Re. Moving up to manager

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

 Jim Witkin asked about the biggest change in becoming
 manager of a group after moving up from the ranks. First,
 the bad news: Jim, the biggest thing to be aware of is that
 you may have just become the proud parent of a group of
 small children, with all the frustration and responsibility
 that entails. (That's an exaggeration, but not a misleading
 one in many cases.) All the petty squabbles that you used
 to avoid, all the situations in which you provided sympathy
 and advice, all the problems of making sure everyone's
 ready in time for school... well, now you're the one who
 has to solve things. You're the one who has to crack the
 whip, schedule everything, obtain resources, detect and
 head off conflicts, arbitrate, impose discipline, etc. You
 also have to be the parent who protects the group from the
 nasty outside world (i.e, defend them against attacks from
 unreasonable clients, protect them from budget cuts and
 downsizing, etc.) and pass on the bad news from "above".
 Sometimes you end up on everyone's shit list through no
 fault of your own; sometimes you honestly earn their ire.
 Beware of the perception of taking sides, even when the
 temptation to stop being neutral is almost unbearable.

 Now the good: (Sorry if the preceding sounds cynical...
 I've been there before, and developed a distaste for the
 work.) The flip side is that you can develop an effective,
 productive team and lead people to cooperate and help each
 other out; just like a parent, there are many rewards for
 helping your "children" (to continue the analogy) grow up
 and succeed in their efforts. You get to take pride in
 their accomplishments, reward them for the things they do
 right, help them advance their own careers, and you can
 earn their respect if you do all this yet still respond
 gently and firmly to crises.

 One big caution: You're now responsible for everyone else's
 mistakes, so there's a temptation to micromanage everyone's
 work. Don't do it. Try to put systems in place to catch
 mistakes (e.g., peer review, peer assistance), but don't
 become the KGB. Stay on top of things ("management by
 walking around"?) so that you know what problems your
 people are having, and can provide assistance before the
 problem gets out of hand. On the whole, I prefer being one
 of the rank and file, but if you've got the right
 temperment, management is a fascinating challenge.

 --Geoff Hart    @8^{)}
 geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

 Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of our
 reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.