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> Now having two direct reports is absurd asking questions like how that was ever allowed and tolerated for as long as it was. If all they are doing is managin
by tstrimple 4y ago
> Now having two direct reports is absurd asking questions like how that was ever allowed and tolerated for as long as it was.
If all they are doing is managing those resources, I'd completely agree. I've seen a few examples of org structures where those folks aren't actually middle managers, but generally ICs with some additional responsibility. So they are still working hands on within a product, but also have some direct reports to help within their area of influence. If you're at a director level and you've only got two reports, honestly that doesn't seem that unreasonable either depending on their area of control and the size of the teams below their managers. I'd certainly rather see an org structure where managers are working with 2-7 direct reports (again assuming they are working managers and not just administrative overhead) rather than an org where someone has 20+ direct reports. There's no way a manager is effectively managing the expectations and goals and blockers of 20+ people with regular touch points while also being involved in the strategic direction of the company. Never mind where I see orgs with managers with over 50 direct reports.
- scrubs 4y agoTLs should have 7-10 people. Bonafide middle managers should have ~7-10 direct reports meaning they're dealing with around 100 people underneath them. My better half deals with management and a lot of cross functional management. The amount of junk she has to deal with due to politics, BS, people problems, and power struggles --- on premise data centers v. migration to the cloud is a major recurring theme because it involves a lot of people and budget ripe for power struggles --- is insane. Three or four proper Middle Managers could help *a lot*. I would point out, however, work at all levels esp. for middle management remains really hard if upper-management is clueless.
- swearwolf 4y agoI shuddered a little bit at the mention of on premise vs cloud. I’ve been whiplashed from one extreme to the other over the last two years. First it was all in on the cloud, now it’s a full scale retreat.
- tstrimple 4y agoCompanies who are ignorant of how to build in the cloud shouldn't build in the cloud based off of peer pressure alone. It's not just moving on-prem VMs into cloud VMs. You really need to change how you think about solving problems and leverage tools in the cloud built for solving those problems rather than just moving your on-prem knowledge to a cloud environment. The last thing you should be doing in the cloud is heavily relying on VMs.