Being your own Manager

A fresh, elegant and neat New Year 2008 has just started. And as a part of Software Development process, we all have some complaints with our Managers. We all are continuously criticizing our managers with n number of complaints. And the dilemma is that the counts of complaints are increasing day by day. Or rather I would say year by year.

But just think about it. Is it fare to criticize your manager for all the negative happenings around you? I don’t think so. That is why “Being your own Manager” is the only concept if someone wants to work progressively, effectively and consistently in the software environment.

One of the main insane states between the management and the other counterpart is due to the communication gap. It is a global fact that communication plays a major role for a project’s success or failure. Most of the time, managers speak a different language which is Chinese for the other counterpart. That means no one is able to catch the words thrown by the manager. Effective communication involves speaking the same language. A manager often speaks and understands in terms of return on investment (i.e. Value added). So if you want to be your own manager, better to communicate effectively with others.

In one of my previous company, there was no communication between the higher management and the middle management. Everyone was working in his/her own style with no control over the tasks, activities and processes. And the result was very ill-fated. The customer also understood the “Communication Gap” between the teams and they acted accordingly which was not suitable for the organization at that time.

Sometimes, due to this communication gap, management doesn’t care about what is happening in the project. But as a responsible software engineer, you should not take advantage of this scenario. Try to manage yourself in a better way and be a decision maker. If management doesn’t care that you are doing things poorly, at worst they won’t care when you start doing things well. So broaden the communication bridge among the teams for a better self management.

Decision making is one of the most important aspects that one should have for being your own manager. One should fix the problems what’s within his/her own control, rather then waiting for management to take action. But you should be dam sure about your decision and the decision should be in favor of the project. You should be in a situation to advocate your decisions and opinions.

Better thinking and better self management doesn’t need a management mandate. I have seen a category of engineers in all the companies saying that their manager’s task is to only make plans. That might be true but not in all conditions. I personally believe that the surest thing about the plans is that they will get failed. But that doesn’t mean that plans are not worth. So if you want to be your own manager, you should manage yourself to plan, not plan yourself to manage. Be more realistic in making plans.

A project manager’s job include making sure that all of the individual work activities in a project happen at the right time and in the right order. If they don’t, delays in completing one activity can set off a domino effect that cascades through the remainder of the project. So better to identify your work as soon as possible and then manage your tasks and activities in a sequential and proper way.

In fact by the last two years, I am also working on this theory. I am trying my best to be my own manager and I think I have done well till date. In my mind there was never a question about will I be able to do it? It was always how I can do it, till I actually did it. I made a difference in how I view challenges. And since I am still working on this theory, I made myself open for anything that works.

Finally, I would like to say that you can only manage yourself internally. But officially there must be a manager who will be your reporting person. But if you are not convincing with your manager, most of the time, you can’t do anything. But there is a solution. If you cannot change your managers, change the way they manage you. And believe me; this can be done but only by you.

The whole episode has turned up into a case study that better to be your own manager rather than criticizing your manager continuously. I believe if someone has guts, time management and knowledge about the subject, it can be done. At least you can try to attempt this theory because anything unattempted remains impossible.

-- Sanat Sharma (सनत शर्मा)