Post: #1

I finally have an opportunity to take my IT career to the next level. My boss is encouraging me into an IT management role. He is a great boss and willing to mentor me for the next 6 or so months.

I've been in a senior position/architect in my niche for a while and I've been in the industry for 16 years. I feel this is natural progression for me and I am generally interested.

That being said, have any of you made that transition? Any tips, suggestions or warnings? My main question is, how did you take the change of working with peers to all of the sudden managing the same team members? Luckily I do work with a great team.

Thoughts?

Post: #2

What do you want to do?

Post: #3

(10-04-2016 08:31 AM)Suits Wrote:  What do you want to do?

I'd like to do it. The idea of being a good leader appeals to me and it opens doors previously closed to me.

Post: #4

Sounds like your choice has been made!

With that said, being in management will buy you time against the agism issues most in IT deal with. You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

Post: #5

(10-04-2016 08:42 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  Sounds like your choice has been made!

With that said, being in management will buy you time against the agism issues most in IT deal with. You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

That's great. Granted I'm only 40, but yes, in 5 to 10 years, I think I'll be aging out against the millennials (lame).

Post: #6

(10-04-2016 08:34 AM)Kaii Wrote:  

(10-04-2016 08:31 AM)Suits Wrote:  What do you want to do?

I'd like to do it. The idea of being a good leader appeals to me and it opens doors previously closed to me.

Post: #7

When moving into management, you will have to accept that your technical skills will probably fade away. You will still be able to grasp the concepts, but you won't get enough practice to stay on top of the details.

To be a good IT Manager, it helps a lot if you enjoy talking to people (part of the reason many techies never make the move) - depending on the exact position, there's usually a lot of meetings, and you'll need to understand business objectives and translate them into specific tasks for your team(s).

"I'd hate myself if I had that kind of attitude, if I were that weak." - Arnold

Post: #8

I'm envious to be frank! I've been trying to get into a management position for ever.

A lot of the problems i face really stem for poor resource allocation and bad communication. I dig my bosses but they're too disconnected from the foot soldiers.

Post: #9

(10-04-2016 09:12 AM)Benoit Wrote:  When moving into management, you will have to accept that your technical skills will probably fade away. You will still be able to grasp the concepts, but you won't get enough practice to stay on top of the details.

This is exactly right - you'll need to keep up with emerging technologies for sure, but only to the extent where you maintain a working knowledge of high level concepts and how your team can use them. I made a very similar transition and life on the management side is much better, more conceptual, and really brings out your creative side.

Good luck!

Post: #10

Congrats! Take it, you won't regret it. If you ever need advice from me my PM box is always open. Maybe you could advise me later, who knows. Good luck and God bless.

Post: #11

You have an opportunity here. Would your boss be happy if you turned it down? Could you stomach seeing someone else take the position which may compromise your current position because lets be honest, what happens if you don't like the new manager?

Post: #12

I wish I could find such an opportunity. I am so sick and tired of being trapped in the position of keyboard monkey.

Post: #13

Congrats!

Post: #14

Thank you guys for your support and advice!

I'm going to accept, wish me luck!

Post: #15

(10-04-2016 08:42 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

I see it the opposite way. In bad economic times, middle managers are the first to go.

Programmers (especially if billable per hour by the company for a profit) can at most be trimmed around the edges. Only programmers among the worst 25% performers or who are personally disliked would be targeted for layoffs.

Post: #16

I made transition from consultant to IT manager and back. I didn't like managing people, excel sheets, being on management meetings etc. I enjoy much more doing technical work and programming. Maybe again in another time in another company, maybe if I could be more of a mentor to people and not just track their amount of work and babysit them. Nothing worse then managing unmotivated people and not being allowed to replace them.

Post: #17

How will moving up the ladder encroach on your free time? My boss is a good manager, he's an intelligent likeable guy who is supposed to work 9-5, however he works a lot of extra hours and still doesn't manage to stay on top of his workload a lot of the time. He's by no means alone in this.

What do you do when you're involved in multiple projects, spend half your days in meetings, and have to deal with 200+ emails a day? I suppose it depends what industry you are in and what company you work for.

If getting a promotion means logging on at night and weekends to catch up on your work then I would think twice. If it's not going to negatively impact your life in this way then go for it. I made a similar transition in a previous job and it worked well for me.

Post: #18

Just want to give you guys an update. I accepted for management training that was supposed to start on November 1st. Well, they have to "restructure" for a merger and it's being put on hold (of course it is).

Not big deal, I'm still the lead engineer so my job doesn't really change. Like anything else, I just ride it out until a better offer comes along. One good thing about my particular niche is, it's always in demand.

Fun!

Post: #19

(10-04-2016 02:57 PM)Tigre Wrote:  

(10-04-2016 08:42 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

I see it the opposite way. In bad economic times, middle managers are the first to go.

Programmers (especially if billable per hour by the company for a profit) can at most be trimmed around the edges. Only programmers among the worst 25% performers or who are personally disliked would be targeted for layoffs.

It's hit or miss. We recently laid off half of middle management and all of our development resources. We outsource all of our programming to 3rd parties now.

(10-04-2016 03:22 PM)Lagavulin Wrote:  How will moving up the ladder encroach on your free time? My boss is a good manager, he's an intelligent likeable guy who is supposed to work 9-5, however he works a lot of extra hours and still doesn't manage to stay on top of his workload a lot of the time. He's by no means alone in this.

What do you do when you're involved in multiple projects, spend half your days in meetings, and have to deal with 200+ emails a day? I suppose it depends what industry you are in and what company you work for.

If getting a promotion means logging on at night and weekends to catch up on your work then I would think twice. If it's not going to negatively impact your life in this way then go for it. I made a similar transition in a previous job and it worked well for me.

Delegate delegate delegate. People who work like that have done a poor job of delegating their work to underlings. That's my dream to be able to assign work to underlings i've hired.

Post: #20

What are the metrics for this new position? Understand that before you blindly walk into something ill defined. If times get tough and they need to make cuts, it'll be better for you to demonstrate what KPIs you've met, value added, etc. versus being just another middle manager doing TPS reports.

Post: #21

(10-04-2016 08:42 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  Sounds like your choice has been made!

With that said, being in management will buy you time against the agism issues most in IT deal with. You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

A lot of places around here lay of managers in the first couple of waves. TBH it's usually the non-technical managers (people managers) who can't be moved into another position. Some advice I got a couple of years ago was that if I wanted to move into management I either needed to keep my technical skills sharp or have something else going for me (ex: you're a development manager but you know a lot about operations, you know as much about the systems in places as your tech leads, you're a thought leader on something). It's really about your employer having reasons to keep you.

It's probably late now but if I were the OP I'd want to know how many people I'm managing and where the team(s) are located. It's easier to let you go when you manage less people because if something goes bad they can be absorbed into other teams but you'll be in the wind.

Post: #22

(10-04-2016 08:42 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

Thats the complete opposite of larger size companies that I've been at. Every layoff I've seen over the years non-essential personnel was targeted the most like middle management and non-management who didn't have a critical role were also out the door. For example the 50 year old guy who was working on mainframe for the last 30 years and he didn't bother learning anything else. If his mainframe role wasn't critical during company recession he's on the chopping block(too high of a salary, not enough skills or willing to learn).


Funny enough the second paragraph of wiki for Middle Management

"Middle management may be reduced in organizations as a result of reorganization. Such changes include downsizing, delayering and outsourcing. The changes may be made in order to reduce costs, as middle management is commonly paid more than junior staff, or the changes may be made to make the organization flatter — empowering the employees and making the organization more innovative and flexible."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_management

Post: #23

(12-11-2016 11:24 AM)The Wire Wrote:  

(10-04-2016 08:42 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  You can also avoid getting laid off most (key word) of the time.

Thats the complete opposite of larger size companies that I've been at. Every layoff I've seen over the years non-essential personnel was targeted the most like middle management and non-management who didn't have a critical role were also out the door. For example the 50 year old guy who was working on mainframe for the last 30 years and he didn't bother learning anything else. If his mainframe role wasn't critical during company recession he's on the chopping block(too high of a salary, not enough skills or willing to learn).


Funny enough the second paragraph of wiki for Middle Management

"Middle management may be reduced in organizations as a result of reorganization. Such changes include downsizing, delayering and outsourcing. The changes may be made in order to reduce costs, as middle management is commonly paid more than junior staff, or the changes may be made to make the organization flatter — empowering the employees and making the organization more innovative and flexible."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_management

My fault, I should have added that it's a great stepping stone to meet other people and make connections to get you to the next level. Even if you do get laid off in middle management, if you play your cards right you can score another gig in the same organization or move someplace where another power shaker you met previously can help you out.

The people who languish in middle management for the rest of their lives tend to get the boot like you mentioned. The goal should always be to move up in an organization or move out to start something where you run the show.