Can a Techie be a Good Manager?
In many of the discussions I’ve engaged in with top brass I’ve been told that IT managers don’t really need technical skills. In fact, some of my bosses seem to be of the opinion that most techies lack management ability, and that having techie skills can be frowned upon because it diverts you from ‘managing’ things.
‘C.J. Kelly’; an experienced security manager disagrees. In an article over at ComputerWorld she explores the reasons why managers need to be able to ’speak geek’.
CJ writes: “My career experiences have led me to believe that those who manage techies must have a blend of managerial skills, business smarts, top-notch technical skills and integrity in order to be effective.”
In that regard I have to agree with her. I’ve sometimes found it frustrating trying to get across a technical issue to a manager who is finding it difficult to understand the point that I’m making.
A little technical knowledge goes a long way to developing the relationship between techies and managers and ultimately helps grease the gears of industry by getting things done a heck of a lot quicker.
I understand the point that many managers make about getting diverted from management and sucked into techie projects but it doesn’t have to be that way…
The skills employed by CJ could help many a techie aspiring to management: “…it’s possible to both manage and participate in technical projects. Those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Switching Gears. The key is learning to “time-slice,” which allows me to smoothly switch gears and focus.”
This entry was posted on Sunday, November 26th, 2006 at 7:16 pm and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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