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Hi,

I just cannot state enough about how much MT has impressed me. The loads of information available is amazing. I've also read scores of forum posts and found them enlightening. I only wish that I had found this site months ago.

Let me introduce myself before I ask a 'few' questions. I'm working as an IT Manager in a big distribution company. I joined the company just about a year and half ago as a senior developer and got promoted about 6 months ago. The promotion was more because of an org restructuring that was done by the new IT chief. There were a few open positions, I applied for the one that I hold and got it. Lucky (or unlucky ?) me.

My team consists of 8 directs and was larger before a couple moved from my team to another process team. My team primarily helps in development in various projects and helps the service desk in resolving issues. The latter being done because the service desk is very lean (5 people). My team consists of a couple of 'veterans' who have been with the company for over a decade and a few newbies, like myself.

Though I've handled development teams before, I'm new to management because my earlier roles were primarily focused on getting the coding completed.

I shall be going through the manager basics podcasts this weekend. Apart from this, are there any books/materials/podcasts that I need to go through ?

The main challenges that I am facing in my new role, apart from being 'wet behind my ears' are as follows,

1) The veterans in my team still seem to not consider me as their manager. i.e they do follow my instructions but I don't think I've earned their respect yet.

2) I report to a manager who is pretty 'strict' i.e he's good to me but his style of managing is more of the stick and not the carrot. Whereas I prefer the carrot and later the stick. In a recent incident, a few of my team members went overboard on meal expenses and he wanted to have them to be severely reprimanded (via warning process), I went the soft way of explaining the cost cutting needs to help our company in this economy in their one-on-ones.

There are a few more challenges but I think I'll ask later as I don't want this post to be a catch-all help thread.

Looking forward to the good suggestions from the management gurus, here.

 

 

L2LEADERSW's picture

Way to go, ITMGR - you're already better equipped to do your job than most managers I know out there. MT is fantastic, and if you stick to the trinity (O3s, Feedback, Coaching, Delegation), you'll be setting the bar higher for the other leaders in your organization.

As a new manager I was given great advice from my VP - I've listed her 2 big points below. 6 years later we're in different companies, but she's still my mentor. I also had a difficult boss at the time. I found a trustworthy, effective leader in my organization who was open to coaching me. We were in different departments, but leadership is leadership. Try to find someone in your organization who would be willing to coach you and you'll be a lot happier. If you don't know who to go to, ask HR. Having them on your "side" as a manager is very useful.

  1. Most important for new managers = Your Team Doesn't Know What You Don't Know. Sometimes you'll have to fake it and put on a good face. It's OK. This doesn't mean be deceptive, it means you were put in the role because your leadership team feels you can do the job. Your team may not know or believe that yet, but they will. Don't worry about messing up or making mistakes. YOU WILL. A LOT. :) Keep going and don't get frazzled.
  2. From the little information in the post, I feel that you want to be liked by your reports - EVERY new manager does. Let go of that a little. If you have to deliver a difficult message, be careful about going "the soft way". I'm sure they knew at the time that they shouldn't have spent what they did on those meal expenses. It's not about being hard-handed, it's about being consistent, honest, and fair.
  3. The hardest change for me was moving to a mentality of "Company First". We always care about our people and their well-being, but we have to look out for the best interests for the firm. Most of the time these two things partner together well. Sometimes, they don't. Learn to explain the company's point-of-view to your people without sounding like a corporate robot, and you'll not only be earning their respect, you'll be preparing them for the time when you move up and one of them replaces you. 

That's my rant. Good Luck!

 

 

ITMgr's picture

Terrific !! Many thanks for your advice. I will use them as part of coaching myself.

mikehansen's picture

One more thing to add, O3s will be the foundation for your strong relationships with the directs.  Start doing them soon, keep them sacred.

It is through your O3s that you will come to understand what your veterans really want to do and how they can contribute the most.  They probably have never worked for someone who cared enough to spend the time to really understand these areas.  Then, you can effect changes to play to their strengths and get the most out of them. 

Think long term (6+ months) and all will be well. 

Hope that helps,

Mike