A taste of management

nobody@vox.com(vantan) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:51:33 +0800

Covering for people can be interesting, especially if the work is quite different from what I normally do. At one period, a number of senior staff were not around and those of us who did remain had to use our initiative and make decisions on behalf of the team. Myself included.

For the past 3 weeks it has been challenging but I have gotten the hang of it. I don't worry anymore - some things can be done, while others are too late but we have the right to turn down a request or postpone it, or reduce the scope. People are reasonable if you explain things to them clearly.

Handling junior staff is also a good learning experience. I have learnt and observed through the years that a good manager does not see the 'power' he/she wields as key to the position held. Junior staff look up to the senior staff for clear directions, consistency and support.

When these are lacking, there is confusion and a drop in morale. This week has been emotionally charged - not on my part, but for other people in unfortunate situations out of their control. I've provided a listening ear and given a bit of advice. While I myself can't do much to change things, I can speak to the people who are in a position to help, and that has eased the situation a bit.

I realised I'm not the sort to go into minute details all the time. Fortunately, some work can be delegated while I still make the final checks and support the documents going through.

With added authority comes responsibility. I owned up to a decision I made, which in the end was accepted as reasonable after I gave my reasons for doing so. But now at least I know, such things aren't the norm and shouldn't be repeated.

The other tendency I've noticed over the years is that new managers tend to assume that junior staff can simply get other people to do things, just as the managers themselves have. We must remember that junior staff are in a more difficult position. People listen less to them and it is harder for them to get other people's support, or force others to meet their deadlines, or speak firmly with a senior member of the team. When it comes to the crunch, it is the manager who should resume control of the project and deal with people on his/her own level.

For an ongoing project, the arrangement now is that I will liaise with senior external personnel while the junior staff can liaise with vendors and other people involved in day-to-day updates of our project. It has worked out fine and nobody feels awkward.

In short, the work so far has overall been an eye-opener and a good learning experience for me.

I especially like the feeling when I inspire a new staff to continue doing a good job. Usually it involves specific praise. When I correct a draft, I try to present the reasons for my changes objectively so that the person learns and isn't intimidated to try again.

It's too early to tell but I still like doing radical things. It is impossible to stay in the loop on everything your staff are doing, so I just go for summaries because I don't need to know all the detail all of the time, unless we're in trouble and have to answer for something. You have to trust your staff and let go, or else you'll never break away from being a 'doer'.

And that's my 2 cents worth, from my 3 weeks covering as manager.

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Vantan at Vox

A taste of management