Management Bits and Tips

Downflooring / upflooring could be the mild version of downsizing, promotion or demotion, depends on the office space plans for your next office move. It could also mean nothing if staff streaming is rotational, as mathematicians say, div rot S = 0 or it might say which employee team or a functional unit is important if streaming was done relative to some non-movable office. It might also mean team compression, to minimize staff gradient, like mathematicians say, grad T = 0.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

In many companies you can find various e-mail and document retention policies that limit the life span of old reports in case you need them, for example, to compare your performance or defend your stance (bit). Use continuity in sending reports by replying to your previous report (tip).

This is actually an IIRW extension to bit and tip 0×4.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

“… those people who are really good at what they do and yet are at the bottom of a management hierarchy have a power that no one else in the hierarchy has. They can’t be demoted.” 

Robert Glass, Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering

Understanding and overcoming resistance is one of the tasks of a manager. A public performance (transcript) of the manager is different from an inner transcript and the same can be said about transcripts of engineers. I now recall that in one of my previous companies I worked for, a senior engineer was telling one recently hired junior colleague in a private setting (canteen) to always tell VP of Engineering how he loves the work. I recently became interested in analysis of managerial domination and of various forms of hidden resistance and stage performances of subordinates and internal pressures they experience. Doing my research I stumbled across this book on Amazon and bought it:

Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts

The book is written in almost jargon free style and highly recommended as a stimulating and refreshing read to remind about additional perspectives on relations inside teams and engineering organizations, between customers and their relationship managers (inverse domination). 

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

Have you ever been worried about managerial amnesia? There are two types of it: the full amnesia and the partial one. The latter one is the most dangerous. Being selective, it provokes worries. The full amnesia, on the contrary, might stem from the current organization focus in other functional areas and could be even a confirmation of trust. Here is the story. I was made redundant in one company long time ago. A month before that, I asked to replace a light bulb in the room because I used to work very long hours. However the light bulb had never been changed and only after redundancy I realized that it was one of the warning signs: there was no need to replace the light bulb - I was one in the office room and after my redundancy the room became empty…

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -