Tech-Affiliate

Management and Techies

I came across an article today that was actually quite similar to one of my previous articles. The only difference is this one centers around how to manage a geek. It’s actually a good article because I have been in some of the situations which are mentioned in the steps section.  I can almost go through each step and relate that to a moment.

So the first three talk about training, recognition, and overtime.  There is also another that talks about ignoring your tech savvy employess that I think kinda goes in hand with recognition.  I personally value training very much and I always ask if there are funds available for training.  When your primary role centers around being the best at what you do, you can’t afford to overlook training and certification.  With the economy being what it is today, that may be harder for Companies but, there are training funds available.  Most don’t ask, so they never recieve.

I think one of the areas that is often overlooked is recognition.  Some places also feel overtime is a given in the IT Field and as an employee in the IT Field you should just accept it.  As far as recognition goes, i’m not talking an employee of the month award or anything but, give credit where credit is due!  The worst mistake is when a manage gets all the credit for what his employees are doing and without hesitation they just accept it and act like they did all the work!  That would definetly make me rethink my value as a member of the team and could possibly influence those turnover rates.  Overtime is also, a pain.  I think it’s a given that in todays environment businesses want to remain competitive and part of that is maintaining services but, to automatically assume that you can work an employee to death and not compensate them shows a lack of character and good business sense.  Take salary employess for instance.  If you signed on as a salaried employee and they made it known to you that there may be some overtime then it’s understandble to work an occasional 60+ hours a week at times.  I think the key word is occasional and this time should be compensated some other way such as a day off when it’s not so busy or if there is nothing going on, give them the rest of the day off.  I think management takes for granted that techies are willing to work the extra hours because most, love what they do and if you have been working for a company long enough, there is a since of loyalty.  This should not be interpreted as “I can work them for as long as I want and give them no incentives for it!”  That’s just bad business sense, because they will get burned out and lose that sense of loyalty.

The rest reference proper tools, the decision making process, and how management interacts.  Well, the tools are a given and if you don’t spend the money neccessary to make your team effective then you can’t expect results and timelines that are to the standard.  The decision making process is a 50/50 for me.  Sometimes techies don’t like being bothered with politics.  It really just depends on the person.  If your going to inlcude them in the process though, it would be beneficial to include them at the start of the project.  Too often, management gets carried away and then they bring in some knowledgeable individuals after the fact to help correct the mistakes they made.  If they are inlcuded in the process from start to finish, they feel like you value their opinion and it keeps costs down from having to order and reorder because you made a mistake!  Management interaction should be a no-no when it comes to techno-bable.  It’s quite funny to hear someone who has no idea what they are talking about try and fumble through a technical question or try to make it seem like they know what they are talking about.  I don’t know whether its pride or stupidity but, if you don’t know the answer then you don’t know!  That’s why your in a management position and the techies are working the issues.  Now, I don’t know about most but, I just let them speak and then have a good laugh afterwards.  Some take it offensively if you try to correct them.  I guess they wouldn’t get their feelings hurt if they weren’t trying to fool everyone in the first place.

All in all the article is a good read and something for management to think about.