Submitted by mdave on
in
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I will be assuming a division manager position and it will be the first time that I will supervise first line supervisors instead of staff. I am looking for that balance of being ascessible to staff without my directs (their supervisors), either real or perceived, feeling like they are being left out of the loop or somehow marginalized. My new job has a need for a fast learning curve so I need to be able to build my immediate management team while also being available to technical expertise at the staff level in some areas where I do not have previous experience.
I have worked for supervisors at both extremes: where I needed to be present for any conversation he had with my staff or at least had the issue run through me; and for a supervisor who was [i]extremely [/i] accessible and I was often left out of decisions and conversations involving my funcitonal areas.
Any thoughts on how I can strike a successful balance? I have listened to the Open Door casts and assume that using O3s to explain to my directs what my immediate goals are would be a good start. Thanks!
Open door question from a new division head
mdave:
First off - congratulations!
I think the optimal balance point for a director is actually a little [i]less [/i]accessible to skips than you might be initially imagining. When you're managing managers, as I do, you'll find that the best longterm strategy is to support them and hold them accountable, while trying like hell not to do anything that gets between them and their directs.
Managing managers is different than managing frontline staff - because the people you direct have so much more impact on the organization due to their responsibility for the work of other people.
Sorry if this is too philosophical a response - I just think that the move from manager to director is [i]at least as big [/i]as the move from individual contributor to first time manager.
Here's one "actionable:" ask all your managers to subscribe to [i]Manager-Tools.[/i]
-Hugh
Open door question from a new division head
Congratulations.
I'm confused:
[quote]while also being available to technical expertise at the staff level in some areas where I do not have previous experience. [/quote]
Will you be providing technical expertise in areas where you do not have experience?
Either way, your managers and their staff should be providing the expertise....even if you can provide it yourself.
Let me tell you about my director. The man used to be a decent VB programmer. Once in a while, he comes along with something he worked on in his garage over the weekend and throws it on our laps. Some Excel VBA thing or something written in VB6. We have moved on to VB.NET and are even doing Java and ASP.NET now for web apps. We have to stop everything to entertain this technical whim of his.
My advice....stay out of it. Even if you can do it...don't. Hire the best and trust them to get your results. Your technical experience is there for you to draw on to guide the team....not do the work for them.
Good luck! :D
Open door question from a new division head
Congratulations.
I'm confused:
[quote]while also being available to technical expertise at the staff level in some areas where I do not have previous experience. [/quote]
Will you be providing technical expertise in areas where you do not have experience?
Either way, your managers and their staff should be providing the expertise....even if you can provide it yourself.
Let me tell you about my director. The man used to be a decent VB programmer. Once in a while, he comes along with something he worked on in his garage over the weekend and throws it on our laps. Some Excel VBA thing or something written in VB6. We have moved on to VB.NET and are even doing Java and ASP.NET now for web apps. We have to stop everything to entertain this technical whim of his. Truth be told...he was boored with the glacial pace of management. He kind of wanted the immediate rewards that programming gives.
My advice....stay out of it. Even if you can do it...don't. Hire the best and trust them to get your results. Your technical experience is there for you to draw on to guide the team....not do the work for them.
Good luck! :D
Open door question from a new division head
Thank you for the suggestions.
I did not mean to hit a button, AMT. I will be supervising 6 departments and only have direct expereince in 4 of them. The last thing I want to do is to go beneath my directs and make a nusiance of myself. What I do want to do, however, is to understand enough so that I can support those 2 department heads and effectively market/strategize/forcast/resource/ etc. upward relative to these two departments within the goals of the organization.
A weekend boss programmer!! Ugh. That is one "opportunity" that I have been fortunate enough not to have had.
One of the cool things about MT is that sometimes I discover that I am asking the wrong questions. Thanks again!