August 27, 2014 at 13:13Management. A quick guide for novice managers and experienced subordinates
Modern management includes a number of disciplines that combine a variety of functions, from risk management to resource management and marketing. Today, we take a look at project management within the IT company as a whole, describe the main functions of a manager (each of which includes thousands of sub-functions and even more various tasks) and refute several persistent and harmful myths. This article is for beginners PMs, as well as for those who have grown into a manager from a programmer.
Security question: how is the manager different from the subordinate? In fact, the main difference is responsibility for the result. The manager is responsible for the result of the entire team. Against this background, neither problem solving nor salary is the main distinguishing feature between the subordinate and the manager.
Now let's talk about the functions of a manager. There are five of them :
The main task of the manager is to plan the process as a whole. Let's take the simplest one: for example, a startup starts and the task of the manager is to plan what should happen and when. “When do I need to rent an office? When should I hire a team? When is it necessary to complete one or another task? ”A detailed plan determines the completeness and ease of implementation, links organizational issues with the tasks that the project sets. How correctly you rank the tasks, so effectively you can control the course of the project.
The next manager function is:
Roughly speaking, everything but people comes here. We need to take care of jobs, materials, equipment. Any competent manager is obliged to create all the conditions for the task, first of all to take care of the basic household comfort of the workplace of his subordinates. This is followed by the formalization of processes and policies within the company, the convenience of communication with customers, which at times can make the brain the most persistent programmer, qualitatively formalized tasks and reasonable deadlines for their implementation. An example of a representative organization is the famous Google offices, where everything, including the work schedule, is designed to make a person in the office more happy than at home.
As practice shows, the high-quality organization of life directly affects productivity and mood in the company, no matter how many people are in it, and therefore one should not ignore the needs of colleagues. It is often more profitable to buy good coffee and rent a comfortable office than to look for new qualified employees and train them in the specifics of their work.
Next is:
- And if I have a choice between one very good candidate and three not so good, but who together will perform the same work that usually does one good, but for a smaller amount. What should I do in this situation?
- It all depends on your tasks. If the project is long, and I take only one person, then in the event of his illness, you yourself understand what is happening: there is no one to carry out his tasks trite. That is, it all depends on your projects and specific tasks.
From a lecture by Ivan Pechersky (Astound, Web Development Manager) Security
question: how objective should a manager be when selecting people for a team?
At first glance, it might seem that the manager should be as objective as possible, a kind of finger of justice. In no case. Forget what objectivity is. Always use subjective criteria when choosing specialists. Ask yourself the question: “Can I work with this person?” Or “How long can I work with him?” If you already at the initial stage see that you and the person, as they say, are on different waves, you and your team probably do not need it. If you feel that you are ready to work with him for a year, two, ten is an excellent choice.
Each of us is unique, and you as a manager are no exception. Therefore, you select a unique team for yourself.
If you joined an existing team, first of all, learn more about your new colleagues. And not only from technical interviews - talk with them about how they live, what they like, draw up a balanced subjective opinion about them. If suddenly among your subordinates there will be those with whom you clearly have some kind of "misunderstanding", formalize your relationship from the very beginning. Arrange “ashore” by talking sincerely and openly. Tell the person what you demand from him, and what he can demand from you.
So we put together a team, what's next?
People should be guided according to your final goals. You get the expected result from the team, and people, in turn, get the opportunity to develop and grow further.
Direction can be short-term or long-term. If you want Petya Pyatochkin to fix the fence by tomorrow's dinner - this is a task for the short-term direction. We must make sure that the person understands the task and remembers the deadlines, motivate him, help find the reason why he personally will be useful to complete this task (study of new technologies, for example), provide him with all the necessary data and tools for its implementation, and upon completion - give feedback, highlighting success or pointing out flaws.
The long-term direction is when we set the path for a true junior boy, planning in a few years to see him as a senior or, for example, an architect. Here we can’t just say, “hey, do everything to become an architect by the seventeenth!” That doesn't work like that. It is necessary to monitor his progress, give him the right tasks that will develop him in the right direction, giving him opportunities to realize himself as an expert.
The last function of a manager is:
On this function, all novice managers "fall". We are used to the fact that control is a constant leash, the heavy look of Big Brother, minute reports and other unpleasant things.
Control should be invisible and based on continuous, but non-invasive observation. Reporting is naturally important. It will allow you to look into the past and analyze possible errors. How well we planned the work and selected the staff, so well we will manage to control it. Subordinates themselves should talk about certain difficulties, warn you about changes, put forward ideas for improvement. You must know what to expect from your team, you must be able to predict the result.
All manager functions are interconnected and work in conjunction with each other. Properly established, they contribute to the creation of a healthy working atmosphere in the team and the triumph of common sense in the process of working on the project.
Brief comments on popular theses about managers and management:
1. The manager must do all the work himself .
The manager can and should delegate part of his tasks to subordinates. In fact, this is what every self-respecting manager should be able to do. The ability to build trust in a team, to calculate who wants to grow along the managerial path, and give him part of his work is a cool life hack for the manager. So you free up part of your time, allow your team members to learn and grow faster, and increase their own career chances - because in any case you will not be transferred higher before you prepare a replacement for yourself. Profit
2. The manager should not trust anyone .
Wrong. Trust is the result of your communication efforts. Organize confidential communication with team members and enjoy the benefits of delegating tasks and the confidence that everything will go all out to the maximum. I couldn’t - there are always vacancies for “free cash desk!”
3. The manager must always be objective .
Neither the manager, nor the welder, nor the CEO is capable of being absolutely objective, since he himself is a subject and is subject to difficult, but explainable chemical processes in his own body. Do not try to be better than your nature, a person is not 100% objective, alas. Try to get the most out of your own subjectivity - pick the perfect team, find a unique scheme of working with your staff - so there is a chance to get a better result than if you measure everyone according to a conditionally “objective” line.
4. The manager always protects his team .
No no and one more time no. If your team has done something wrong, you must make it clear to her, otherwise she will constantly hide behind you. Here, of course, as in any situation, common sense will be the best adviser. In many cases it’s really worth covering up the team (if it’s worth it, which again depends on the manager). But sometimes it happens that the rules and deadlines are agreed, everyone is up to date, and now some woodpecker clicked on everything in the world, and the project collapses. A manager can create working conditions, but alas, he is not always able to turn a woodpecker into a genius of productive development. Accordingly, if the team (or its individual parts) has been screwed up - they need to be informed about this and a certain “fine” will be imposed.
5. The manager should never back down .
The manager must objectively evaluate his own strengths and the strengths of his team, since in any case he must answer him personally.
6. The manager is the best teacher .
Managers are bad teachers. They require results, and they usually do not have time to learn. Therefore, you should not try to combine the functions of a singer and a reaper in yourself - it will be enough if you can perform your direct duties well.
Useful literature.
People Management:
“The Human Factor: Successful Projects and Teams” Timothy Lister, Tom DeMarco
“22 Laws of People Management” Georgy Ogarev
Project Management:
“Waltzing with the Bears” Timothy Lister, Tom DeMarco
“Deadline. Novel about project management »Tom Demarco
Security question: how is the manager different from the subordinate? In fact, the main difference is responsibility for the result. The manager is responsible for the result of the entire team. Against this background, neither problem solving nor salary is the main distinguishing feature between the subordinate and the manager.
Now let's talk about the functions of a manager. There are five of them :
The main task of the manager is to plan the process as a whole. Let's take the simplest one: for example, a startup starts and the task of the manager is to plan what should happen and when. “When do I need to rent an office? When should I hire a team? When is it necessary to complete one or another task? ”A detailed plan determines the completeness and ease of implementation, links organizational issues with the tasks that the project sets. How correctly you rank the tasks, so effectively you can control the course of the project.
The next manager function is:
Roughly speaking, everything but people comes here. We need to take care of jobs, materials, equipment. Any competent manager is obliged to create all the conditions for the task, first of all to take care of the basic household comfort of the workplace of his subordinates. This is followed by the formalization of processes and policies within the company, the convenience of communication with customers, which at times can make the brain the most persistent programmer, qualitatively formalized tasks and reasonable deadlines for their implementation. An example of a representative organization is the famous Google offices, where everything, including the work schedule, is designed to make a person in the office more happy than at home.
As practice shows, the high-quality organization of life directly affects productivity and mood in the company, no matter how many people are in it, and therefore one should not ignore the needs of colleagues. It is often more profitable to buy good coffee and rent a comfortable office than to look for new qualified employees and train them in the specifics of their work.
Next is:
- And if I have a choice between one very good candidate and three not so good, but who together will perform the same work that usually does one good, but for a smaller amount. What should I do in this situation?
- It all depends on your tasks. If the project is long, and I take only one person, then in the event of his illness, you yourself understand what is happening: there is no one to carry out his tasks trite. That is, it all depends on your projects and specific tasks.
From a lecture by Ivan Pechersky (Astound, Web Development Manager) Security
question: how objective should a manager be when selecting people for a team?
At first glance, it might seem that the manager should be as objective as possible, a kind of finger of justice. In no case. Forget what objectivity is. Always use subjective criteria when choosing specialists. Ask yourself the question: “Can I work with this person?” Or “How long can I work with him?” If you already at the initial stage see that you and the person, as they say, are on different waves, you and your team probably do not need it. If you feel that you are ready to work with him for a year, two, ten is an excellent choice.
Each of us is unique, and you as a manager are no exception. Therefore, you select a unique team for yourself.
If you joined an existing team, first of all, learn more about your new colleagues. And not only from technical interviews - talk with them about how they live, what they like, draw up a balanced subjective opinion about them. If suddenly among your subordinates there will be those with whom you clearly have some kind of "misunderstanding", formalize your relationship from the very beginning. Arrange “ashore” by talking sincerely and openly. Tell the person what you demand from him, and what he can demand from you.
So we put together a team, what's next?
People should be guided according to your final goals. You get the expected result from the team, and people, in turn, get the opportunity to develop and grow further.
Direction can be short-term or long-term. If you want Petya Pyatochkin to fix the fence by tomorrow's dinner - this is a task for the short-term direction. We must make sure that the person understands the task and remembers the deadlines, motivate him, help find the reason why he personally will be useful to complete this task (study of new technologies, for example), provide him with all the necessary data and tools for its implementation, and upon completion - give feedback, highlighting success or pointing out flaws.
The long-term direction is when we set the path for a true junior boy, planning in a few years to see him as a senior or, for example, an architect. Here we can’t just say, “hey, do everything to become an architect by the seventeenth!” That doesn't work like that. It is necessary to monitor his progress, give him the right tasks that will develop him in the right direction, giving him opportunities to realize himself as an expert.
The last function of a manager is:
On this function, all novice managers "fall". We are used to the fact that control is a constant leash, the heavy look of Big Brother, minute reports and other unpleasant things.
Control should be invisible and based on continuous, but non-invasive observation. Reporting is naturally important. It will allow you to look into the past and analyze possible errors. How well we planned the work and selected the staff, so well we will manage to control it. Subordinates themselves should talk about certain difficulties, warn you about changes, put forward ideas for improvement. You must know what to expect from your team, you must be able to predict the result.
All manager functions are interconnected and work in conjunction with each other. Properly established, they contribute to the creation of a healthy working atmosphere in the team and the triumph of common sense in the process of working on the project.
Brief comments on popular theses about managers and management:
1. The manager must do all the work himself .
The manager can and should delegate part of his tasks to subordinates. In fact, this is what every self-respecting manager should be able to do. The ability to build trust in a team, to calculate who wants to grow along the managerial path, and give him part of his work is a cool life hack for the manager. So you free up part of your time, allow your team members to learn and grow faster, and increase their own career chances - because in any case you will not be transferred higher before you prepare a replacement for yourself. Profit
2. The manager should not trust anyone .
Wrong. Trust is the result of your communication efforts. Organize confidential communication with team members and enjoy the benefits of delegating tasks and the confidence that everything will go all out to the maximum. I couldn’t - there are always vacancies for “free cash desk!”
3. The manager must always be objective .
Neither the manager, nor the welder, nor the CEO is capable of being absolutely objective, since he himself is a subject and is subject to difficult, but explainable chemical processes in his own body. Do not try to be better than your nature, a person is not 100% objective, alas. Try to get the most out of your own subjectivity - pick the perfect team, find a unique scheme of working with your staff - so there is a chance to get a better result than if you measure everyone according to a conditionally “objective” line.
4. The manager always protects his team .
No no and one more time no. If your team has done something wrong, you must make it clear to her, otherwise she will constantly hide behind you. Here, of course, as in any situation, common sense will be the best adviser. In many cases it’s really worth covering up the team (if it’s worth it, which again depends on the manager). But sometimes it happens that the rules and deadlines are agreed, everyone is up to date, and now some woodpecker clicked on everything in the world, and the project collapses. A manager can create working conditions, but alas, he is not always able to turn a woodpecker into a genius of productive development. Accordingly, if the team (or its individual parts) has been screwed up - they need to be informed about this and a certain “fine” will be imposed.
5. The manager should never back down .
The manager must objectively evaluate his own strengths and the strengths of his team, since in any case he must answer him personally.
6. The manager is the best teacher .
Managers are bad teachers. They require results, and they usually do not have time to learn. Therefore, you should not try to combine the functions of a singer and a reaper in yourself - it will be enough if you can perform your direct duties well.
Useful literature.
People Management:
“The Human Factor: Successful Projects and Teams” Timothy Lister, Tom DeMarco
“22 Laws of People Management” Georgy Ogarev
Project Management:
“Waltzing with the Bears” Timothy Lister, Tom DeMarco
“Deadline. Novel about project management »Tom Demarco