Reflections on technical people that obtain managerial positions
Marlene Sánchez – IT Architect
Marlene Sánchez – IT Architect
11 August 2013
This week
I´m going to discuss the following question, which I think is an important reflection
in the IT field: Can technical people become capable managers? I put
this question on the table, since almost all my colleagues and I have
experienced frustration when working with technical managers, and it is worth
to speak loudly about it, not only to understand what the problem is but also
to consider what is needed to became a better manager.
¿What is the manager´s job?
So, to
explain what is the manager´s job, first I´m going to mention the roles that a
manager must perform, which are explained clearly by Henry Mintzberg in its HBR
classic, “The Manager´s Job: Folklore and Facts”1. In this article, Mintzberg
mentions that a manager must perform the following 3 important roles: Interpersonal,
Informational, and Decisional during his/her administration. In resume in the
interpersonal role, the manager must be the head of the team, the leader and be
the liason with other teams. In the informational role, the manager must be
able to monitor work, disseminate information and be the Spokesperson of the
team. And finally in the Decisional role, the manager must act as entrepreneur,
disturbance handler resource allocator and negotiator. It is important to
mention that additionally to those roles; the manager must be the formal
authority of the team and must provide status to different stakeholders. So,
can you see why being an efficient manager is not easy?
The facts of technical people and technical managerial
positions
Technical
people are amazing since they are creative and analytical problem solvers2, however
they use to be introverts and less emotional which could be a constraint to
become an efficient technical manager. For instance, in software projects, technical
manager use to have gaps in one of the mentioned managerial roles due to a constrained
technical vision and lack of communication skills which can jeopardize a
project and have serious monetary losses and human resource problems. Although,
it is true that some technical staff can be more social that others, a
managerial role requires well specific managerial skills that certainly are not
easy to obtain in the short term.
On the
other hand I also have identified a perception problem that technical people
use to have. For example, 8 of 10 technical managers which I have worked with believe
that being promoted to a manager position is the final objective of its career
and that after getting there, there is no need to study because all managerial
skills magically will be developed, which in my perception is completely false
assumption, considering the fact that managerial positions implies the beginning
of a new career, where the professional must develop new skills not only in
theory but in practice and where continuous improvement is mandatory since
management theory change from time to time.
And finally,
it is important to mention the fact that technical managerial positions use to
be assigned to technical staff that shows commitment with an enterprise but
that has not developed managerial skills in advance, which of course represents
a risk for the company. Let´s remember that
the most important resource of IT is human and putting a person in a managerial
position without those skills can be indeed problematic.
¿Can technical people become capable managers?
In my
opinion they can, but obviously they have to acquire the required skills in a
period of time. Indeed, they must focus in developing the Interpersonal and
Informational roles since they use to have a gap in communication and
leadership skills. In this regard, I recommend that technical people take
leadership and communication training which will give them the theory, but also
they should be mentored by an experienced manager that gives advice in certain practical
situations. This experienced person should be side by side with the new manager
in order to share thoughts and knowledge that sometimes is completely pragmatic.
Conclusion
In
conclusion, if it is true that technical people can become efficient managers,
it is also true companies must train their staff before giving them a manager´s
responsibility. Just think about the time and money that a company could safe
if they put skilled people in managerial positions.
References
[1]
Mintzberg Henry, “The Manager´s Job: Folklore and Fact”, Harvard Business
Review, March-April, 1990
[2]Mochal,
Tom, “7 techniques for managing your technical staff”, October 2007, http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-decision-maker/7-techniques-for-managing-your-technical-staff/
