Submitted by scm2423 on
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As a new manager the advice is 1) fit in and 2) don't make changes right away. Does this apply when aborbing other people in to my team. I have been with the company for just over a year. In the next few days my team of five developers will grow to include three helpdesk staff who had been reporting to my manager. This transition was discussed shortly after I started so I have made the effort to get to know the helpdesk staff to prepare for this change. They know I do one-on-ones with my reports and I think they are wanting me to start them right away. I am looking for some advice and how much of the don't make changes advice applies given my time here.
My thoughts are:
1) start one-on-ones right away to continue to get to know the people
2) start team meetings with the help desk; they haven't been holding them and communication amoung then has been an issue; my goal is to find out what are the current challenges and opportunities
3) request weekly reports; all my other directs provide a short weekly report about ongoing tasks, issues or upcomming work It is consolidated and fowarded to my manager since we don't do one-on-ones. The cavet here is I am not looking for specifics on individual calls, but on problems or opportunities they see.
Any advice or concerns would be appreciated.
All good
I think the "make no changes" is appropriate for your Support team. Until you get to really understand how the team works, it would be hard to make constructive changes.
I do not see any pitfalls with your 3 ideas.
Eventually you could decide to have 1 team meeting with developers and support, which could build synergy between the groups over time.
I am not sure how much detail you e-mail your boss, but if it is more that 1 paragraph, it may not be getting read. You may want to try summarizing it as a few key bullet points, and follow the advice on how to schedule a pseudo-O3 with your boss to "touch base". It was a pod cast several months ago.
Hope that helps,
Mike
About your boss...
Make sure you know how your boss prefers communications from you.
Some bosses prefer a verbal rather than an email update. Some like lots of details, others just want the big issues.
(Check out the Managing Your Boss podcasts - http://www.manager-tools.com/2006/01/managing-your-boss and http://www.manager-tools.com/2008/11/boss-one-on-ones-professional-updates)
John Hack
I don't mean to hijack this
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am in the process of hiring someone new to the team. I probably rolled out the entire trinity the incorrect way with my existing staff but they've toughed it out and found it useful.
O3s I agree with the OP that it is something you can start pretty much immediately without waiting too long. But what about feedback? So if I can't use feedback and the person does something good or bad, do I just tell them the way I did pre-MT?
If you're comfortable with the model
Twinsen,
If you're comfortable with the model, and your team is comfortable with the model, then you can explain the feedback model sooner than 30 or 60 days. You should start with affirming feedback. And when you begin providing adjusting feedback, you could start with the "starter" model (ie, don't ask what they can do differently, just indicate the consequences).
No point in using a less-effective model at first.
John Hack