How to become a good manager and improve communication in a team? Tips from the experts

There may come a time in the life of an IT specialist when the previous tasks are no longer interesting. He has been working for so long that he knows all the processes literally by heart. Moreover, he is ready to make changes to the team’s work.

One of these specialists is Ivan, a developer at Selectel. For several years he worked on the backend and it began to seem to him that the ceiling had been reached and there was nowhere else to grow. Therefore, Ivan thought about becoming a manager. But how can you do this without harming yourself and your interests? And will he be able to become a good manager?

In this article, using Ivan as an example, we tell you how a technical specialist can become a manager, what the barriers are and how to overcome them.

The material is based on the ninth and tenth episodes of the “Today on Retro” podcast. You can watch the full version on YouTube or listen on podcast platforms: Mave, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Yandex Music.

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→ Managers in IT: to be or not to be
→ How to become a good manager
→ Conclusion

Managers in IT: to be or not to be

After several years of work, Ivan found himself at a fork in two paths: to grow to a senior position or to become a manager. The first option would help him improve his hard skills and become an expert. The second is to develop software and manage a team, project or product. It is difficult for him to make the right choice, because in order to choose one, he will have to give up another perspective.

The speakers helped him figure out the question

podcast

. They shared their experience and talked about what barriers there are in moving to a managerial position and why some refuse this opportunity.

Experts:

Ekaterina NizovtsevaNetwork Services Architect at Selectel.

Alexander Tugovdirector of service development at Selectel.

Pavel KolosovAgile coach at Qbigtech.

Why developers don't want to become managers

When Ivan wanted to move into management, he was faced with uncertainty about his decision and considered giving up the idea. But where do the doubts come from? There are several reasons for this.

Loss of hard skills

Ivan considered management an excellent prospect for career development, but was afraid that with the transition he would stop working on technical tasks and lose his skills. He enjoyed writing code, learning new technologies, and working with unfamiliar tools.

Although Ivan is not so interested in development now, he once spent a lot of resources to become a specialist. Therefore, I didn’t want to completely abandon hard skills. However, this is not necessary, because you can grow not only vertically, but also horizontally – for example, move to another department for a similar position. One of the experts, Ekaterina, had this situation.

Ekaterina Nizovtseva

Network Services Architect at Selectel

One day I was faced with the fact that I was performing the same technical tasks, but I wanted something new. At that time, my team began to be combined with architects from other departments to organize a single department.
We began to share experiences with each other – network architects learned from colleagues from PaaS services and vice versa. This helped us not to get stuck in one place and to develop our careers further, without such drastic changes as moving into management.

Ivan realized that he was still interested in developing as a manager. The hero does not like the prospect of moving to another department, because he wants to contribute to the work of the current team. Ultimately, skills can be retained and put to use in new activities. But these are not all the fears and prejudices that Ivan has.

Fear of the unknown

Ivan decided to move into management. He planned to hold meetings and organize his own projects, but each time he put off working on them. The transition was associated with an abyss: it was unclear what awaited him and whether he would like the new tasks. The hero had a feeling that he would not cope with his responsibilities and would fail.

Alexander, director of service development at Selectel, has extensive experience in executive development. He decided to share a way for a technical specialist to gradually immerse himself in management.

Alexander Tugov

Director of Service Development at Selectel

To understand whether a new direction is right for you, just try yourself as a manager. For example, at Selectel, we encourage colleagues who want to develop their skills to start with simple tasks: facilitating a meeting or leading a small project. If they like it, then we continue to develop this story. If not, you can always return to technical tasks.

Lack of confidence in your skills

As soon as Ivan stopped being afraid of the unknown, he suddenly realized that all his life he had been exclusively engaged in development. He feels that he knows nothing about management and is not suitable for the new role. This is a delusion, the hero can calm down.

Some developers consider themselves purely technical specialists, but also perform managerial tasks. This is “gray” management – a situation when an employee does work that is not reflected in the tasks and job description. This is especially noticeable in high positions, when an experienced developer begins to organize work in a team. It is quite possible that Ivan is already a manager, but does not yet realize it.

Pavel Kolosov

Agile coach at Qbigtech

In my work, I often encounter the fact that some specialists do not want to become managers and see themselves in completely different roles. But they take on organizational tasks – for example, holding meetings, coordinating the team and not refusing additional responsibilities. At the level of identity, they do not associate themselves with managers, but at the level of actions they manifest themselves that way.
One of the reasons for this behavior is a reluctance to take responsibility. They don't know if they are performing their tasks correctly and are afraid of making mistakes. To solve this problem, they need mentoring from a manager and positive feedback.

How can a technical specialist move into management?

Experts helped Ivan dispel all his fears. Now he is determined to become a manager. All that remains is to figure out how to do it. If you, like Ivan, don’t care about the previous reasons, read on – we’ll tell you how to move to a new position.

Offer yourself as a manager

People often think that only those who are assigned the appropriate responsibilities become managers. Ivan hoped that he would be noticed and promoted instantly, but time passed and no one offered to move to a new position. The hero shifted responsibility to other people and did not take steps that could develop his career. He soon realized that it was time to take matters into his own hands.

Ivan began to take on more responsibility and perform tasks with a higher level of responsibility. When the company needed a manager, he already had the necessary skills to nominate himself.

Develop soft and hard skills

Let's imagine that the company does not have the opportunity to offer Ivan this role. Our hero does not give up – in addition to his main job, he continues to accumulate managerial skills. This does not add new responsibility, but it greatly increases his chances of success. Ivan understands that one day he will have this opportunity, so it is better to be prepared for it.

In the podcast, experts shared important skills that help managers do their jobs well. They should be developed first.

1. Maintain a balance of hard and soft skills.

Ekaterina believes that a manager must have basic technical knowledge in order to organize work in an IT company. If a specialist does not understand technology, it will be difficult for him to solve team problems and interact with developers, administrators and other IT specialists.

It is important to have a balance between hard and soft skills. When an employee's technical skills predominate, it will be difficult for him to perform managerial tasks. Especially if you think that soft skills are not needed.

2. Develop communication skills. According to Alexander, one cannot do without communication skills. Companies need someone who will negotiate and defend the interests of the team before customers. This is why there are team leads and managers.

Technical leads can also solve this problem. They understand the technical side and communicate with the team in “the same language.” But in addition to hard skills, they must be able to motivate colleagues, solve business problems and lead work on a project. It is rare to find managers who can combine these skills.

How to become a good manager

You can congratulate – Ivan has become a manager! But with a great position came great responsibility. In addition to ordinary tasks, the hero needs to organize work and interaction with the team. Guests of the tenth episode of the “Today on Retro” podcast told him how to do it correctly.

The experts discussed in detail management styles, communication difficulties and techniques that will help achieve a healthy atmosphere in the company.

Experts:

Oleg MifleBackend Developer in VK.

Ksenia VakhovaHead of Selectel Corporate Training Center.

Alexandra KlimenkoCEO of Soft Skills Lab and author of the telegram channel @normalno_delaj.

Types of managers in companies

Ivan wants to be a good manager and tries to bring the company closer to its business goals. But in the pursuit of efficiency, the hero begins to lose healthy communication with colleagues.

Experts shared with him destructive types of managers. Perhaps Ivan will see himself in them and understand what should not be allowed in work communications.

Seagull Manager. Suddenly it swoops in, makes a lot of noise and flies away, leaving behind a complete mess that others have to deal with.

Flounder Manager. On the one hand, he is “friends” with the team, and on the other hand, he belittles their work in front of management.

Cuckoo Manager. Places tasks in the backlogs of other teams. As a result, it worsens the attitude towards the team as a whole.

Manager-father. He does everything on his own and believes that he is always right. Doesn’t allow employees to prove themselves and doesn’t trust them with any difficult tasks.

Friend Manager. He is on good terms with everyone and asks that in a “friendly way” his tasks be prioritized.

Our hero does not want to be associated with the listed types of managers. Ivan looked at the situation from his colleagues’ perspective and identified points that needed to be corrected.

How to improve communication with managers

Not only Ivan had an unpleasant experience in communication. Over the entire period of work, the guests also accumulated cases of working with toxic managers. Below we share the situations they encountered.

Offered to do the job alone. Alexandra had a task that required team resources. The manager suggested doing it yourself: “Everyone can handle the resources, but can you do it without them?”

Didn't listen to the team's opinion. Ksenia worked with a manager who generated a lot of ideas. During the discussion of team resources, work deadlines and priority of tasks, he refused to make contact and believed that they absolutely had to be done. Ksenia noted that this experience taught her flexibility and argumentation, which was useful in her future work.

Exploited the labor of developers. Oleg had experience working in an agency that provides the services of IT specialists for project activities. It often happened that managers were not coordinated with each other and each considered their project to be the highest priority. In order to force specialists to carry out exactly their tasks, they began to manipulate with feelings of guilt – for example, they said that “the client will leave if the task is not completed.”

It is important to understand that harshness and demandingness do not always hide malicious intent from a colleague. Perhaps he wanted to do the best, but was unable to convey his message correctly. Because of this, the manager begins to be considered a toxic and unpleasant person.

To prevent this from happening in your communication with your team, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with useful materials on nonviolent communication and radical sincerity:

Advice for managers from experts

Take a smart approach to developing your team

It is not necessary to have a painful experience to “toughen” a specialist. In psychology there is a term post-traumatic growth, when a person gains life experience along with trauma. However, if a person does not understand what exactly went wrong, then he will not be able to benefit from this situation.

Alexandra Klimenko

CEO Soft Skills Lab

In my work, I met great managers who did not have traumatic experiences. They were in a healthy work environment where they could set personal boundaries. And even if they ended up working in “bad companies,” this experience helped them cope with toxicity and leave with positive memories.

Listen to feedback

Many people believe that giving feedback to a manager is incorrect. They are afraid that they might be fired for this. But this outcome looks irrational: it is difficult to fire a person for feedback that the manager did not like. Therefore, managers need to create a healthy team atmosphere so that employees can openly share feedback and constructive criticism.

Oleg Mifle

Backend Developer in VK

Constructive feedback is a mature level of specialist development. There are situations when an employee likes the company, work tasks and corporate culture, but he has a conflict with the manager. If there are no other options for solving the problem, you can discuss it with his manager.

Ksenia Vakhova

Head of Selectel Corporate Training Center

Whether feedback is ethical depends on the company culture. For example, at Selectel it is customary to communicate on an equal basis with a manager at any level. But you need to adhere to the existing processes in the company. If an employee suddenly goes to complain about his manager, this can cause unnecessary questions and mistrust in the team. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is give feedback to your manager and solve the problem with him. If you can’t reach an agreement, you can pass this information on above.