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Hi All,

I have been a long time listener, have attempted to implement the tools multiple times however as a technical manager have ended up so far into the weeds it became impossible to spend the time actually managing the team.

Since recently moving positions I am as close now as I ever have been, O3s are in full swing and the feedback meeting is just a few week away. I am measuring as much as I can despite tools making it difficult (I have a lot of spreadsheets).

I've been recently wondering whether a move from being a technical manager to another field would help this even more? Is this solely an IT industry problem or do all industries try and drag managers into the becoming individual contributors? Would a lack of experience in the industry your managing people in actually be beneficial in this endeavour?

Any thoughts or experiences in this would be greatly appreciated.

Warmest regards,

Ryan

TSchow's picture
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Its not uncommon for managers to still contribute to less valued work. The idea is to understand your work load and then contribute where your team falls short.

To answer your questions:
1. We all chose our suffering. In this case do you want to suffer in a field where you know you can contribute if your team falls short or do you want to take the risk of entering a field where you might not be able to contribute (cover your team).

2. This is not just an IT issue, and there are many books written on this struggle. Your statement of work still needs to get done, and you are responsible to accomplish it.

3. Its my personal recent experience the lack of experience in the industry caused me a layoff.
The issue is what are your relationships like with your peers, and your boss. If you do not have a strong relationship with them you risk to much.