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What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

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Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#51

Post by scottm01 »

ulms wrote: post #43
scottm01 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go a step further and answer the question "What are some common mistakes new managers make?" with "Accepting a promotion to management". If you're coming from a technical role, understand that your new job is not to be an engineer. If you're lucky and are good enough at your new job that you have some spare cycles, you might get to guide some architectural discussions It can be rewarding to help guide a team towa…

> I moved on to an "individual contributor" role with a company that provides higher level career opportunities that don't involve having direct reports. Well, that sounds pretty slick. How's it working out? As someone who was just approached by management about a director position, and this being somewhat familiar ground, I'm concerned about the lack of expansion and technical progression as well. Haven't really see…

I was probably a bit negative with that reply (though I do think "X is our best engineer, let's have them manage others to make them more like X!" is far too common).

I'm enjoying the new (now 2 year old) role but there are also negatives -- I have less visibility into the direction of the group/company and "stuff happens" that I would've known was coming at the old role. I'm definitely getting to stay hands on, and satisfying the "big picture" itch with involvement in architectural and project planning discussions.

I think if you're considering that sort of move just make sure you find the management challenges interesting and be willing to invest as much time and effort into getting good at the new job as you have at your "individual contributor" role. Have a good relationship with some existing managers and directors and talk honestly about the role with them if at all possible.

I don't regret the short move to management or the move back, and I'd consider either in the future. It's important to understand that they are usually almost completely different jobs though.

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#52

Post by pjungwir »

IgorPartola wrote: post #27

So at one point I took on a management job, stepping up from a (lead) developer. I felt like the whole thing was kind of a train wreck and I am still slowly analyzing the black box recordings from it. This was my first time having direct reports that were not one or two interns and managing a team of seven other highly intelligent people was quite a chore in itself. What bugged me is that I could never tell if the pr…

> the dev team was the fallback for doing data entry for weeks on end

Wow, what? It sounds like you were doing the right things, but this is hard to comprehend. Wouldn't temps cost $12/hour for this? No wonder they were angry.

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#53

Post by incision »

jevanish wrote: post #33
incision wrote: post #25

I surely agree with most of what's posted there - a majority of it is straightforward common sense that's barely even specific to management. "Don't procrastinate, communicate clearly" are to management what "eat less, exercise" is to losing weight or "only buy things you need, spend less than you earn" is to saving money. The problem isn't managers that they haven't read this compilation of checklists or its equival…

It seems like a number of newer, growing startups are making sure there are individual contributor paths for growth. What would you like to see as a solution? Also - do you think it's that their overwhelmed, under-trained for the new demands of the role, or something else that causes so many managers to fail?

>'It seems like a number of newer, growing startups are making sure there are individual contributor paths for growth. What would you like to see as a solution?'

I think that making available a number of paths for growth is certainly a good thing. I expect there are size limits on such a structure - either for the company as a whole or the extent of the company that gets to experience that track.

This is something I'm very curious about - small companies which have managed to keep their employs happy, well-paid and continuously growing (as individuals).

>'Also - do you think it's that their overwhelmed, under-trained for the new demands of the role, or something else that causes so many managers to fail?'

I doubt there's ever truly a single source for manager failure, but if I had to bet on the most significant variables in failing in a typical situation I'd say:

* Promotion Beyond Competence:

Happens for all sorts of reasons - nepotism, stereotyping, political maneuvering (puppet appointments), adherence to tradition and many more.

However it happens, the person is not properly equipped for the role, in the worst case it's to such a degree that they don't recognize how far they fall short.

* Lack of Ambition / Urgency:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, don't fix it. There's too much risk. No reason to rock the boat and jeopardize a steady, comfortable paycheck.

* Unmanageable People:

I expect lots of people have never worked for a good manager of any measure. That bad experience makes them utterly certain that anyone who isn't 'in the trenches' 100% of the time useless - a drain on their productivity.

So, once the good one comes along - the one who will make him/herself an impenetrable human bullshit shield for 98.6% of every day in exchange for a 5 minute status report - they refuse to offer up that barest minimum.

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#55

Post by neumann »

IgorPartola wrote: post #27

So at one point I took on a management job, stepping up from a (lead) developer. I felt like the whole thing was kind of a train wreck and I am still slowly analyzing the black box recordings from it. This was my first time having direct reports that were not one or two interns and managing a team of seven other highly intelligent people was quite a chore in itself. What bugged me is that I could never tell if the pr…

Thanks for sharing - the description of your situation echoes my self-questioning in similar situations. My own post analysis now makes me always consider if there a clash between my personality and work culture? Sometimes these differ and you don't want to be the manager that the work culture has moulded. I am not a whip or hard ass, I am there to take a certain load that permits the workers to do their job. Management requires all the things you mentioned, but sometimes the workplace has developed a culture where this isn't possible. Most companies mess up management, and often the people that aspire to it don't pull their weight and think it is a promotion to tell other what to do.

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#56

Post by joncooper »

scottm01 wrote: post #42
kabdib wrote: post #9

Good managers realize they have to be managers and can't do an effective job of engineering (this is certainly true of a first-level manager with more than a few reports). The best managers I've had have sighed wistfully and wished out loud that they could do engineering, but made a conscious decision not to. The really good managers will be very interested in how you are getting along with your career, and it will o…

I'd go a step further and answer the question "What are some common mistakes new managers make?" with "Accepting a promotion to management". If you're coming from a technical role, understand that your new job is not to be an engineer. If you're lucky and are good enough at your new job that you have some spare cycles, you might get to guide some architectural discussions It can be rewarding to help guide a team towa…

As an aside, anyone got recommendations on learning the skills scottm01 mentions? "people skills, budgeting, planning, and politics"

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#57

Post by neumann »

lugg wrote: post #29
mp3jeep01 wrote: post #23

When I first started work out of college I kept a notebook of "things I like/don't like" about my managers, mostly as a training piece for myself. One of the top qualities one of my managers had was his comfort level with admitting to me "I don't know the answer to that, but I think I know where we can find it". Probably summed up as something like "check your ego at the door". This goes for not only managers, but an…

Piecemeal advice, even if you know the answer to all job interview questions answering a straight up "no haven't dealt with that before but I'd tackle it by learning x y z." Will set you apart from pretty much everyone. Being able to confidently tell someone you politely have no fucking clue is pretty rare in my experience. Example I interviewed for a job I know I was qualified for, they kept asking questions about t…

Similar experience. I've had two job interviews where I answered a lot of the questions with, "I have no experience with that, how does it work?" or "Not sure, but sounds interesting". In one case they asked me to complete a technical challenge while watching over my shoulder using their tech stack just to see how I would try to solve their problems not a CS 101 exam question - which I would just google anyways). It was a great interview process. We discussed my approach during it, they helped me understand their method, we got to see what it would be like working together. In both job interviews I was offered the position, not based on my immediate IT skill tree, but character compatibility and demonstrated ability to learn.

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#58

Post by scottm01 »

joncooper wrote: post #56
scottm01 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go a step further and answer the question "What are some common mistakes new managers make?" with "Accepting a promotion to management". If you're coming from a technical role, understand that your new job is not to be an engineer. If you're lucky and are good enough at your new job that you have some spare cycles, you might get to guide some architectural discussions It can be rewarding to help guide a team towa…

As an aside, anyone got recommendations on learning the skills scottm01 mentions? "people skills, budgeting, planning, and politics"

Maybe as a common mistake, I read a number of "management" books before accepting the promotion. The one that stuck with me was Managing Humans by Michael Lopp. That is much more people skills and some planning.

Budgeting seems to differ significantly by company culture and practices, but is probably the easiest to get help with from peer managers or your accounting department.

Politics I have no idea.

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#59

Post by SilasX »

incision wrote: post #25

I surely agree with most of what's posted there - a majority of it is straightforward common sense that's barely even specific to management. "Don't procrastinate, communicate clearly" are to management what "eat less, exercise" is to losing weight or "only buy things you need, spend less than you earn" is to saving money. The problem isn't managers that they haven't read this compilation of checklists or its equival…

>I surely agree with most of what's posted there - a majority of it is straightforward common sense that's barely even specific to management.

I agree, and would add that they're not even answering the specific question being asked (which happens a lot on Quora). The question they're all answering is:

"What is good general management advice?"

But the question that was asked is:

"What are mistakes specific to new, inexperienced managers, that are common for that particular class of managers?"

A responsive answer to that question will generally be expressible as,

"The manager will make it a policy/habit that , thinking that . In reality, and so they encounter ."

For example,

"The manager will start a policy of not tracking employee time, on the grounds that the group is responsible and trustworthy, not realizing that this will make it harder to demonstrate progress and efficiency to higher-ups, and result in less leeway being given to the group on important decisions."

[Please don't refute the logic there, I'm not offering it as valid, just showing the form that a responsive answer would have.]

Re: What are common mistakes that new or inexperienced managers make?

#60

Post by kevingadd »

IgorPartola wrote: post #27

So at one point I took on a management job, stepping up from a (lead) developer. I felt like the whole thing was kind of a train wreck and I am still slowly analyzing the black box recordings from it. This was my first time having direct reports that were not one or two interns and managing a team of seven other highly intelligent people was quite a chore in itself. What bugged me is that I could never tell if the pr…

It just sounds like you got fucked by upper management. It happens a lot. Sorry to hear it; don't take it too personally.
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