verification that these are the good managers? (genuine question)

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#75

Interesting that many seem to prefer weekly 1:1s. That seems far too much to me. I would absolutely dread having to spend so much time on that with my manager or my managees and I can’t imagine there are substantial benefits to it (does anyone REALLY have meaningful thoughts about their job/career path EVERY WEEK?)

The trick is to do it not in a meeting, but on flight.

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#76
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's less about writing the same README, I think, and more about there being an industry consensus on what a "good" manager says and does.

Is there any verification that these are the good managers? (genuine question)

Oh no, I didn't mean to suggest these folks are or are not actually "good" managers, just that what they've all got here is congruent with my current understanding of what the literature tells us a "good" manager says and does.

I'm not trying to say any of it is accurate either, just pointing out the consistency being likely due to a shared set of sources rather than copying one another outright.

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#77
I wonder how many direct reports these managers have. Does anyone have insight? I believe 1on1 is good from my experience in companies where there is a lot of change and a lot going on the #1 feedback I get is people want more information, more 1on1, more team time. With roughly 40 direct reports 1on1 is nearly impossible with the other demands.

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whenever I've managed people, I've made a point of scheduling weekly 1:1s; did that even with 12 or so reports, and it did take a significant chunk of time, but it was IMO one of the most important things, if not the most important thing, I could do for them as a manager (and also the one I enjoyed the most about the role). As other commenters have said, the 1:1 time is the report's time. It's a chunk of time in whic…

I am about 6mo into a job with weekly 1:1s, and am coming from a job that did them every other week. I am always excited for my weekly 1:1. As a disclaimer, my boss scheduled a weekly 30min 1:1 when I started, but with the caveat that we could make it less often if I found it not useful. He just preferred weekly during the "settling in" phase. Almost without fail, our 1:1s go over time, totaling between 45min and 1hr…

> As a disclaimer, my boss scheduled a weekly 30min 1:1 when I started, but with the caveat that we could make it less often if I found it not useful

I always preferred managers like this, who are not totally dogmatic about things like weekly meetings - instead doing what works best for each individual.

Re: “Manager READMEs” from some tech companies

#80
>We work for 9.5 to 10 hours a day. Some people start early (7AM) some later (9:45AM), and go home accordingly.[1]

This is from the "Expectations" section of one of the linked "READMEs" (Forter's). Does anyone else this is a very aggressive expectation?

[1]: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sx5ssYb_xMrmwPpyjD5xP7Rv...

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