Why Every Programmer Needs to be a Good Manager and How to Become One
This blog post is part of these series blog posts that can help you enhance your skills in: programming, business, marketing, design. Choose the skill you want to master.
Being a manager is super difficult, which is exactly why there are circa 12.000 books written on the subject so far.
So, you know your way around computer sciences, you write wonderful lines of code and mastered more than one programming language. You’re an established software engineer.
Amazing. But is that enough for you?
Maybe yes. But maybe you’re one of those that like imagining themselves as the best software engineers out there — in charge of a huge team, earning more money than currently and creating and selling great products?
In that case, being a highly talented software engineer is not enough if you want to be the best software engineer. And you’ve been ignoring and neglecting the fact for years now, but it’s about time you’ve sharpened those management skills. There are certain skills that will distinguish you from the other billion software engineers, and these are part of them. Remember all the most inspiring stories you’ve heard in school? According to all of them (and Liam Neeson), being super successful always comes down to having a particular set of skills. Successful people are multi-dimensional problem solvers.
And we’re not saying it’s easy, but quite the contrary. Being a successful manager is super hard and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Some people seem to be born with it (although usually it only seems so, and it’s not really the case) and some people need a lot more training in order to master it. But believe us, everyone can do it.
So one thing you can do is start by reading our list of tips and techniques that we found useful in managing people (and we wished we knew when we only started working).
Don’t forget to communicate properly
You should never, ever forget that you have to thoroughly explain people what is expected of them and exactly what you want them to do. Talk a lot. Nobody (probably) can’t read your mind, and of course, you can’t expect them to.
Sometimes we think people simply know what we want or what we’re trying to say without bothering to share more details. But this is what leads to confusion most of the time and even worse — problems and complicated situations. People have to know what their job is in order to do it well.
Extra tip: Tell people they can talk to you about anything. Create a culture of innovation by letting people know that it’s ok to make mistakes.
If someone isn’t doing their job, let them know
Probably the worst part when it comes to managing people. Telling someone they’re not doing their job well and that they should better, or even worse, fire them, is amazingly painful for everyone. But being a manager means that sometimes you’ll have to deal with these situations.
So, if someone is not working properly — tell them! You can’t go around feeling sorry for people and having no courage to do it, because prolonging things never solved anything, and even worse — having a bad worker on your team will only demotivate others. Give them an opportunity (and direction) to do better. Talk to them (back to point one) about what is expected of them and why you think they’re not doing well.
And if it’s not working out even after you try, fire them. Yes, it sounds awful, but being a good manager means being able to fire people that have negative influence on your team and company. But of course, after you’ve given them the opportunity to turn the ship around.
You’re not friends. You’re coworkers.
You can be friendly, sure. You should be friendly! But being close friends with your employees can get things complicated and make it really hard to be honest and offer fair feedback.
You should always stay professional, and this goes both ways. And if you’re the one on the other side of the table, don’t go overly personal with your manager, they don’t need to know about your broken heart and how your partner left you when you’re asking for a raise, instead focus on your hard work and what you’re bringing to the company.
Be human and not-too-human at the same time
Never forget to try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Check in with people simply for the purpose of checking in. Make sure people take their vacation days. Care about the wellbeing of your employees and colleagues, care about how and if they’re happy and satisfied. Nobody likes the stone-cold boss.
But be careful not to go too far. As a manager, you can’t allow yourself to make excuses for someone. Which brings us back to point number three — you work together, but you aren’t friends.
Finally, remember you’ll never stop learning
You will make mistakes, and hopefully you’ll learn from them. Learn from good managers, as well as the bad ones. Keep reading books and even maybe find a mentor. Mentors are always a wonderful idea.
Bonus tip: If you subscribe now, you’ll get 20% discount on your first course! Hurry!
