Management Methodology of Technical Personnel (2) - Role Cognition

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Role cognition

Whether you realize it or not, behind every action is an implicit recognition of your own identity

The focus of the new manager is on the ability level, and what he hopes to master is the ability of the manager to manage well, so as to make effective behaviors to interact well with the environment, that is, the level of technology

The focus of the new manager’s superiors is on the “identity” layer. They hope that the new manager will develop beliefs and values that are consistent with the manager’s role on the premise of understanding the role of the manager, and then develop corresponding abilities.

The power of the character: the butt determines the head

If new managers always expect their superiors to take the initiative to help them “get the execution done”, it means that their role perception still stays in the role of the front-line executor
When many new managers speak in the role of front-line executors, they tend to focus on doing the work to the bottom, that is, to appease the front-line executors and get it done with them, and rarely do the work to the top. Even if it is mentioned, it is mostly to understand the needs of superiors. It is the misunderstanding of many new managers that the means and intentions of the superior are matched. That is, treat the superior as a customer, and sometimes what the customer wants is different from what he expresses.

So the question here is, is it right to make a decision based on your role, or should you take into account the decisions made by the superior role, and if so, to what extent, and which role is the main one?

  • Front line executor

    The most important requirement of the role of front-line executor is to get the execution done and deliver the project results as required, so all the reactions and behaviors of this role revolve around whether the results can be delivered with certainty, and the pursuit is the certainty of things

  • Head of department

    He thinks about what goal to achieve, what benefits that goal will bring to the department, and pursues the “possibility” of things

  • The manager in the middle

    How to use the deterministic delivery of subordinates to achieve the intention of superiors, that is, how to use the minimum cost of subordinates to obtain the maximum benefit of superiors.
    Need to constantly evaluate, the pursuit of things cost-effective.

What has happened to the role?

  • Job responsibilities

    When you are an engineer, if you complete the work arranged by your superiors, everything will be fine, at least it will be harmless
    And as a manager, to do is to lead the whole team forward, the superior is only to help set a goal, what to do, how to do it is their own problem to consider, all the work to achieve the goal is helpful

  • Responsible for who?

    As an engineer, you are mainly responsible for yourself and your own work

    As a manager, you must fully realize that your team is a resource given to you by your superiors and the company. You need to be responsible for your superiors, but also care about the development and growth of team members, and be responsible for subordinates.

  • what to focus on

    Engineers are process oriented because they need to execute the work step by step.

    Managers are goal and result oriented, and need to be concerned about goals and the direction of progress at all times.

  • Capacity requirements

    Engineers are individual contributors and rely on personal professional ability to generate performance. The work content is mainly based on professional ability and is relatively specific
    Managers are team contributors. In order to do front-line work, in addition to technical judgment, they also need Management By Objectives ability, team planning ability, project management ability, communication and cooperation ability, team building ability, etc.

  • Mission source

    The work of engineers mainly comes from the arrangement of superiors

    Part of the work content of the manager comes from the dismantling and arrangement of the work of the superior, but more is to plan by oneself, and then communicate and confirm with the superior

  • Means of implementation

    Engineers do most of the work themselves

    The manager’s work list covers the work of the entire team, and it cannot be done by oneself in any case, mainly relying on the team

  • Cooperation dimension

    Engineers mainly cooperate at the same level

    Managers need to work with superiors to plan the goals of the entire team, work with subordinates to do a good job of implementation, work with level managers to complete joint projects, and sometimes coordinate resources and progress with level superiors and subordinates

  • Relationship with team members

    Each member of the manager and the team is a cooperative relationship, and everyone’s performance is no longer evaluated in one dimension

  • Way of thinking

    For engineers, most of the work content and work requirements are executed, and more importantly, they pay attention to risks and costs. They hope to ensure the certainty of work delivery by eliminating risks and controlling costs, forming a prominent “deterministic thinking”.

    For managers, they pay more attention to the possible benefits that an event can bring, and use this to judge whether it is worth investing resources in, which is called “possibility thinking”.

  • Technical perspective

    For engineers, technology is used to do things

    For managers, technology is one of the means to achieve goals

Common Misconceptions of Managers

  • Process oriented, passive execution

    • Performance

      • don’t take the initiative to find work
      • Expect your superiors to make decisions for you
      • Act as a transmitter
      • Too much focus on hard work and effort

    • Consequences

      • Lack of team direction
      • The team cannot produce effective performance
      • Can’t lead a team

  • Do it all

    • Performance

      • Package work
      • Package responsibility
      • Take credit

    • Consequences

      • Echelon problem

        The team echelon cannot be cultivated for a long time, because the cultivation of the echelon requires authorization, and it is necessary to allow high-ability talents to have room to play and assume corresponding responsibilities

      • Incentive issues

        Managers charge ahead, team members do not feel responsibility and achievement, and motivation is frustrated

      • Limited personal development

        Too much time taken up to do bigger business

  • Lead Big Brother/Head Nanny

    • Performance

      • I won’t let my brother suffer
      • Fear of leaving because the employee is unhappy
      • Work for skilled subordinates

    • Consequences

      • Unprofessional management culture

        Remember, the team is the company’s resource, not the individual. It is difficult to be the leader in everything “professionally”

      • The team has no helmsman

  • Single mode of thinking

    • Performance

      • There are not enough people, you have to hire people to do it
      • Make the team overtime and you have to pay overtime
      • I don’t think I’m fit to be a manager
      • A bug must not be released without fixing it

    • Consequences

      • It’s easy to get stuck with a problem
      • Embarrassing responsibilities, poor creative problem-solving skills
        Cognition is limited, dominated by a single thought inertia, and the dimension of considering problems is limited

  • Stick to the boundaries

    • Performance

      The boundary division of roles and responsibilities is for the purpose of division of labor and cooperation, but because many large-scale projects rely on multiple teams to work together, it is necessary for someone to take the initiative to stand up and take on the responsibilities of the blurred boundaries.
      As a manager, you need to take the goal of the whole play as your responsibility, in order to get the performance results that the company wants, and at the same time give your team members an explanation

    • Consequences

      • The project is not progressing smoothly
      • Self-imposed limits
      • Personal influence cannot be extended

  • Worry about gains and losses, opposing technology and management

    • Performance

      • Guilty of not writing code
      • Farther and farther away from technology, worried about personal development
      • The biggest challenge in management is to give up technology, it’s hard
      • Management is a contradiction, their skills are getting worse and worse, but they have to lead the whole team

    • Consequences

      • Slow growth, hesitation and repetition
      • Narrow view of technology, affecting the improvement of technical judgment
        Misjudgment, missing a good development platform

How to avoid falling into misunderstandings

These problems are all caused by the lack of character recognition, and it is necessary to slowly achieve the role of zhuan bi a.

  • Cognition

    Recognize what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, and recognize it before avoiding it

  • Perceive

    Establish an early warning mechanism so that when certain situations occur, we can detect that this is a trap

    • Keep an awareness journal
    • Object reminder
    • Ask for help and ask others or superiors for regular feedback

  • Improvement