5 ms·

One bit of corpo-speak that I have seen cropping up to address this is relabeling "managed by" as "supported by", as in, "team X will be supported by person Y."

One bit of corpo-speak that I have seen cropping up to address this is relabeling "managed by" as "supported by", as in, "team X will be supported by person Y." It may not work overnight, but I would like to see a shift in the culture of a manager "managing" like a king manages his kingdom and the peasants within, to "supporting", like a coordinator. But I fear that we will fall back to the ape mentality of hierarchies and end up twisting the words to fit our predetermined outcomes.

jdgoesmarching 3y ago
I’m a program manager my role is very close to this. People are confused when I give them my title and explain that I don’t have direct reports, but I “manage” our team about as much our director does. That means handling administrative tasks, organizing work, stakeholder management, or any of the other million tasks involved in running a successful team that developers shouldn’t need to worry about. It’s very easy to conflate prioritizing and planning with telling people what to do, and sadly in many orgs that is the case. However, those tasks and everything else falling under the “management” umbrella should not imply a hierarchy. It’s just a different type of work to be done by people with different skill sets. I don’t know if that reality will ever be embraced by my fellow business bros, but that simple mindset has made me a better manager than any class, book, or course I’ve experienced.
- runamok 3y ago
  I read the concept recently of a people manager vs. a process manager. A program manager from my experience is a bit of both but mostly process.
esafak 3y ago
If you don't mind being part of the "support staff" you can have the job!
realjhol 3y ago
You can't change human nature. Hierarchy is inevitable. All you'll do is replace explicit hierarchy for a covert implicit hierarchy, because most people are natural minions who will look for someone to take charge.

jdgoesmarching 3y ago

I’m a program manager my role is very close to this. People are confused when I give them my title and explain that I don’t have direct reports, but I “manage” our team about as much our director does. That means handling administrative tasks, organizing work, stakeholder management, or any of the other million tasks involved in running a successful team that developers shouldn’t need to worry about. It’s very easy to conflate prioritizing and planning with telling people what to do, and sadly in many orgs that is the case. However, those tasks and everything else falling under the “management” umbrella should not imply a hierarchy. It’s just a different type of work to be done by people with different skill sets. I don’t know if that reality will ever be embraced by my fellow business bros, but that simple mindset has made me a better manager than any class, book, or course I’ve experienced.

runamok 3y ago
I read the concept recently of a people manager vs. a process manager. A program manager from my experience is a bit of both but mostly process.

esafak 3y ago

If you don't mind being part of the "support staff" you can have the job!

realjhol 3y ago

You can't change human nature. Hierarchy is inevitable. All you'll do is replace explicit hierarchy for a covert implicit hierarchy, because most people are natural minions who will look for someone to take charge.