> I think that one of the key points about Queen Bees is that they are much
> harder on their female staff
I agree that the point was likely about females being harder on females, but it did fit nicely.
In my experience….
> People are usually promoted to management because of their technical
> competence (sleeping with the boss rarely, if ever, leads to permanent career
> advancement), often without any training.
I agree that sleeping with the boss would not lead to *permanent* career advancement (not sure though, I've never even had opportunity to try that tactic
. One thing I do hear about are people being promoted based on their gender (or race.. or ...).
> Management is a skill, not an innate ability, it has to be learned.
>
> For an inexperienced manager, managing developers is a nightmare – it’s a bit
> like trying to herd cats. Good developers are, by definition, intelligent,
> creative & questioning, they also tend to be somewhere on the scale between
> "awkward" and "totally bloody-minded", not to mention tactless.
Harsh but true.
> Inexperienced managers tend to go for the “command & control” style of
> management (especially if they have no training or good role models)
> precisely the wrong option for that environment.
>
> Yes, some inexperienced women managers may feel the need to overcompensate,
> so do some men. In that situation the art is to manage upward: find out what
> they need (regular detailed updates on progress, or just exception reporting
> etc.), make them feel supported not threatened. That will give them a chance
> to develop their own management style.
"Management is a skill", I agree. And I must confess that it is not a skill I have had much opportunity to develop.
In the case I was discussing, one of the compounding issues was the fact that this was a team brought together for the express purpose of this project, by the group themselves. We were all people that had worked together in the past and decided to do a project outside of any managerial structure. We were not working for a company, but for ourselves. Each of us saw the others as equals when the project began, and there was no official decision to have any one member lead the group.
The comand & control style, coming from someone who was not recognized as having the authority of manager at all, was very discouraging to the other members of the group.
This case would likely make a great case study on "management", but I don't know if it can be taken much further in "gender bias". In other words, I think I just took us off topic (sorry). If someone wants to continue discussion on this particular case, they should start a new thread. I'm willing to continue on a new thread. I learned a lot about being a manager and being managed from that project.
I think my reason for bringing this up was that the individual in question had no reason to feel that we did not respect her ideas or thoughts. There were points that the group as a whole did not agree with, that happened to all of us during the course of the project. The fact that we were disagreeing with her based on a gender bias had to come from somewhere but it was not coming from within the group (verified by the other female member). Its unfortunate that it was brought into the group and destroyed what was a great collaborative effort until that point. Be careful you don't go looking for gender bias where it isn't. Gender bias can enter a group from both ends, men or women, biaser or biasee (I know those aren't words but...). Wherever its coming from its bad.
> Being managed is also a skill to be learned.
I learned a lot about being a manager and being managed during that project. I can't say I regret the experience, I'm only glad that it was a short one.
