What a good manager should know

Before starting this blog I would like to make it perfectly clear that it is not aimed at any individual or any organisation that I have worked with. It is intended to make a general point with no specific reference to any specific individual(s).

I’ve had this discussion several times with friends and colleagues in the past, and it came up again recently with a work colleague. The discussion revolves around the issue of how much knowledge should a manager need to know about what his team does, in order to be an effective manager. In most cases, a manager will have progressed up the career ladder in the line of work in which they subsequently find themselves as a manager. So taking my own line of work within software development, a typical career path may be:

· Trainee software developer
· Software developer
· Senior software developer / Team leader
· Software manager

So it’s fair to say that by the time a person becomes a software manager, they should have a pretty good understanding of what their team does, the roles and responsibilities of the team members, and the key skills and knowledge that are required.

However, I have come across several managers who lack this essential knowledge. They are managers pure and simple. They do their team’s appraisals, manage the team’s budgets and Performance Indicators, but lack the knowledge specific to their team. They are to all intents and purposes, general purpose managers, with no real knowledge of the specialist skills and expertise of their team. They could be placed into any team, anywhere, and manage that team – without ever knowing exactly what the team actually does, or how it does it.

I’m not saying that you necessarily need to have an in depth understanding of what every team member does, that would be wholly impractical. That is why you have team members who have those specialist skills. It is their responsibility to understand the area in which they work in as much detail as is necessary to perform that role. Equally though, this does not imply that the manager can delegate that knowledge entirely to the team either. While the team members may perform their allotted roles, using whatever specialist knowledge they need to do so, the manager at the very least needs a basic understanding of those roles and responsibilities.

One of the roles of a manager is to provide direction and make decisions. How can you make decisions without understanding what your team does? How can you know what is achievable and realistic, or what is even possible?

While not every software developer will make a good software manager, or even aspire to be one, the best software managers in my experience have been those that have progressed up their chosen career path. One obvious advantage of this route to management is that you also have the respect of your team. They know you have done the same or similar job to them in the past, and can talk from experience. They know you understand their daily challenges, and can sympathise with their problems. They know you understand their role and what it entails, as you have done it in the past. So while you may have forgotten some of the detail of how to perform that role, you understand what it involves from a high level perspective. Never underestimate the value of respect within a team, particularly if you’re the one who is trying to win it!

In my opinion, to be an effective manager, you need to understand the various roles and responsibilities of your team, preferably from hard won experience. This will ensure you can make informed decisions, and that you have gained the respect of your team.

What use is a general purpose manager?

A while ago, I wrote an article about what makes a good manager. One of the assets that I thought a good manager should possess is domain knowledge. They should understand (even if only in broad terms) what the team does. A full understanding and appreciation of what your team does is important.

I would therefore fully expect a Finance manager to have a good understanding of finances, a Human Resources manager to have a good understanding of Human Resources and so on. It seems pretty obvious, but there seem to be managers who do not possess this domain knowledge.

Being able to monitor your team's finances, manage their appraisals and other such managerial duties is the bare minimum I would expect from my manager. All managers should possess these skills. Above and beyond having these basic managerial skills though, I would expect them to have a sound and broad knowledge of their particular domain.

As the manager of a Development Team, I have a broad and deep understanding of technology. I work hard to keep myself abreast of new and emerging technologies. I fully understand what my team does, what we are delivering, how it can be delivered and what is possible.

More importantly, I am capable of making decisions. This is one of the vital duties of a manager. By fully understanding what my team does, and taking an active part in the day-to-day work of my team, gives me a deep understanding of what we do, which allows me to make decisions on behalf of my team.

I am very much a hands-on manager, and get involved in much of the day-to-day work, because this is the work that I enjoy the most. As a manager, I also have to undertake all the other managerial duties as well though.

I genuinely fail to see how you can make decisions without understanding what your team does. I could of course ask the team, and I would expect any manager to do this anyway. However, the final decision would need to be made by the manager, as this is ultimately their responsibility, and is what they are being paid for.

If they can't make those decisions, then why are they in charge?