4 ms·
The trick is to hire people below you so that your job becomes coordination and a set of minor tasks (HR, high-level architecture, roadmapping). For that you ca
by cynusx 10y ago
The trick is to hire people below you so that your job becomes coordination and a set of minor tasks (HR, high-level architecture, roadmapping). For that you can't really delegate hiring as you need the right people in the right job.
But you can definitely delegate training new hires, software architecture, writing code, product management and QA.
I don't know how much headcount you've been given but if you have to manage more than 5 people your role should only involve management.
Break down all the tasks you are doing and are supposed to be doing. Every task that you can see yourself doing for more than 8h/week needs to be done by somebody you hire.
Before you jump in and go on a hiring spree, make sure to list the top 5 outcomes (with measurement) you want to achieve by hiring this person.
It also helps to list the personality traits/skillset you think they will need to achieve those outcomes.
Using this approach you know what you are looking for and frankly, this approach has helped me bring in people that completely own their domain and almost need no guidance (beyond the initial onboarding). Ironically the goal you should have as a manager is to make yourself obsolete.
- tootie 10y agoAnybody that you can hand a task and then not have to worry about it getting done are solid gold.
- endymi0n 10y agoThis. For more info on finding and testing exactly these people, read http://a16z.com/2014/07/15/do-you-feel-pressure-or-do-you-apply-pressure-2/ http://a16z.com/2014/07/15/do-you-feel-pressure-or-do-you-ap... It helped me set my world straight for all the new responsibilities as a tech lead (and I'm not a natural with pressure either, having learned the value of having a slight rough edge the hard way). For more concentrated pure gold, look here: http://www.defmacro.org/2014/10/03/engman.html http://www.defmacro.org/2014/10/03/engman.html In the end, your best bet as said is great hiring and pushing work away from you, which is hardest when you feel you're still doing and understanding it best yourself. Stop this anyway. Great guideline from my co-founder: Try to get people 70% as good as you and stop there. Really try to lose as much day-to-day-stuff as possible and try rather to get the right people together and give them good context. Get some senior people along to proxy all semi-important stuff through them. It's a quick way to get them onboarded to stuff you usually do. Otherwise: Good luck, you could need a mentor, but it looks like you're alright for now, don't search too hard. Don't be too scared of doing mistakes either, you'll do them anyway. But do yourself a favor and go get that title upgrade to whatever you need (Tech Lead / Lead Architect) - you'll have to be sure you've got the upper echelon's support to whatever uncomfortable decisions you need to take on the way.
- nl 10y agoThis. Also: Look to promote people who already work for you. If you know someone is good that is much easier than hiring an unknown. Also: Delegate & follow up.