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Mistakes as a new manager

terriblesoftware.org

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Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#11

Post by steerpike »

localghost3000 wrote: post #9

This misses the single biggest mistake every new manager makes: avoiding hard conversations with your reports. If you start managing folks you were recently in the trenches with this can be VERY hard. These are your comrades after all! You want them to like you. It’s all very natural. Sadly it is the single biggest cause for dissatisfaction I’ve seen on a given team. Being unwilling to give honest, direct feedback re…

100% agree with this. I would say that the other highly likely mistake new managers make is trying to code their way out of problems. It makes sense, right? Previously when you're an IC and a project ran into issues you could just "code harder" and get through it, but that's rarely the right solution when you're a manager and will likely exacerbate the problem itself if you disappear into the trenches trying to code your way through a critical path. Your role is no longer primarily solving coding problems it's solving people problems.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#12

Post by Joel_Mckay »

eastbound wrote: post #2

List is toi short. I’d add: Posture. Everyone wants to be the benevolent manager, especially if there is enough money for everyone, and especially in these times where collaboration and positive management are touted. But you have to keep a carrot and a leash on the employees. My first employees got a 33% raise the first year things were good. Long story short: None of them are here anymore and we’re still scrambling…

I have to admit I initially hired a few Papered Posers, and it was a mistake to pay them 2.4x higher than market rate to ensure the project would reach conclusion on schedule.

The lessons we learned:

1. "Manage or be managed...": your first lesson is people will try to manipulate those in positions of authority regardless of competency. i.e. the idea of "goodwill" being the true core product can escape the irrationally ambitious/sycophantic.

2. No amount of money can make someone care about company projects. The worker may be interested in the project, or is simply there for the wrong reasons. Remember you want to keep employees content, but a "kingdom of kings" is unsustainable.

3. People can postpone something until tomorrow indefinitely. Thus, pay very close attention to projected deliverable times.

4. Fire someone for being unproductive according to a defined workmanship-standard as soon as possible. It will notify the rest of staff you are not there to play games, and stupid behavior will have consequences. Mostly effective with Jr staff using ChatGPT to try and BS the world like any other con.

5. Delegation? Just initially run trial contracts with potential staff first for each project deliverable. Failure to deliver on time means they don't get another dime, or a second chance to be unaccountable for their behavior.

6. Entrenched incompetence: organizations have their own emergent structure, and it will usually drift back to the same dysfunctional patterns/designs.

7. Redacted

8. try to leave things slightly better than when you arrived.

9. Managers usually can never be a normal employee again. People subconsciously fear they cannot control authority, and will prefer to hire someone easier to "handle".

Best regards, =3

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#13

Post by Ferret7446 »

nineteen999 wrote: post #6

"Mistakes I made as a new manager which you won't necessarily make because all humans are different"

Everyone is different, yes, but people are >99% similar. We all go through the same developmental stages, perhaps at different times, and we exhibit millions of the same psychological biases.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#15

Post by throwaway984393 »

98codes wrote: post #10
otteromkram wrote: post #3

> "Where’s my dopamine?" I'm not in management, but couldn't OP become a working manager? Might depend on the size of their team and demands of the new role, but I've worked with managers who wear their IC hat on occasion and thought it was a positive value-add for the group as a whole.

Every manager I've ever had that couldn't let go of their IC hat also had a pile of manager hat work that wasn't ever getting done.

[dead]

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#16

Post by binarymax »

I’ve got a good hack for the dopamine: PowerPoint and excel. Go to town on making kick ass presentations and reports. “Ship” those to the org during meetings and all hands. It’s not the same as code for customers, but it helps. Also, if you have time, code non critical things that will never be a dependency for anything else.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#17

Post by bobsomers »

localghost3000 wrote: post #9

This misses the single biggest mistake every new manager makes: avoiding hard conversations with your reports. If you start managing folks you were recently in the trenches with this can be VERY hard. These are your comrades after all! You want them to like you. It’s all very natural. Sadly it is the single biggest cause for dissatisfaction I’ve seen on a given team. Being unwilling to give honest, direct feedback re…

Completely agree. This is excellent advice.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#18

Post by ryoshu »

Delegation -> This is 1000% the hardest thing to do. You need to let go and trust your people.

Where’s my dopamine? -> Your success is the teams' success. When they are doing well, you are doing well.

Quality over quantity -> Yes.

The level of engagement -> Your job is to support the team - blockers are your problem, not their problem. Fight to remove blockers. That's your job.

Managing perception -> Which leads into, your role, well done, is invisible. Protect them from the bullshit politics that any org has and let them do what they do well.

Redefining success -> That's up to you and your manager. If you're a new manager, you need to manage across and up. That's a set of skills that we don't train people for.

You're coming from an IC position and you know how to do the work. Managing people is a different job,

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#19

Post by icedchai »

otteromkram wrote: post #3

> "Where’s my dopamine?" I'm not in management, but couldn't OP become a working manager? Might depend on the size of their team and demands of the new role, but I've worked with managers who wear their IC hat on occasion and thought it was a positive value-add for the group as a whole.

For small teams (like, 5 people max) that may make sense. It really depends on the organization. With some orgs, you're going to meetings all day and there's no time to focus.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#20

Post by brap »

I joined a new team as a manager and after 3 years was kindly asked to step down and become an IC. While there are many external factors to blame, I decided to do an honest postmortem with myself so I thought about these things a lot.

As a line manager a huge mistake you could make (especially if you’re joining a new team) is not being technical enough.

You may not write code anymore, but you are expected to know the system very thoroughly, otherwise you’ll be perceived as a glorified babysitter.

As a new manager it’s very easy to fall into the trap of not doing any technical work because you’re a big boy now playing in the big boy league, but this will 100% hurt you.

You need to stay on top of everything your reports are doing. Give them their space but always ask hard questions and dig deep.

Frame it like this: if this report were to quit today, are you able to step in and complete their project? I’m not saying it’s something a manager is supposed to do, but that ultimately YOU are directly responsible for your reports’ work so you should be extremely familiar with it.

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