When I grow up, I want to be in management…

March 28, 2009 by janet · Leave a Comment 

changeSeveral years ago I met a University Professor who gave great advice to his graduate students.  He said:  “You have to decide whether you want to be in research or adminstration.”

I have been repeating that advice to IT professionals ever since, but mine goes like this:

“You have to decide if you want to be the ‘doer’ or the ‘manager’.  Do you want to work on your technical skills or your management skills?

Here is a news flash for you…the grass is not greener on the management side of the fence.  Taking the management path might mean leaving behind some of the things you like best about your work – those things that caused you to get into technology in the first place.  Managers don’t get to play with the latest technologies, or tinker, or problem solve.  Managers delegate.  They match people with business needs.  They ensure projects stay on budget.  They write performance reviews and career plans to help technical people become better technical people.

What?  You say that doesn’t sound like management in your company?  Then maybe you are working for an IT company managed by technicians.  It’s a classic syndrome in IT – a superstar programmer or implementer emerges from the team and what do we do?  We promote her.  We take her away from doing the things she was best at and put her in management (and probably with very little support).  We end up with IT companies managed by technicians.  Some technical people make very good managers.  But others struggle to let go of their ‘technical expert’ personas.  (Hint – these ones are easy to spot…they are the ones who are too busy solving customer problems and writing lines of code to get their business initiatives done on time).

If your organisation is struggling with the roles of technician and manager, here are a few things you might try…

1.       Assess your current situation.  Who are the managers and what are their backgrounds?  What do they say are their strengths and weaknesses?  What do others say?  There are plenty of assessment tools you can use to help.

2.       Consider your company’s roles of manager and technician.  Are they equally rewarded and respected?  Are changes needed here?

3.       Start career planning.  Sometimes people choose a management path because it’s the only path they can see.  Good managers (the ones who aren’t buried in fire-fighting) recognise employee strengths and help the employee build on those.  These conversations take time and listening skills.  Do you need to strengthen these in your organisation?

4.       Look to the top.  Is your top management prepared to lead by example?  If not, return to step 2. 

Filed under: Change, Personal Development
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Build your network

March 7, 2009 by janet · Leave a Comment 

 

executive, employee and business coachingWhenever I see a spike in LinkedIn invitations, I know something is up.  Unfortunately, it seems that most of my new contacts this month are former colleagues who have been laid off (mainly in the US).  Finding themselves out of work, these newly unemployed begin activating their networks of contacts.

It’s too bad these employees weren’t doing that networking when times were good.  Imagine the contacts they could have built up by now.  Imagine the broadened view of how their profession intertwines with others, imagine the insights they could have gained both for themselves and their employer.

Yet, employers don’t seem to see it that way.  Other than the sales force and maybe some product managers, I rarely see employers encouraging the staff to look outside the walls of their company.  It doesn’t count as ‘work’ if it can’t be attributed to a project or a customer. It is too bad, because it’s a lost opportunity to increase relationships between companies and stretch brand awareness into new networks of friends and associations.

So here is a call to action to professionals everywhere:  Start treating your network like the valuable asset it is.  You carry it with you throughout your life.   Take care of it.  Why not start now?

1.        If you don’t have one already, get your own email address and mobile phone number.  Don’t rely on your employer for either.

2.       Join at least 1 online professional networking site (sorry, Facebook doesn’t count for this purpose).  I am talking about LinkedIn or Plaxo or similar.  It’s like Facebook for professionals, and it’s free – it’s your online rolodex.

3.       Spend some time developing a profile that accurately represents all facets of you that are worth mentioning.  This is like your online resume.  I often look online before I go to a meeting with someone to get a sense of who they are.  Recruiters do this, too.  Does your profile show your strengths?

4.       Set aside an hour or 2 each week to build your network.  Look online for people you know.   Look at their connections to find people you have in common.  What are your hobbies?  In which clubs do you participate?  Do you know what those people do for a living?  Look for them online.  Does your profession have an association?  Consider joining it. 

Before you know it, you will find yourself with a network of people you can refer to and draw from when you need them.  And, you never know when you will need them, so why not start building now?

Filed under: Personal Development
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