Recommended reading
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I found a great article on "ReadWriteWeb":http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2011/01/6-ways-to-be-a-better-it-manager.php today that linked to this one: "How to Be a Better IT Manager":http://www.enterpriseefficiency.com/author.asp?section_id=1129&doc_id=202422
I particularly like the "Get Out of Their Way" paragraph. Sometimes I feel like the biggest issue people are facing is the lack of trust.
What do you think?
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He's quite right in that post. But "Get Out of Their Way" only works if the "Hire Well" can really be achieved. And sometimes you have a really good team, but some of them are kind-of newbies. Things then might get bad (e.g. focussing on the wrong parts, some member being over-motivated and trying to make thing 120% perfect and such).
Also, programmers tend to think like programmers, not like users or customers - these are sometimes like ying and yang and do not always fit together (beeing more of a fire and water in that case :-) ) But in general, yes, let them do their work and do not interrupt too often.
Which goes for customers calling in for a problem too (especially in small companies!), these should be delegated to some support entity - may it be the supporting developer of the day/week.
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[quote author="Volker" date="1294241245"]He's quite right in that post. But "Get Out of Their Way" only works if the "Hire Well" can really be achieved. And sometimes you have a really good team, but some of them are kind-of newbies. Things then might get bad (e.g. focussing on the wrong parts, some member being over-motivated and trying to make thing 120% perfect and such).[/quote]
Well, yes, you still need to manage your team. That also means that you need to know what everybody is working on and set priorities if needed. But that's something you do every other week or - for newbies - once a week. You don't have to watch them all the time.
I agree on the team part though. You have to be well aware about possible pitfalls and social incompatibilities. That is something that can be kept in check though.
[quote]Also, programmers tend to think like programmers, not like users or customers - these are sometimes like ying and yang and do not always fit together (beeing more of a fire and water in that case :-) ) But in general, yes, let them do their work and do not interrupt too often.[/quote]
Tell me about it. I am surrounded by them... ;)
I wonder how it works to have someone not-so-terribly-technical lead a team of developers (or other IT people). Obviously you need to understand what their work is about. Wouldn't that bring advantages too? Taking a different approach to problems and all?
[quote]Which goes for customers calling in for a problem too (especially in small companies!), these should be delegated to some support entity - may it be the supporting developer of the day/week.[/quote]
Hehe. I see that concept blow up spectacularly. Users are just plain annoying. OTOH, if I read emails like "how on earth could you miss the most important feature foo? Without it your site is absolutely useless to anybody but yourself" I start to see the point.