A good manager
A while back, one of my mentors suggested I make a list (yes, another Jamie list!) of characteristics of good & bad managers, using my own experiences. The list has become a living document, and after this week’s fiasco, I’ve added:
A good manager…
1) Takes the time to understand problems before making assumptions. Example: “Why are you behind?” vs. “You’re behind; therefore you are not doing your job.”
2) Communicates well. This includes confronting you about being behind before going to upper management. Example: Contacts YOU DIRECTLY before executives or other managers on the team about issues.
3) Understands the human factor on projects. Example: We employees are Humans, not robots; therefore we should be treated as such.
Common sense, yes, but very difficult to abide by if you, as a manager, are not consciously doing this.
The project I just left (the company’s largest capital project), is failing miserably because managers do not have the experience and are lacking some or all of the above, in addition to other necessary qualities that make a good manager.
I remember a warning the CTO from a previous job at a startup gave me: “You won’t believe the bullshit you’ll have to deal with in a big company. It takes forever to get anything done, and most people don’t know what they’re doing.”
I spoke with an intern recently about my job at the startup - when I first joined, we had 20 developers out of 40 person company.
“20 developers? Your projects must’ve been small.”
“Yeah if you consider Northern Trust and ABN Amro ’small’ clients.”
We had a lean, intelligent staff that developed quality applications and projects led by strong managers. This differs greatly from my current situation. Don’t get me wrong - we have many great resources but are lacking in strong leaders. This has caused a lot of chaos, rework due to poor quality applications, high turnover, and low morale.
I’m suffering through this right now…
And I’m going to have to learn to deal with it, or move on. I’m still new on my current project to make a decision, so for now, I’m dealing.
Tonight, I’m going to slave away to make tomorrow’s deadline for my old project. Can’t wait to finally have closure and move on.
