4 ms·

I take exception with the all-day 1-1s thing. It's actually pretty easy to spend all day talking to people (minus a hoarse voice after 3-4 hours). What's HARD

by kzhahou 11y ago

I take exception with the all-day 1-1s thing. It's actually pretty easy to spend all day talking to people (minus a hoarse voice after 3-4 hours). What's HARD, and what actually makes for a good manager, is to actually then get off your ass and work hard over the next week to actually help SOLVE the problems you heard about. Either directly, or assisting the team member to find a solution. Oh, how many managers I've had that were happy to listen and nod attentively and give easy advice, but who didn't actually put any energy into my problem. Or... They wound up spending the week making it worse.

branchless 11y ago
Exactly. Empathy for 30 minutes out of my day then at 17:30 I'm still hammering out a problem when they leave.
ianbicking 11y ago
I've found it effective when a hard problem comes up in a 1:1 to actually try to solve it on the spot, or at least get the solution launched - look at some code, compose an email together, try something out, do a little research. It's important to give your report your devoted attention, but it's appropriate to also direct attention at your reports problems and work through them collaboratively. It also might help the person solve those problems more confidently on their own in the future.
- danieltillett 11y ago
  You have to be really careful here as you can very quickly lead the person into “learned helplessness”. If they can rely on you to solve all problems they often will. Early on I fell into this trap and it was very difficult to get out of.
  - karmelapple 11y ago
    The difference may be finding where to remove a barrier (a good thing for a manager to do) and doing someone's work for them (a bad thing for a manager to do).
danieltillett 11y ago
>Oh, how many managers I've had that were happy to listen and nod attentively and give easy advice, but who didn't actually put any energy into my problem. Or... They wound up spending the week making it worse. That is not managing - it sounds like a therapy session. The time you spend with someone one-on-one has to be real. If your report has problems that need to be solved you have to spend the time working hard on solving the problems. Edit. I should add that your job as a manager is not to solve all problems, only those that only you can solve.
aptwebapps 11y ago
I don't think the author was saying that as long as you like to talk to people all day you'll be a great manager. She was saying that if don't like to do that, you won't like being a manager.
- kzhahou 11y ago
  It promotes this recent fad of 1-1s as a key ceremony of Great Management. I understand your point, but since 1-1s can so easily be useless, the author's assertion doesn't hold. I would say instead: if you don't like working all day to solve other people's problems, you won't like being a manager.
  - Trundle 11y ago
    Working all day to solve other peoples problems is exactly what work in general is though. People aren't paying you to solve your own problems.
    - kzhahou 11y ago
      You're abstracting the discussion into meaninglessness. Other people's problems: how can I help Joe increase the amount of good code he writes? How can I help Bob get promoted? How can I help Doug and Susan work better together without constant arguing? How can I help Steve be a better presenter to execs? The manager's duties are all defined through the work of other people. The non-manager's productivity is his own.
Spooky23 11y ago
I see my job as a manager is to remove barriers, understand what folks are doing and help with perspective. In a big workplace, 80% of the problems are people issues anyway a.
hibikir 11y ago
It is very easy to think that friendly, like able people make good managers. Often people who do great at those social skills often get promoted to management, and then do terribly at it. The worst manager I ever worked with ended up losing great people because talking to him was pointless at best, and dangerous at worst. You'd not believe the horrible feedback he would give people, all non-actionable, and pressing directly in the direction of his employee's insecurities. To be truthful to him was to just give him ammunition to later be used against you. On the other hand, my favorite manager ever is not really that likable, but he is 100% trustworthy, and will do his best to solve every problem he can. Not afraid to hire, not afraid to fire. Radical candor at its best.

by kzhahou 11y ago

branchless 11y ago

Exactly. Empathy for 30 minutes out of my day then at 17:30 I'm still hammering out a problem when they leave.

ianbicking 11y ago

I've found it effective when a hard problem comes up in a 1:1 to actually try to solve it on the spot, or at least get the solution launched - look at some code, compose an email together, try something out, do a little research. It's important to give your report your devoted attention, but it's appropriate to also direct attention at your reports problems and work through them collaboratively. It also might help the person solve those problems more confidently on their own in the future.

danieltillett 11y ago
You have to be really careful here as you can very quickly lead the person into “learned helplessness”. If they can rely on you to solve all problems they often will. Early on I fell into this trap and it was very difficult to get out of.
- karmelapple 11y ago
  The difference may be finding where to remove a barrier (a good thing for a manager to do) and doing someone's work for them (a bad thing for a manager to do).

danieltillett 11y ago

>Oh, how many managers I've had that were happy to listen and nod attentively and give easy advice, but who didn't actually put any energy into my problem. Or... They wound up spending the week making it worse. That is not managing - it sounds like a therapy session. The time you spend with someone one-on-one has to be real. If your report has problems that need to be solved you have to spend the time working hard on solving the problems. Edit. I should add that your job as a manager is not to solve all problems, only those that only you can solve.

aptwebapps 11y ago

I don't think the author was saying that as long as you like to talk to people all day you'll be a great manager. She was saying that if don't like to do that, you won't like being a manager.

kzhahou 11y ago
It promotes this recent fad of 1-1s as a key ceremony of Great Management. I understand your point, but since 1-1s can so easily be useless, the author's assertion doesn't hold. I would say instead: if you don't like working all day to solve other people's problems, you won't like being a manager.
- Trundle 11y ago
  Working all day to solve other peoples problems is exactly what work in general is though. People aren't paying you to solve your own problems.
  - kzhahou 11y ago
    You're abstracting the discussion into meaninglessness. Other people's problems: how can I help Joe increase the amount of good code he writes? How can I help Bob get promoted? How can I help Doug and Susan work better together without constant arguing? How can I help Steve be a better presenter to execs? The manager's duties are all defined through the work of other people. The non-manager's productivity is his own.

Spooky23 11y ago

I see my job as a manager is to remove barriers, understand what folks are doing and help with perspective. In a big workplace, 80% of the problems are people issues anyway a.

hibikir 11y ago

It is very easy to think that friendly, like able people make good managers. Often people who do great at those social skills often get promoted to management, and then do terribly at it. The worst manager I ever worked with ended up losing great people because talking to him was pointless at best, and dangerous at worst. You'd not believe the horrible feedback he would give people, all non-actionable, and pressing directly in the direction of his employee's insecurities. To be truthful to him was to just give him ammunition to later be used against you. On the other hand, my favorite manager ever is not really that likable, but he is 100% trustworthy, and will do his best to solve every problem he can. Not afraid to hire, not afraid to fire. Radical candor at its best.