1. New Manager Survival Guide
October 25, 2017
A Psychological Atlantis
Chasing A Mirage
Tim Boyd
Operations Manager, SW and Digital Technology

2. There Is No Formula …

3. Early Career Expectations
Start work on a program in technical role
Typically will be given a small task on a larger system
Learn the program lifecycle
Likely will become the expert (you will always remember it!)
You will build on it and grow to a larger task or multiple tasks
Skills Required
Technical focus
Lots of problem solving
Pay attention to details
Collaborative
Motivated
Team player

4. What type of Work Will I Be Doing?
Participate in multiple phases engineering life cycle (SW included)
Building software components (back end, front end)
Software testing and integration
Defect identification and evaluation
Design/Code reviews
Designing to requirements
Verifying and validating requirements
Unit test your design
Learning how to write efficient code

5. Typical Career Paths of Engineers
Technical contributor
Functional Management
Program Management
Everyone has their own path
Lattice structure
Photo Credit: Jennifer Forsberg – Ladders

6. Roles Throughout Your Career
Technical Contributor
Functional Manager Project Manager
Technical Contributor,
Program Management
Skills
Early – analysis, tools, algorithms, etc
Med – Processes, technical leadership, performance management
High – people leadership, cost/schedule,
Time

7. Tim Boyd SWDT Operations Manager, Western Region Engineering
Not everyone suited to be a manager
Technical career path is exciting and rewarding
Classes in project management (when and where)

8. Tactical Planning Strategic Planning Have a plan Now 3 Yrs 7 Yrs

9. Define Your Goals
Short Term vs Long Term
Technical vs Managerial
Depth vs Breadth
Traditional vs Digital
Visualize and be intentional when considering the goals of your career!

10. To manage or not to manage
Pros …
Financial benefits
Authority, ownership, responsibility and leadership opportunity
Increased exposure and broader perspective
Power, influence and prestige
Career advancement, achievement and recognition
Increased learning opportunities
Cons …
People are complex
Reduced technical work (in some cases)
Longer hours and more dynamic
Increased responsibility
Increased stress
Social life adjustments
Work/life imbalance
What are your motivations for becoming a manager?

11. Work Load Expectations*
Technical Contributor
Front Line Manager
Department Manager
Program Manager
Director
Executive
Technical
95%
80% 0%
25%
Managerial
20%
75%
50%
Visionary 5%
Hrs/Wk
40+
45+
50+
55+
*Percentages are estimated

12. Preparing for the Transition
Begin to think strategically
Think big picture and across the organization
Ask not what your company can do for you but what you can do for your company
Learn to trust others
You will have to rely on others at some point
You won’t be the expert for everything
Find a champion
Someone must be willing to be your advocate and go to bat for you
It’s all about who knows you, who likes you who respects you
Build a strong technical foundation
Paramount to building trust, respect, etc
Continue to take larger and more complex assignments
When you first enter the company to the day before you make the transition

13. Preparing for the Transition
Learn what is required for the next step
Perform skill gap analysis and find ways to fill those gaps
Learn to lead without authority
Take a position where you lead people, but don’t have real authority
Clubs, groups, informal work assignments, deputy roles, conferences, etc
Develop both your tactical and strategic plan
Know where you’d like to go at least in the short term … understand your passion
Find people to help you in each of those areas
Engage with employees
Learn and absorb as much as you can about all roles
Mentor/coach other people to help them learn and grow
Share knowledge up and down the chain
When you first enter the company to the day before you make the transition

14. Preparing for the Transition
Become part of a staffing/hiring team
Go to career fairs and be a part of hiring squads
Learn what skills are needed across the organization
Take on a technical leadership role on a program
Learn valuable project management skills
Identify how to care and feed your employees while getting work done
Learn how to have crucial conversations
Learn to transform anger and fear into powerful dialogue
Emotional
When you first enter the company to the day before you make the transition

15. How To Get The Promotion?
Competence in current assignments
Master current duties and responsibilities, gain respect of co-workers and get favorable recommendation from the boss
Craft your own opportunity
Sometimes you can shape your own opportunity, try to make the case
Requires a strong network and champions
Keep your pulse on the opportunities and needs
Opportunities pop up all the time but aren’t widely advertised
Good match with organizational needs
Do they need specific management expertise or someone to lead a specific group of individuals?
Illustrate passion, desire and readiness to become a manager
Handle larger and more challenging assignments (budget, people, impact)
Lead without authority, balance technical and soft skills

16. P.I.E. Model
Performance: The foundational technical work you are responsible for and the quality of results you provide
Image: This is who you are as an individual. This is your personal brand. Are you a positive person? Do you think strategically? Do you lead with solutions rather than roadblocks?
Exposure: Who knows who you are? Who knows what you do? Does their boss know you and what you do?  Who else knows who you are and what you do (both internal and external to your org)?
10%
30%
60%
*Harvey Coleman: Empowering Yourself, The Organizational Game Revealed

17. Analyze and Assess Your Network Types of Networks
Birds of a feather: Your contacts are too homogeneous…they’re all like you.
Echo chamber: Your contacts are all internal; they all know each other.
Pigeonholing: Your contacts can’t see you doing something different
Network lag: Your network is about your past, not your future.

18. How do you know when the time is right?
If you are consistently:
Mentoring junior engineers
Thinking strategically
Excelling above expectations
Helping roll out new initiatives
Not fulfilled with solely technical work
Taking more responsibility
Helping others solve problems
Empathizing with others
Looking for solutions

19. Congrats on the Promotion!

20. Roles and Responsibilities: Skills you need:
What is a Manager?
Roles and Responsibilities:
Cost/schedule
Delivering milestones
Staffing
Employee development
Performance Management
Skills you need:
Organization
Time management
Delegation
Communication (written/verbal)
Interpersonal skills
Project management
As a manager, you no longer ride the rollercoaster. But you operate it. That should exhilarate you. If it doesn’t, maybe it’s not for you. – David Loftesness

21. Any Given Work Day I Have…
4-6 hours of meetings s
5 New
Technical Challenges

22. What to expect in the new role?
People are very complex
They are motivated by very different things
Some will be rockstars, some drivers, others passengers
Less time will be spent on technical work
You need to focus on leading the team and managing cost/schedule/deliverables/etc
Spend time learning how to manage/delegate effectively
Lots of care and feeding of employees
You are responsible for keeping them busy, helping them resolve technical issues, bringing in SMEs, etc
Some will need more help than others, some will take lots of time
Much more technical coordination
Solving key technical challenges that requires multiple experts
Working across teams and delegation

23. What to expect in the new role?
More time spent reviewing technical solutions/results
Code collaborator, peer reviews, SME evaluations
Standardized tools/processes/methodologies
More time communicating results
Communicating via systems thinking
Learn to summarize key successes/challenges/strategic decisions
More time worrying about cost/schedule (meeting deadlines)
You will think about deadlines differently (award fees, EVMS, PMR, CEAC, etc)
More time thinking about employee development
Teams benefit from diversity of thought and experience
Cross train and job rotations are the new norm

24. What will change? Perspective/Vision Social circle
Understanding of people
Trust in others
Awareness
Desire to help others
Organizational structure
Sphere of influence

25. Manage In Multiple Dimensions
Influence
Manager
Peers
Team
Photo Credit: MC Escher

26. Phase I: Take The First Steps
Get to know your team
Say goodbye to technical work (at least temporarily)
Check current state of affairs
Learn about all roles and expertise
Understand the schedule and deliverables
Identify your superstars
Get a management mentor
Adapted from:

27. Phase II: The Learning Curve
Regular staff meetings
Check in with the team
Meet with your mentor
Communicate up and down (overcommunicate)
Learn about unfamiliar technical areas
Identify efficiencies/deficiencies
Trial and error
Learn from your peers
Adapted from:

28. Phase III: Make an Impact
Phase II efforts
Make small adjustments based on learning curve
Begin providing vision and guidance
Learn to trust your teams
Build and environment of trust
Celebrate the successes
Embrace failure and shield your team
Work with your peers to find synergies
Adapted from:

29. Overcome Your Fears You won’t have all the answers
You have limited scar tissue
You might not own the resources
You are accountable for failures
You are in the hotseat
You will have to make unpopular decisions
You are responsible for performance management
You might have to redeploy talent or let someone go

30. Why Do Engineering Managers Fail?
Too risk adverse
Lack of political correctness
Uncomfortable with ambiguity
Too process driven & focused on details
Lack of emotional intelligence
Inability to communicate effectively
Deficiency in management skills & perception
Not cognitive of manager’s roles & responsibilities
Narrow interest and preparation

31. Personal Development Recommended Reading
THE ALCHEMIST
7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
HOW STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING
THE SUBTLE ART OF NOT GIVING A …
THE MYTHICAL MAN MONTH
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS & INFLUENCE PEOPLE
START WITH WHY
NEVER EAT ALONE
LEADERS EAT LAST