I would pay good money to have my manager do my job for one week. That's all I'm asking for. One week. Considering that he has no idea what I do - not to mention how to do it - it would be spectacular five days for him and the as----e who put him in that position because they're buddies.
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A good manager wants to hire quality people and have a team smarter than he/she is. I manage multiple functions. I’m technical - some things I’ve kept my hands in over the years and other things I’ve let go. I try to be a sounding board, but I could not perform any of my functions as well as my best people. I do my absolute best to listen to my people so that I understand their pain points and where I could potentially help them out.
In my experience, the hardest part of managing is riding the line where I can let my good people do their thing, coach up the middle and attempt to manage the bottom, all while keeping the top performers happy.
I’d actually like to see my manager do his own job for a week.
The problem with technical managers that know anything at all about tech is that their tech knowledge is about ten years out of data and they can’t resist the urge to architect something. So they get embroiled in pointless why-don’t-you-do-this arguments with the architect and if your architect has a clue, they’ll be like “Yeah, thought of that. Won’t scale/our infrastructure is unreliable/ that API changes without warning/that’s not actually how that works/ middleware we have no control over is screwed/ data types are incompatible” and the rest if us are wondering why we bother with hiring an architect if the boss has architect envy. “Technical” managers are overrated.
Then how are these managers engaging in oversight to sign off on your work like their supervisory pnps actually call for? I would pose that question or at least ask internal audit how that works....shed a light on ineffective managers who rake in the dough....
I’m first to admit, there’s no way I could do the work of my direct reports. They truly work their as--s off and I have 110% respect and appreciation for the work they do and if I have to, will bend over backwards to support or locate support for them at a drop of a hat. If the work isn't done, it ultimately falls to the manager. Is it a lot of adult babysitting?, absolutely yes, 100%… add in the aforementioned FMLA abuse and it can be a nightmare. This is the road I paved for myself, and the job they do is the road they paved for themselves. Everyone is free to go when and where they wish at anytime. An effective manager knows how to leverage talent and resources to get the work done.
I manage a team of 9 people. I could do 4 of their jobs on day 1. The other 5 would certainly take some training. My team manages 6 very different sets of processes, if I could do all their jobs, we’d need 5 or 6 of me instead of nine of them, because like most of our ICs, their jobs are executed inefficiently. I spend my day splitting time strategizing for my team, helping them be more efficient, and handholding them to make sure they hit their deadlines.
There are good managers and bad, but if you think any low level manager isn’t doing those things (even if they don’t have to for you specifically), you’re wrong 95% of the time.
Post ID: @yui+1bllFrCu
Definitely a good point. Having said that, many of the managers who earned the position because they worked their way up are the very same experienced managers being let go by the new regime.
You guys are aware that some managers have done your job for many years before they became a manager, right? Not all, but lots of them have and people don't seem to be differentiating.
The last time I brought up issues with the proposed plan was told and I quote "Only come to me with solution not problems"
No talks in team meetings anymore.
None of the so called "leaders" I've reported to have a damn clue what it's like to do our jobs day in and day out. They don't care! Git it done and STFU, is their style. They don't want to hear about challenges, ways things can run more efficiently or effectively, etc. This is not leadership, at all.
They're out of touch with their people from the Top down here, and is why the Layoff Board is vibrant each week with fed up people. Leadership is using your TWO ears and ONE mouth proportionally. Listen twice as much as you talk, and you'll be on the road to being a better leader. However here, those that call themselves "Leaders" talk much more than they listen because they're so arrogant and full of themselves.
Make it a day. Even an hour. Not to see if they can do it, necessarily, but to experience the problems first-hand with current processes in order to make Wells Fargo a better corporation. If indeed that is the true goal. I only suggest this to the closed-door managers who don’t want to hear suggestions and problems from their employees because “they want to keep it positive.”
To the managers: experience for yourselves how draconian our systems are, how angry our FAs are, how many times we have to say NO to customer requests but still keep them happy so we don’t get dinged on some bs survey, how customer’s faces glaze over when we are forced to sell them yet another something to meet the latest sales goal. Spend a day communicating with India, answering phones 8 hours/day, hone in on risks around current processes, experience all the manual work-arounds necessary to keep this place looking like it’s keeping pace with current technology.
Maybe managers don’t need to know every minor detail, but they still should have in-depth knowledge about the business and department they are in charge of in order to problem solve, manage risk, and assist your employees. If not: you are an overpaid and worthless piece of furniture.
I tried managing a team for a while. Hated it. It's like being a kindergarten teacher so I went back to being a sole contributor. OP's comment is typical of what you have to listen to and you're held responsible for what they do even though you have very little input into it other than hoping they know what they're doing and will let you know if there are issues. It's definitely a two way street.
Truth. The easiest job in the company is being an IC. Been there, done it for quite a few years with horrible bosses. It's not fun, but the lower levels of management are still far and away the most challenging roles. Most of the people that would suggest otherwise haven't done both.
It's me again. I made all your lives a living he-l!
If your job is a brain cell ki---r then I would hire someone like you to do and stay away from it too
lol go do your manager's job for a week.
There will be plenty of contraions here and I'm sure your specific manager isn't the best, but people are the worst. Everyone hates the decisions you make. Upper management is never happy with you. Nobody tells you good job or way to go. Projects are dropped on your head two weeks past due and you have to pick up the pieces. FMLA folks call out every other day for no reason at all.
Your manager doesn't need to be the expert in your job. You need to be the expert in your job and advocate for yourself.
You think managers have to know to do everything his people do???