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> 2) Say I'm that manager, and I want to improve but meetings and spreadsheets are all I know. What can I do? Rethink what it means to be a manager. Your job
by patrickmay 11y ago
> 2) Say I'm that manager, and I want to improve but meetings and spreadsheets are all I know. What can I do?
Rethink what it means to be a manager. Your job is to eliminate barriers for your team and protect them from distractions. You shouldn't be one of the distractions.
- wdmeldon 11y agoThe first manager I had did this explicitly. If he caught sales or marketing talking to the devs, he would ask them what the problem was. It worked well.
- cookiecaper 11y agoA lot of people say this is the purpose of managers but it seems few actually believe it, especially those who seem to need to actively try to convince people that this is all they're doing. In reality, most non-technical managers of technical staff look down on their subordinates and see themselves as babysitters who need to make sure that those stupid nerds don't waste the company's money, which they've been charged to protect. This results in "removing barriers" by telling everyone to shut up and get back to following directions. Some managers are very sneaky about this and their subordinates often don't realize that's what's happening.