Management Bits and Tips

“… 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 -

If you move to work in another country it is always useful to read about local workplace norms, redundancy regulations, various employment acts and other smart knowledge. If you happen to be the native of that country then you should prefer to read such books as well. More than 8 years ago when I moved to work in Ireland I bought this guide (one of the previous editions):

Working And Living In Ireland

Today I was visiting a local bookshop and browsing the bargains section where I found this book written by the same author and immediately bought it. “Exit” chapter is recommended to read during the current turbulent times in Irish economy.

Smart Moves at Work in Ireland

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

A definition: 

This is a people manager who abdicates and becomes one of former subordinates to increase customer satisfaction in crisis times when no head count is available.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com - 

The title of this post employs an operating system metaphor for a team member as a thread in a process (team).  I recalled this morning a book that I was reading 3 years ago and dug it from one of my dark dusty office corners:

My Job Went to India: 52 Ways to Save Your Job (Pragmatic Programmers)

I think it is relevant in this economic downturn if you replace India as an empty set or empty string: My Job Went to ”".

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

From time to time it is useful to have formal thank-you-for-your-service letters emphasizing how customers need your services for day-to-day running of their business processes and / or during their critical situations (bit). Have ready templates for asking about such letters (tip).

Follow-through prioritized service requests with feedback templates. If there are no critical issues schedule periodical questionnaires. When people ask you for a service-favour request a letter clarifying how your service-favour reply helped them to do their business.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

To my shame I have never read the famous book “AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis”. Being interested in antipatterns which I often figure out myself in the practical domain of software technical support (see Crash Dump Analysis AntiPatterns) I looked for the most recent collection of the management ones and found this book which I’m reading now:

Antipatterns: Identification, Refactoring, and Management (Auerbach Series on Applied Software Engineering)

In addition to their own patterns, the authors of the book provide the description of Brown’s antipatterns (the book mentioned earlier, “AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, …”), provide two tables for easy antipattern identification in an organization or a team (Management Antipattern Locator and Environmental Antipattern Locator), list and comment on Myers-Briggs personality types, discuss Keirsey temperament groupings and Bramson’s human personality phenotypes. Highly recommended. I especially liked “All You Have Is a Hammer” antipattern of which I was guilty myself during my earlier Team Lead role experience.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

Some people don’t feel good when they see themselves second or last on To: and Cc: email recipient lists or any other list that lists them (bit). Alphabetize the list and even mention casually that you do so (tip).

Prioritize, Alphabetize, Perspectiwise

The second P is not a misprint but the summary that puts the alphabetization of To: and Cc: lists into perspective wisely!

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

Have you ever seen or worked with a person that never provides concrete answers or in the worst case doesn’t answer at all? Perhaps this persons considers any question as rhetorical and therefore has RQD. You need to stop asking questions and make statements instead.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

Thick books impress people (bit). Write and publish a technical book related to your work to show the complexity and importance of what your team does and highlight the technical ability of your department (tip).

If there is a perception among other people that the job of your team is easy and tasks can be accomplished more quickly then sufficiently thick book shows the opposite and emphasizes quality vs. speed.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -

Yesterday in a local Dun Laoghaire bookstore I stumbled upon this book:

Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t and Why: 10 Things You’d Better Do If You Want to Get Ahead

Initially I hesitated but finally bought it. I wasn’t disappointed when I started reading it that evening. This book finally puts an explanatory system around career promotions and it really fits well with my observations in 15 companies I worked for during past 15 years. This doesn’t mean that I changed the company ever year The longest relationship with a company was 7 years and my current relationship with Citrix approaches 5 years. I just worked for some companies in parallel or just for a few months. This book also teaches some important vocabulary such as:

• - future value
• - a smooth handoff within the window of opportunity
• - optimization of the outcome of the staffing change

- Dmitry Vostokov @ ManagementBits.com -