Managers do have some formal powers engineers don't. They are three: they have access to budget; they perform the management function which assigns resources to

Managers do have some formal powers engineers don't. They are three: they have access to budget; they perform the management function which assigns resources to problems. Since demand on resources almost always exceed available resources, they must assign priorities well. They also have high input on hiring choice. Doing this well requires, - requiring internal service suppliers to be (internal) customer driven. Too often however things we'd never put up with an external supplier we'd pay money for are tolerated and even protected by management. Internal suppliers are required for use. It's hard to fire them. - cross functional management: reduce silos. Again my area and your area might be "clean" but users of both of our services are often left to die in the crummy alley way between our groups. That's a major source of frustration for engineers. - promote openness and honesty: there's too much happy talk and PC correctness at the office. - supply chain management: engineers are often confronted by too many point solutions that don't integrate. See above points. Managers need to cull and combine supply chains time to time. - be customer in not supplier out. Older companies often have organizational norms where what can be produced is more a function of what internal politics allow or company culture tolerates than what customers want. Managers need to be on top of this. - top management needs to give TLC to middle management perhaps the toughest job. Here they (middle mgmnt) cannot micromanage while they are held accountable for broad corporate goals like lean organizations, top line growth, reduce expenses, and better expense control. They neither are hands on nor are too far from the real work to be too abstract. - teamwork (see schutz's human element the best single read on this) namely that ridgid individuals are the single fastest way to break teams. Today's work depends more than ever on good teams. When managers do above well it's a pleasure to work with them. It's a difficult task.