October 19, 2015 at 1:14 pm
Eric M Russell (10/19/2015)
No need to grab the pitchforks or risk throwing yourself under a bus. Many organizations have an envelope box or email address where employees can submit suggestions (perhaps anonymously) for things like eliminating waste or improving efficiency ...
I worked for a bad IT manager where said manager had snowed both the CEO and the HR manager. Allegedly the CEO had an open door policy. A group of IT workers arranged an after-hours meeting with the CEO and voiced their complaints about the manager, CEO then went and brought in the manager. And the HR manager.
So much for open door and private airing of concerns.
For a while the apparent temperature of the office became quite frigid, and all but one of the workers who were at the meeting were turfed out within the next year. With them went a huge reserve of institutional knowledge which was absolutely irreplaceable.
My personal favorite technique for dealing with him scheduling meetings immediately before I left or right after I came in for the day was to create a private recurring meeting, every day, 8-9am and 4-5pm, so he could never auto-schedule me during those hours. I worked well enough with him since I was just running servers, but it really saddened me to see him wreck several people's careers. We won't get in to the EEO suit that was settled against him, yet he continued working there.
Eventually the CEO moved on and another board member, who'd previously been shunned by the manager whenever his dept needed IT services, was moved up to second in command. A 'Come To Jesus' meeting was held, and the IT manager quit without notice the next day. And there was much rejoicing.
At the point that I left, there was one person remaining who predated said manager's reign. I'm long gone, and I got a Shark Tank t-shirt for posting his resignation letter (with the serial numbers filed off).
Yes, things can get done under a bad manager, but not with any enthusiasm or fire to get it done. And if the CEO thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread, then the only options you have is quit or endure, you're not going to thrive. You just have to weigh pension accrual vs blood pressure and GERD meds.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
October 20, 2015 at 12:07 am
That's beyond bad management that is actually evil.
I've seen one or two individuals who were more in love with the power games than they were in ensuring team success. Ironically they would have gained more power if they had tempered their behaviour and built their team. I've seen a case where making people miserable was perceived as an expression of power and no opportunity to wield power was ever lost, even if it meant going out of their way to do so.
Ultimately these people are self-limiting. But ask yourself who is worse, the bully or the bullies boss who turn's a blind eye to it?
Also remember that HR are there to protect the company not employees.
Sometimes a manager has to call in favours and rely on team loyalty. It's at this point that what goes around comes around
October 20, 2015 at 12:12 am
Buck Woody said "The saddest day of your life is when you realise your staff are better coders than you. The happiest is when you realise it doesn't matter".
If you've been promoted into a management position and are unable to make that mental switch then you will struggle to be a good manager. He also said that no matter how brilliant you are you can only sustain say 50% higher workload than average. Therefore the only way to continue to increase your value to the organisation is to make it possible for your staff to do well. The question I have to ask myself is " how can I change things to benefit my staff and still pull in the same direction as the corporate strategy "?
I read all the Patrick Lenceoni books and they really helped. Easy reading and poignant.
I want to be a good manager and wanting that is the first step to becoming one. I'm not sure I want to be a manager but if I have to be then there's no point in not trying to be a good one
October 20, 2015 at 6:54 am
David,
Thanks for posting about Patrick Lencioni. The publicly available information is very interesting and helpful.
412-977-3526 call/text
October 20, 2015 at 2:02 pm
I'm pushing to get Safari Books Online for my team. It seems to have virtually every IT book, loads of technology previews, loads of training videos and the main O'Reilly conferences.
You'd have to be dead from the neck up not to get your money's worth out of it.
In addition it's got the Patrick Lenceoni books and a number of other business books. Bob Lutz Guts is worth a read as is Drive by Daniel Pink
October 21, 2015 at 2:15 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/19/2015)
william-700725 (10/19/2015)
Steve, I think you are seriously understating the potential damage a bad manager can do.The two worst-case scenarios are managers who actually increase divisiveness on a team, eliminating synergy and reducing the team's output to less than the sum of the individual contributions, and when managers do not manage workloads and priorities, so that critical tasks remain untouched while resources are expended on less-important tasks (or allowed to sit idle, waiting to be assigned work). Both of those are potential project-killers, and both of those are mismanagement-induced.
Perhaps, but I also see many, many people put up with this and stay at their jobs for years. Companies also survive long periods with really, really poor managers.
The people who do this are very rarely the best people. Successful people get out early. (Obviously this is easier in countries where you won't lose your healthcare if you quit a job, but my point is more about the mindset of successful people. This goes hand in hand with your point about branding yourself.)
October 21, 2015 at 2:36 am
Beatrix Kiddo (10/21/2015)
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/19/2015)
william-700725 (10/19/2015)
Steve, I think you are seriously understating the potential damage a bad manager can do.The two worst-case scenarios are managers who actually increase divisiveness on a team, eliminating synergy and reducing the team's output to less than the sum of the individual contributions, and when managers do not manage workloads and priorities, so that critical tasks remain untouched while resources are expended on less-important tasks (or allowed to sit idle, waiting to be assigned work). Both of those are potential project-killers, and both of those are mismanagement-induced.
Perhaps, but I also see many, many people put up with this and stay at their jobs for years. Companies also survive long periods with really, really poor managers.
The people who do this are very rarely the best people. Successful people get out early. (Obviously this is easier in countries where you won't lose your healthcare if you quit a job, but my point is more about the mindset of successful people. This goes hand in hand with your point about branding yourself.)
What is the mind-set of a successful person? I am really interested on your thoughts regarding this topic.
October 21, 2015 at 7:03 am
Good/Bad managers/management has to be included in any Risk Management Analysis. It's a risk that as other commenters have stated could destroy a project or even a company.
October 21, 2015 at 7:27 am
One definition of a "bad manager" is one who locks themselves in their corner office from 8am - 5pm every day, or one who spends their day hovering over the desks of employees who just wish they would get lost. One has to find a medium that works to the benefit of everyone.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 21, 2015 at 8:00 am
Iwas Bornready (10/21/2015)
Good/Bad managers/management has to be included in any Risk Management Analysis. It's a risk that as other commenters have stated could destroy a project or even a company.
Part of the problem is that there's no way to know if managers are bad before taking a position and starting to work at a company. Even then, some managers can swing from good or average to bad over time. I had one change in team management due to a retirement, the person who came in (who had been with the org for quite a number of years in the mainframe programming area) I would class as mediocre trending towards bad. After I left she became the overall IT manager and was later given the choice by the city manager of quit or be prosecuted. (EEO/FMLA violation as I understand it)
Another case of much rejoicing and don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out.
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[font="Arial"]Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it. --Samuel Johnson[/font]
October 28, 2015 at 10:39 am
I suppose that we ought to differentiate between bad managers and managers with bad skills. The latter needs assistance via mentoring and training. The former...I will leave for your own solutions, printable and otherwise 😉
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 28, 2015 at 10:44 am
Eric M Russell (10/19/2015)
...Top-end contractors are able to sniff out bad management from the start and pass the "opportunity" over, so the organization isn't likely to acquire them in the first place. Unless the contractor is an "ambulance chaser" who is truely interested in taking on this type of challenge, but ambulance chasers are just hacks who are in it only short term for the money. They don't solve anything.
As a contractor who has gone in to resolve a scenario where all the development team left in a very short period of time leaving one of the company's clients in the lurch I take umbrage at these generalisations. I find that they rarely apply.
It isn't always easy to sniff out bad management and sometimes work involves accepting that situations are not perfect but a job needs doing.
I am certainly not a hack. I solve many issues.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!
October 28, 2015 at 12:48 pm
Gary Varga (10/28/2015)
Eric M Russell (10/19/2015)
...Top-end contractors are able to sniff out bad management from the start and pass the "opportunity" over, so the organization isn't likely to acquire them in the first place. Unless the contractor is an "ambulance chaser" who is truely interested in taking on this type of challenge, but ambulance chasers are just hacks who are in it only short term for the money. They don't solve anything.As a contractor who has gone in to resolve a scenario where all the development team left in a very short period of time leaving one of the company's clients in the lurch I take umbrage at these generalisations. I find that they rarely apply.
It isn't always easy to sniff out bad management and sometimes work involves accepting that situations are not perfect but a job needs doing.
I am certainly not a hack. I solve many issues.
An organization won't call in a top-end consultant unless the assignment is challenging, and a top-end consultant probably wouldn't be interested in anything other than a challenge. However, even the best IT consultant can't fix people or business processes, if that's the root of the organization's problem. I'm just saying that to be successful, as employees or consultants, we have to differentiate between a challenging opportunity and a hopeless predicament. An "ambulance chaser" is not really a top-end consultant, they'll throw themselves into any situation just to bill time.
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
October 28, 2015 at 1:25 pm
... a top-end consultant probably wouldn't be interested in anything other than a challenge.
So then ... the less-exalted aren't interested ever in challenges, they're just in it for the money?
That's not only untrue, it's unkind.
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