Want To Be A Manager?

After some years of work experience, some people's natural professional progression or aim is to become a manager, sometimes it's a decision they have to take, and some other times it's something that the company wants because they believe in them, even though it wasn't something they were planning for.

Erin Malone from Boxes and Arrows shares some excellent insight and ideas about the various things you need to consider when moving into management.

The post is from a designer's point of view, but it applies to everyone from every field really. I'll try to sum it up for someone from the IT field, with my experience in management in mind.

- You can’t develop anymore, no matter how tempting it is, or how much time you think you'll win by doing it yourself. Your role is to delegate tasks to your team members and provide them with guidance and advice.

- Don't micro-manage your team. Don't get too close that it's annoying, and don't stay too distant that your team will feel you're not involved. Everyone has their own way of working, and you shouldn't push your way down their throats. Stick to sharing some guidance, advice and feedback and overlooking things as they evolve.

- As manager, you'll be guiding and helping the team with your experience, but you should also let them bring their own experience and brilliance to the table. They'll learn from you, but you should also be open to learn from them.

- Help your team set professional goals and objectives, and try to push them positively towards reaching those goals and moving forward in their careers.

- Even though you won't be developing and writing code, you're still in the development area, only now you will be developing a vision, a team, a product, a service, ...etc

- You need to be able to manage projects, schedules, people, careers, ...etc; You also have to lead your team well, providing a good example and having vision, strength and personality.

Read Erin's great post here: So You Think You Want to be a Manager.

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