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Mistakes as a new manager

terriblesoftware.org

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Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#81

Post by quietbritishjim »

pdonis wrote: post #52
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…

> I’ve noticed quality issues in your code recently that’s resulted in some rollbacks I would tend to even leave out the first part of that phrase. Focus on the actual objective measure: the rollbacks. They happened, and the goal is to figure out how to not have them happen in the future.

I disagree, at least in this case. In the comment you're replying to, the new manager is technical and familiar with the codebase, and can assess that the reason for the rollbacks is a genuine quality issue. This is useful information, and if you leave it out then you leave your report partially in the dark, wondering if the rollbacks are happening for some other reason (I can think of plenty).

I'm not saying it needs to literally be in the first sentence or phrased exactly like that, but I don't think that's what they meant anyway. Rather, you do need to be upfront about it instead of alluding to the problem without giving away what you actually think.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#82

Post by osigurdson »

steerpike wrote: post #11
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…

If you are not going to add anything technically, you should probably have 20+ reports.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#83

Post by diatone »

sublinear wrote: post #66
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…

> “I’ve noticed quality issues in your code recently that’s resulted in some rollbacks. Can we talk about how we can address that?” This is just about the laziest and least trustworthy language possible to use. Your reports aren't going to know what they don't know and are just going to become paranoid and work slower. The code quality will likely not improve from a conversation prompted this way. This is also a cont…

I’m sure you mean well but reading GP’s post I’m convinced that the laziest and least trustworthy language to use is actually, “you’re sloppy.”

Good idea to think in systems and figure out how to lift the quality of the team but it’s okay to give direct feedback. Especially if the feedback is like GP’s in that it kicks off a constructive conversation, which iiuc is exactly what your final sentence there is waxing on about…

Edit; to be clear I’m suggesting to not aim to avoid conflict. Certainly don’t stoke it for no reason but there is a healthy kind of conflict and how it is engaged with, which builds trust, deepens human relationships, and leads to growth for everyone involved. Psychological safety etc

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#84

Post by diatone »

osigurdson wrote: post #82
steerpike wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

If you are not going to add anything technically, you should probably have 20+ reports.

It depends!

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#85

Post by osigurdson »

Joel_Mckay wrote: post #12
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 irrational…

>> Failure to deliver on time means they don't get another dime

"On time" can be achieved by over estimating. As a hypothetical, dev A estimates that a project will take a year and completes it in 6 months. Dev B estimates 1 month for the same project and completes it in 3.

Companies that focus too much on things being "on time" ultimately get the "nothing is worth doing" corporate culture.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#86

Post by diatone »

resonious wrote: post #63
brap wrote: post #20

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…

I'm an IC on a team full of seniors with strong domain knowledge that recently hired in an EM from the outside. In short, it was pretty bumpy and despite the guy being an ex engineer, his constant questions about how the system works were a huge drag. Maybe to him he was digging deep but to me it felt like my (and my teammates') work was blocked by his inability to grasp simple concepts. Like the time spent explainin…

How long are these Q&A sessions, would you say the work of ICs getting blocked isn’t worth having the manager be able to eg: advocate for that work upwards?

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#87

Post by ifthenelseor »

dowager_dan99 wrote: post #29
ryoshu wrote: post #18

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…

Where’s my dopamine? -> Your success is the teams' success. When they are doing well, you are doing well. It's hard to get a dopamine hit of a second-order signal though. When you're a developer there's a strong linkage between the work you complete and results. If you write code for a new feature, you get to see it take shape on your screen. When your team reaches a milestone, you see where you contributed and can o…

I'm still getting dopamine off getting a team member promoted, two years later. Every success they make reminds me that I helped them build that confidence and those skills. Manager-side successes might not be obvious and daily, but they have staying power like you wouldn't believe.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#88

Post by the_clarence »

sublinear wrote: post #66
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…

> “I’ve noticed quality issues in your code recently that’s resulted in some rollbacks. Can we talk about how we can address that?” This is just about the laziest and least trustworthy language possible to use. Your reports aren't going to know what they don't know and are just going to become paranoid and work slower. The code quality will likely not improve from a conversation prompted this way. This is also a cont…

This sounds so stupid. I'm sorry but feedback is already given in PRs. This kind of feedback is just a bad idea IMO. Focus on growth and areas of improvements. Your reports often already know what they should focus on, and they are on their own journey of time management. The only lever you have as a manager is to add or remove pressure. The only help you can give is through mentoring or therapy/coaching.

Re: Mistakes as a new manager

#90

Post by bearjaws »

Daub wrote: post #80

As a (former) manager of a department in a design school, I defined three managerial imperatives: 1. Get rid of old, dead wood. Given that our program is scaffolded, with each course building upon the preceding, A single low performing lecturer can bring down the quality of an entire program. Don’t trust student feedback when identifying such people. They favour nice lecturers over effective ones. Getting rid of low…

#2 is considered taboo, but IMO if a team is full of people who are checked out, it may be time to make huge changes.

People become jaded and start to tell you all the ways we can't do something, or it will take too long. They often don't realize what tools are at their disposal to help make change easier, and instead insist there is only one good path to a solution...

Fresh talent really helps get people excited again, after the initial shock of layoffs. Not to mention new talent always comes in excited for an opportunity.

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