Re: What would you do if *you* were the VP? (was Re: manager credibility)
$Out of the blue, I got a call this week from a recruiter looking for a tech
$pubs VP (me? a VP?) to lead "hundreds" of writers in a large corporation. It
$was great to get the call - but alas, circumstances do not allow me to
$consider the position.
$
$Still, it was exciting to think of the possibilities. This thread has been
$more or less about what a manager ought to be. So what would you do if *you*
$were the VP?
1. I'd make it clear to my boss (presumably an EVP or the CEO) that I can best serve the company (and by inference my boss) by serving my subordinates--protecting their budget, removing obstacles, providing training, going to bat for them on working conditions/working environment--with the intention of helping them be as productive as possible. Then I'd follow through on those obligations.
2. As John said, I'd define specific functional areas and delegate authority over those areas. "You can delegate authority; you can't delegate responsibility." So I'd do any such delegating on a provisional basis until I was confident in my choices (you're talking about coming into an existing organization, so it will take a while to get to know people's abilities and personality types).
Specifically, I'd look (among the existing staff) for the best project administrators, the best editors, the best graphic artists/illustrators, the best technical production gurus, the best traffic managers.
3. I'd look strategically at the way writers are deployed to projects and work to integrate them into product development teams from day one. The basic model is that I own the resource group (writers and their support staff--illustrators, editors, production experts, etc.) but that their time belongs to the projects where I assign them. So it's my responsibility to ensure that they are assigned appropriately, used effectively by their project managers, and given authority to produce work that meets _my_ depaartment's standards.
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