I HATE THE DAY I ACCEPTED TO BE A MANAGER!
I HATE THE DAY I ACCEPTED TO BE A MANAGER!
Chapter 1 – I AM GOOD AND I KNOW IT!
You are amazing at what you do, you are an ultimate coding machine, the god of sales or marketing, the best football player in your league, or perhaps the best human being out there. It doesn't matter where you find your purpose or what skill you mastered or even what industry you belong to. All that matters is that you are great at what you do and you enjoy the skill you developed. Well done it was not easy to get there!
At some point, sooner or later, after a lot of hard work, you will inevitably get a call that 99% of the people do not say no to. You will get a call from a company to offer you a team, money, and title or simply you will have a transition to a management position.
It is absolutely natural that somebody must take that position to lead and why not you, you deserve it.
Congratulations!
Chapter 2 – THE CHANGE
After a few months, years, and decades you are still amazing at that skill that helped you get a promotion. In most cases, that skill that made you a superstar plays an important part in your life but the title you hold now is not about that skill anymore, or at least not only about that one skill. Now you are in a position, where you need a set of both hard and soft skills in order to manage. The rules of the game just changed!
This change is where young managers fail a lot into a trap, but also senior managers after years and years of work. This problem has been sadly neglected by companies globally.???
You can’t just code and hope that you will learn to become a manager on the way.
For example, you placed a significant amount of time and energy into learning how to code. You didn't just sit and wait for that skill to come on its own over time? The same applies to management roles but this time you need to master a set of skills that will help you balance between YOUR TEAM, YOURSELF, TARGETS, PROJECT, DEADLINES, GROWTH... Think about administration, rules, communication, time management, stress management, motivation... and ooh yes, the team member just called in sick and your deadline is next week ??
Naturally, you will want to deal more with technical issues because it is your safe house, something you mastered a long time ago. However, being a manager will take a lot of time, or at least a lot more than you were ever willing to give stuck between administrative tasks, hiring, 1:1s, emails, meetings, follow-ups, submitting project proposals, and a lot of communication.
Chapter 3 – THE HORROR
?I moved to manage my team and after almost a year I am beginning to feel anxious and stressed. I miss writing code but more than that I am hating the fact that I don't get any time to work on the technical problems and setting up the technical vision of the team. My time gets consumed with administrative tasks such as hiring, doing 1:1's, being on top of emails, scheduling meetings, follow-ups, etc.. I have a series of projects/proposals that are half completed.
"When I took on the role, I was told that I will be managing a small team (3 to 4) and will have time to do my individual work (i.e. technical work as an individual contributor). But I have had to spend the last 6 to 8 months doing mostly management work and it is getting worse by the day. I did not get any pay raise or a bonus when I took on this role. I wanted to expand my horizons and also wanted to show leadership/management experience in my resume. But now I feel more stressed - there are a million things to do and it feels like I am always going to forget something. For e.g. When I have a new hire, I need to find a mentor, a buddy, get a desk for him/her, etc.. Every 1:1 has action items. My manager has a bunch of admin tasks that I have to follow up on. I probably need to learn how to delegate more but I wonder whether this gets easy as time passes or if is it a signal that I am not fit for it. I am considering returning to an IC role. I will have better hours, get to work on technical problems, and get more time to spend with my kids. The only downside I can see is that of ageism in tech. Now that I have hit 40, it feels like staying as an IC is risky. Management skills are valuable and I have definitely learned a few in the last year. But the stress is wearing me down.“?
This internet confession sums up everything in one place, doesn't it?!
Just like any other skill, ?some develop them fast some develop them slow but the key is in DEVELOP. Nobody comes to this world with the right set of skills, we all developed them at some point. The question is how fast, how soon, and at what price. Some people wait for years before they admit they skipped that step in the transition to a management position.
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Chapter 4 – BEING a MANAGER IS AMAZING IF YOU ALLOW IT
A friend of mine once said ’you can work on your manager skills whenever you want, you can start now or you can start later. The only difference is that now you learn alone and later friends called depression, problems, burnouts, missed opportunities, guilt, money, and organization will join you“. So, if you are a manager or about to become one you will have to learn and develop what is needed eventually, it is the time and price you are willing to pay that you choose.
Finding the right solution is never easy but it starts with both a company recognizing the problem, and helping managers deal with this problem through education and mentoring internally and externally.
The same rule applies to you as an individual. Ask the company and colleagues for help. Understand, what helps them, and what methodologies they use, and use them as examples or simply get help externally.
Skills to consider developing:
1. Management styles
2. Trust and empathy
3. Communication styles
4. Change management
5. Flexibility
6. How to give feedback
7. Goals, targets and evaluation
8. Time management
9. Stress management
Training recommendation: