Discussion on:

New managers must find balance between tech and management duties

Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of establishing a schedule involving long hours of overtime that goes on indefinitely. There's a reason that the standard week for "knowledge work," as opposed to physical labor, is 40 hours. It has to do with the natural limit on our ability to perform effectively. Anyone who's worked overtime for more than a short stint is familiar with the discovery that the time required this morning to fix last night's bleary-eyed blunders results in a net decreasein productivity. Delegation is one of a manager's key duties. Delegate all of your line duties to your line staff, period. Use your time and your management skill to invent better ways of managing those tasks so they can be accomplished with the available resources. Roll up your sleeves and grab a shovel during the occasional severe crisis, but don't make a habit of it. That is not managing. In fact, that is "not managing."

There's one line in this article jumped out at me: "One of the most difficult things managers face is giving up work activities that have resulted in their success."

I wish the article would have further exlpored this point. I find myself in sucha situation, but on the receiving end. My manager often identifies tasks, etc. but before anyone has a chance to do anything, he jumps in and takes care of it himself. By not delegating, he gives the impression that he either doesn't trust anyone todo the job, or that he is (still) trying to be a maverick. Even if that's not really the case, it certainly *seems* that way. In the end, it makes for a frustrating work environment.

So, if any managers are reading this, please, please, please don't just be a manager. Be a LEADER, which means, among other things, demonstrating to your employees that your trust them enough to delegate responsibility.

RL

What was helpful indeed. But in the example I did found something questionable. An excerpt:
" ...Team members often bickered about workflow issues and did not seem as sensitive to customer service issues as she felt they should be.
...Her supervisor, who had been a team leader for 10 years before being promoted..."
So. Is the team was reassembled from new memebers? Or former manager did not managed to mold a team with a responsible and motivated memebers. Tends to point that former managers role in the team was as superviser basicaly?

I'm surprised by some of the comments made so far. I concider myself a good manager. I have developed a great team of technicians. Whom I am proud of.

But what keeps me up at nights is the fear that my technical side is suffering. Managing people and all of the other responsibilities is very time consuming. Which leaves me with less time to keep my technical skills up to date.

I wonder how you all feel about that and how you are dealig with it.