tl;dr:
+1 for Manager-Tools.com, and
+1 for The Visible Ops Handbook
(in that order)
If you're at the "I know I need to get better at this" phase, you really should
check Manager Tools out. In particular, start with the the Manager Tools
Basics, which cover the so-called "Trinity" of One-on-Ones, Feedback, Coaching,
and Delegation. They focus on what specific things to do, not just nebulous
discussion about "Topic A is important. And so is Topic B. And you can't be a
Real Manager without thinking about Topic C!" A benefit of listening every week
(though they have a huge back-catalogue now) is that it helps to remind you to
be a manager and not default back into the technical details that got you to
this point. Marinate in this long enough and you can't help but pick things up
and start using them later on.
As for the separate issue of your startup company wanting/needing to be a
grown-up company now, it's similar -- when you realize you need to be better,
it's easy to quickly become overwhelmed because "OMG, we suck at everything;
where do I start?" The Visible Ops Handbook helped me a lot with this since,
like Manager Tools, it provides an order in which to tackle things (as well as
reasons why to do it that way). The Phoenix Project is a good read too, but
not as practical.
Naturally, there will be pushback from staff when you're trying to introduce
new management practices (such as one-on-ones) or more mature IT process (such
as change control), like "we got to where we are now without needing this
bureaucracy," or "don't you trust me to know how to do my job?" This is where
your management skills will be needed. Your staff will do what you ask if they
trust you (and what you asked isn't insane). They'll trust you if you have a
good relationship with them. You'll have a good relationship with them if you
communicate meaningfully with them on a regular basis, preferably on a
human-to-human, face-to-face level (not IM or email), and you support them.
I've been through this a few times now (and have been an IT manager since the
late '90s), so I'd recommend that in general, you start by working on being a
better manager first, and building that trust with your team. This can take
quite a while; that's OK! In fact, you'll never actually be done with this,
right? *Later*, start tackling policy/procedure and organizational maturity
changes.
In the case of rolling out a change control policy, for example: If you do it
without establishing the relationships and trust first, you may get begrudging
compliance while you're present, based solely on your role power ("PHB says we
have to do this, so I'll at least pretend to do it while he's looking") - or
worse: outright insubordination, willful disregard of the policy, and
mysterious outages or IT Operations problems as a result that you, ultimately,
have to answer for. (And it only leads to team problems from there: "I
shouldn't have to be on call if she's going to make changes any time she feels
like it.")
What you really want is them following the policy even when you're not looking,
because it's the right thing to do (and they understand and agree, based on
your relationship and trust with them).
- Dave
On Jan 7, 2014, at 11:50 AM, Atom Powers <[email protected]> wrote:
> +1 for Manager Tools.
>
> On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 8:13 AM, Evan Pettrey <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I forgot to add one of the other great tools I've utilized which is the
>> Manager Tools podcast (and its sister podcast, Career Tools).
>>
>> I highly recommend listening to these, almost every single podcast has
>> something of good value to offer. If you have a long drive or take the train
>> into work, this is the perfect time to listen to them!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 10:58 AM, Evan Pettrey <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Peter,
>>>
>>> I've been there and in many ways I'm still there! Just like our technical
>>> challenges required us to be constantly learning, so too, do our managerial
>>> challenges. The good news for you is that you've already taken the most
>>> important step toward getting better which is to realize where you are
>>> lacking and making an effort to make conscious improvements.
>>>
>>> There are four levels of understanding anything, in this case how to be a
>>> leader:
>>>
>>> Unconsciously Incompetent - you don't know that you don't know how to lead
>>> a team
>>>
>>> Consciously Incompetent - you know that you don't know how to lead a team
>>>
>>> Consciously Competent - you know how to lead a team but need to closely
>>> concentrate on what you're doing to accomplish this
>>>
>>> Unconsciously Competent - you are such a good leader that it now comes
>>> naturally without even thinking about it!
>>>
>>> It sounds like you're on somewhere between step 2 and 3 and are willing to
>>> put in the hard work to get to step 3 and beyond, which is a great place to
>>> be.
>>>
>>>
>>> With that out of the way, there are a few things that have helped me
>>> dramatically since moving into a management role:
>>>
>>> Project Management - Earlier in my career I worked for a company who was
>>> very strict in their processes and we even obtained our ISO 20000 and
>>> CMMI:Level 3 certifications. This helped me a lot as I was forced to learn
>>> what is the "certified" way to manage tasks. However, what I found was that
>>> much of it overcomplicated things and I really need to adapt what I learned
>>> with these hardened processes actually worked and develop this into
>>> something that could allow my team to operate at the Unconsciously Competent
>>> level.
>>>
>>> To do this, we started using a Kanban Board (we use
>>> http://www.kanbanpad.com which is really helpful and free). Each of my
>>> employees has their own task board and larger projects also have their own
>>> task board.
>>>
>>> An employee task board includes 4 columns:
>>>
>>> To-Do - Work that is in queue but has not been started
>>> In Progress - exactly what it says, work that is currently in progress but
>>> has not been completed
>>> Verification - this is the testing phase for our work which has to be
>>> verified as working by myself or our team peers
>>> Completed - work that is finished moves into this queue and each Monday is
>>> moved to the "Finished" bucket where we can quickly and easily look back on
>>> the year in review to determine what was accomplished
>>>
>>>
>>> In addition to project management, there have been a few books in
>>> particular that have helped me as a leader:
>>>
>>> The Phoenix Project (and The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement) -
>>> These two books really help you take a step back and look at the big
>>> picture. While The Phoenix Project is written specifically for DevOps I
>>> think The Goal is the better of the two books but I recommend reading both
>>>
>>> The Effective Executive - Written by Peter Drucker in the 80s this is
>>> still widely considered one of the best books any leader can read today. It
>>> will teach you to think like a leader, how to manage your time effectively,
>>> and how to accomplish all your goals
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> There are a number of other things that have been immensely helpful to me
>>> as I've been transitioning from a technical resource to a leader but what
>>> I've listed above were the things that really helped me start moving in the
>>> right direction.
>>>
>>> If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to discuss.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Evan
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 10:15 AM, Peter Grace <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hello list,
>>>>
>>>> Well, I've been an IT Director for about half a year now. In this time I
>>>> have learned quite a bit more about what it takes to be a manager and the
>>>> amount of self discipline it requires to keep all of the pieces on the
>>>> chessboard moving safely.
>>>>
>>>> After 6 months, my self evaluation is I suck at being in charge of an IT
>>>> department, and by gosh I want to fix that. I am asking for your opinions
>>>> on all manners of self-help: certification ideas, books that have helped
>>>> you
>>>> "grok" how a department should work properly, ways to improve process
>>>> management, things of this nature. I want to be the best I can be and I
>>>> know that a lot of the people on this list have "been there, done that" and
>>>> have lived to tell the tale. I'd love to hear yours.
>>>>
>>>> I struggle since the place where I work still has a lot of startup
>>>> mentality but they're getting to the size where we need to start making it
>>>> "enterprisey" to keep things moving smoothly. A lot of the people in the
>>>> organization feel like making things more enterprise-like means that
>>>> they'll
>>>> be mired in paperwork and mucky-muck and it's tough to break that opinion.
>>>> What are your experiences?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>>
>>>> Pete
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Perfection is just a word I use occasionally with mustard.
> --Atom Powers--
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