Foundations of Personnel Management: Professional development

Exceptional employees are often “rewarded” for
their good work by being promoted to management. At first glance, being a
manager looks like an easy job—after all, it merely involves standing guard
while others do the actual work, right? But for anyone who’s been dropped into
a manager position without proper training, it’s not that easy.

Making the transition

A manager who rises through the ranks can face some unique
obstacles to success. Former peers often resist your new “power” and
can make the adjustment tough. In the article, “New manager
has to deal with complaints from his former peers,” we chronicle one
IT pro’s experience with leading former peers and present recommended steps to
overcome this obstacle.

If you’re a first-time manager, here are resources that will
help you move into your new roles with ease:

• Who’s the
  boss? Tips for managing friends and former peers
  If a promotion placed you above your current peers, would you be composed
  enough to maintain both your new title and your workplace friendships?
  Here are some tips for successfully making this tricky transition from
  peer to boss.
• Fifteen
  tips for the new manager from an experienced IT pro
  If you think you learned all you really need to
  know in kindergarten, you’ve never been an IT manager. Read these tips
  from a seasoned pro to avoid first-timer errors.
• New IT
  manager: How to hit the ground running
  The first 30 days in your new IT manager position
  sets the stage for things to come. Here are some strategies for gearing
  up, from assessing the present state of your staff to outlining your
  expectations.
• New managers:
  Learn to manage and lead your IT team
  Effective managers find the balance between managing and leading their IT
  staff members. Understanding the differences and the connections between
  the two roles will help you handle both responsibilities.

Keeping your skills sharp

Management is an ongoing learning experience. Personnel
issues will change and new problems will crop up nearly every day. This section
of the lesson pertains to keeping yourself in first-rate managerial shape, with
tips on avoiding common management missteps and specific suggestions for
management success.

• The
  management track requires special skills and experience
  Moving into management is tempting to many IT
  pros. But before jumping into a position you’re not ready for, there are a
  few issues you need to examine. Review these five steps and decide if
  you’re prepared to move successfully into management nirvana.
• Master
  these 10 processes to sharpen your project management skills
  Various project management methodologies organize and structure work
  processes differently, but the key areas in this list always require
  attention to ensure success.
• Enhance
  your listening skills and your management success
  Listening is something that most managers believe they do well, but in
  fact, you may not be the good listener you think you are. If you develop
  your listening ability, you can greatly improve your management skills, as
  well as your career success.
• Quiz:
  How well do you communicate?
  To truly answer whether you are doing a good job, you must assess not only
  your technical ability, but also your people skills, management acumen,
  and leadership savvy. Take this quiz and see how you fare.
• Management
  do’s and don’ts, according to your staff
  Being a good manager requires many skills, not
  the least of which is listening to your staff. This list of management
  do’s and don’ts was created by TechRepublic
  members.
• The top ten
  IT management mistakes and how to avoid them
  Are you making common IT management mistakes? An
  executive coach shares his insight from years of working with IT
  management.
• Tough
  management decisions demand integrity
  Serving as an IT leader demands integrity and
  often requires managers to act unselfishly. The price for this type of
  behavior can be high, but as the experts and TechRepublic
  members can attest, it is the right thing to do.
• Learn to
  identify and accept role conflict in project management
  Sometimes the role of project manager encompasses
  other roles to the detriment of the project. Here’s how to identify role
  conflicts and get things back on track.
• Stop
  negative management talk before it damages your staff
  Far too many IT managers fall into the trap of
  using negative words or a mean-spirited tone to communicate with their
  staffs. This type of poor communication can negatively affect your entire
  staff and their productivity—not to mention your career.
• You might be
  a micromanager if…
  Do you feel like you have to have a hand in everything your team members
  do? If so, you may be sending the signal that you think the people you
  manage can’t be trusted to do a good job on their own.

Test your management knowledge

See how much you’ve
learned from your own experience and from the resources in this lesson by
taking our three management quizzes.

• How
  much do you know about managing people?
• How
  much do you know about managing? Quiz #2
• How
  much do you know about managing? Quiz #3

For a comprehensive list of resources on professional
development, see page two.

Downloads

• 10
  things you should know about managing IT projects
  Taking a leadership role in an IT project can be daunting, especially to
  the novice. These pointers will help you bring organization,
  professionalism, and goal-oriented progress to the projects you manage.
• Eleven
  qualities of successful IT managers
  Developing these core competencies will help you achieve higher success
  levels and will position you for greater career responsibility.
• Confessions
  of an IT pro: My nine biggest professional blunders
  IT pro Becky Roberts has spent the past 16 years building a solid tech
  career, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been a few bumps in the road.
  Here’s a look at what she remembers as her most appalling professional
  mistakes, along with the painful but invaluable lessons learned.
• 10
  things you can do to organize and lead effective meetings
  It’s easy to disparage those tedious meetings that are run by someone
  else—but are your own meetings any more useful and productive? These
  pointers will help ensure that your colleagues don’t cringe every time
  they receive a meeting notice with your name on it.
• Six
  reasons IT managers miss their budgets–and 11 tips to come in on target
  Learn why you may be having trouble hitting
  your budget, and see what items are essential to developing a realistic
  and achievable plan.
• Master
  these 10 processes to sharpen your project management skills
  Various project management methodologies organize and structure work
  processes differently, but the key areas in this list always require
  attention to ensure success.
• Required
  reading for help desk managers
  The books on our required reading list for help
  desk managers offer valuable information for new IT managers and seasoned
  leaders.

White papers

• Developing
  leadership skills
  This paper by Business, The Ultimate Resource,
  talks about the different facets of leadership and the most common
  mistakes to avoid in order to be a successful leader.
• Accommodating
  Soft Skills in Software Project Management
  This paper by the University of South Africa summarizes the soft skills
  that can possibly improve the success rate of software projects. These
  projects, if not managed properly, can lead to escalation of budget and
  time schedules beyond expectations.
• IBM
  Workplace Collaborative Learning: A Guide to Skills Management
  This IBM paper provides a high-level technical introduction to the Skills
  Management feature of IBM Workplace Collaborative Learning. It is intended
  to help explain the new technology, its functionality, and its use.
• Managerial
  Skills Acquisition and the Theory of Economic Development
  This paper by the University of British Columbia
  presents a model of the interactive process between on-the-job managerial
  skill acquisition and the adoption of modern technology.

Read the entire Personnel Management series

• Part one: Interviewing and hiring
• Part two: Employee performance management
• Part three: Personnel issues
• Part four: Professional development