The qualities of a good manager 7

[guestgulkan]

Judging by a lot of the posts in this forum, it seems that a major obstacle to getting work done is bad managers/management.

Why is this??

Is this because most managers are inadequately trained or acting beyond their capabilities?

What qualities do the members of the forum believe a 'magager' should have?

 

[DonQuichote]

About the technical knowledge of managers:

A manager has to be a good manager, not a good programmer. I think we all agree to that. So, in my opinion, a manager does not really have to know all the details.
But: a manager must know his or her own skills/knowledge and the lack of it. An IT manager has programmers or other staff to provide that. A manager must not be afraid to ask his own staff thing he or she does not know.

In the Netherlands, there is a commercial on TV about a UBA (Universal Business Adapter) that would connect any system to any other system. The commercial ends in "Off course these things don't exist".
Although I am sure our upper management had a good laugh about this commercial, they holy believe in it, if you only change the three lettres (UBA to XML). Just because they won't let anyone from their own staff tell them what XML really is.

The sad thing is that they are all people who followed a good education...

Best regards

 

[pmonett]

It is not sad, it is just proof that education is not directly linked to intelligence.
Highly educated people made the Enron scandal and the Worldcom debacle. No one can say those things were a highly intelligent thing to do.
Every day of the year, CEOs and Presidents of international industrial conglomerates take decisions worth millions, yet none of them (or so few) are trying to make sure that their chimneys do not pollute the environment, or that their pipes to the nearest river or sea are not a sanitary threat.
Oh, of course, they will vouch ferociously that they are "in compliance" with "the standards", but they won't spend a penny more to make sure that pollution is effectively restricted to a true minimum.
When heavy metals and lethal substances will have thoroughly polluted our shores and our rivers, we'll see if basic compliance with standards was intelligent enough.

 

[arco]

The world is divided into two groups. There are those who know, and those who don't know. Those who know are no problem.

Those who don't know are also in two groups.

One is those who don't know and know they don't know. Well, they can learn!

But then, there are those who don't know, and don't know they don't know. And they become managers!


Arco
I believe in Technology

 

[guestgulkan]

For all of you who have boss problems. Here's something.

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99993863

 

[CajunCenturion]

And what about the reverse? Do you think that subordinates do not have the same effect on the supervisor? Perhaps the situation may even be worse, because of the general 1-n relationship between supervisor and subordinate.

Consider that the subordinates expect the manager to take none of the credit, but assume all of the blame.

Subordinates who get their nose bent out of shape because their technical recommendations are not taken. Did it ever occur to you that you get two different recommendations from two different members of the technical staff - neither of whom are aware of mandates coming down? That doesn't make either member incompetant, but it does mean that someone's recommendation will not be followed.

I agree with many of the posts about what qualities we'd all like to see in a manager. Discussing those qualities can be quite beneficial to all.

But I also see that many here are judging managers from only seeing one side of the coin, having never been in their shoes, and that is not beneficial to all.

Perhaps we can start of thread about the qualities of a good employee?

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[tdgulbra]

***Did it ever occur to you that you get two different recommendations from two different members of the technical staff - neither of whom are aware of mandates coming down? ***

If the subordinates don't understand the mandates coming down, it is because the manager has failed to adequately explain them. I think somebody's signature line says it all: If you want quality answers (or technical recommendations) ask quality questions.

For the entire team to succeed, the manager must keep the subordinates informed of those mandates from above.

Just my $.02

 

[CajunCenturion]

If that were only true tdgulbra. Not all mandates coming down can be adequately explained for a variety of reasons, one of which is being mandated not to discuss the issues. In a perfect world, we could all know everything, but that's not the case. This is often the case in public companies where management objectives are (and often should be) based on financial reasons, however, financial details must be kept close to the vest for legal reasons.

I'm not saying that withholding information is always right, but I am saying that not all information can be made available down the line.

For the entire team to succeed, each member must trust and have confidence the every other member of the team, including the team leaders, are doing their job. It's nice for everyone to know everything, and certainly desireable when possible, but it's not required.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[smittytech]

There are people who are easy to manage & people who are not.

There are people who are good managers & people who are bad managers.

Good managers get good people and bad people to manage.

Bad managers get good people and bad people to manage.






"Life without chocolate is too terrible to contemplate!"

 

[guestgulkan]

Cajun
To answer your questions of a few posts earlier w.r.t the link I posted - Of course workers can have the same blood pressure raising effect on their bosses.

To make a link with your comments about what makes a good employee:
For managers there are many coursse/seminars with titles
like 'how to manage difficult workers, 'How to deal with insubordiate workers', 'Team building' etc..

However, there are no courses for the workers - workers are expected to figure it all out for themselves.
How are they supposed to do that??

 

[CajunCenturion]

In order to better answer the question, How are workers supposed to figure it all out for themselves?, it would be helpful to know just what you mean by "it all".



Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[tdgulbra]

Cajun: With your insistance that workers can not be fully informed, the workers have to try to derive the reason for their work. When left to their own devices in this manner, they tend to develop "management conspiracy theories." In other words, management is out to get us. They treat us like a mushroom ( in the dark and only fed feces). I think that is what guestgalkan is referring to.

Knowledge is power. You may not be able to provide the full reasons that upper management is mandating certain paths, but you should at least be able to articulate how the current decision fits in the overall goals of the company.

 

[palbano]

Cajun
[blue]But I also see that many here are judging managers from only seeing one side of the coin, having never been in their shoes, and that is not beneficial to all.[/blue]

If you are including me in that statement, you would be ummm... wrong.


-pete

 

[CajunCenturion]

Well, I agree with you tdgulbra that management should provide as much information as it can, and even though that may not be as much as you would like, none of us can never know it all.

One thing that management cannot control, however, is imagination, which when put to good use can produce some very creative ideas, but which can also be quite destructive if not applied with discipline.

None of my remarks, other than the specific question to guestgulkan are directed at anyone in particular.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[pmonett]

Come now, palbano.
The average of (many + 1) is still many.

Whether or not you are included in the estimate, many remains many.

In other words, one more opinion is not going to tip the scale here, so Cajun's phrase remains true.

 

[DonQuichote]

This thread gets a "manager against worker" feel.

Let me get back to the original post:

What qualities do the members of the forum believe a 'magager' should have?

In my opinion, both managers and workers should be in one team and feel that they are part of the same team. A good manager should let people know what part they are in the process, "sit toghether" to get things done instead of sending someone off with an amount of work. A good manager does not let the distance to the rest of the team members get too big.

Best regards

 

[CajunCenturion]

The most important quality that everyone, employee and manager, should have is trust.

The employees need to trust their manager, understanding that they will not always agree with the manager, and that the manager will make some mistakes, but trust that the manager is doing what is in the best interests of meeting the assigned objectives.

The manager needs to trust that the employees will perform their assigned tasks to the best of their ability, even knowing the employee will not always agree with the assignment, and that the employee will make mistakes. The manager must trust that the employee will be professional and get the job done.

If the manager does not trust one of the employees, then that manager will not utilize that asset to its full potential.

If the employee does not trust the manager, then the employee will utilize and perform up to their own potential.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[BJCooperIT]

I agree with you CajunCenturion, but it is important to note that trust must be earned through actions.

^{Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw}
Consultant/Custom Forms & PL/SQL - Oracle 8.1.7 - Windows 2000

 

[CajunCenturion]

At the beginning of the relationship, neither party has sufficient information, or history of action, upon which to base that trust, and therefore, in order to achieve productivity and progress, that trust must initially be granted on faith, in essence, both managers and employee need to give each the benefit of the doubt. In time and thru action, we all hope that the trust bond is solidified, and mutual respect grows to pervade the relationship.

Good Luck
--------------
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[palbano]

>> In time and thru action, we all [red]hope[/red] that the trust bond
>> is solidified, and mutual respect grows to pervade the
>> relationship.

That states it perfectly CC! Well almost, this is better:

and I try, oh my god do I try
I try all the time, in this institution
And I pray, oh my god do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs
What's going on?

4 NON BLONDS



-pete

 

[rexxxy]

I personally get frustrated with managment who allows their staff be become wrapped up in political issues. I do support, and when I cant deliver because of company in fighting and red tape I am the one who get abused and labled as a bad worker. Not my manager who will listen to the complaining user and promise to discuss this performance issue with me.