All these years, I have had quite a few bosses. Their backgrounds are vastly different, and naturally their preferences and how they manage people are also diverged. To protect the guilty I shall not disclose the gender as well as the name of those concerned. Instead I will refer each of them as 'he' in the most non-sexist way.
1. Manage-Till-You-Die Type
Characteristic: Knows little or no technical knowledge but has excessive zeal to pursue the privilege and the title of a manager. He will try to exert his pressure until you recognize his 'authority'.
Typical Conversation between him (H) and his staff (S):
H: Can you give me an update on what your plan for this week is?
S: I thought I just updated you yesterday?
H: We have been in a churning* frenzy and basically my full time job is working on the MS Project and pressing you for updates from time to time to show that I am working
S: WTF...
* Churn refers to 'change'. 'Feature-churn' means changes in product features
2. Step-on-Your-Head Manager
Characteristic: Reasonably good technically, but has no consciences and treats subordinates as stepping stones and/or tools to achieve his personal goals. The consequence is you die or not is none of his business
Typical Conversation between him (H) and his staff (S):
H: I don't care, this project must be done and you must finish before tomorrow.
S: Since this project's delay is not the team's fault, can we claim for dinner for staying late?
H: Yes, budget is RM10 per person and you should not go out to eat. You should stay in office because the objective is to get the job done
S: I need a sleeping bag....
H: You can have a few rolls of toilet papers if you really feel cold in office
3. Do-All-You-Want Type
Characteristic: Just don't care, as long as you deliver
Typical Conversation between him (H) and his staff (S):
S: I will be off half day tomorrow because my pet ant is sick
H: Sure, go ahead, no worries
S: Btw, my project is delayed for 2 months because I spilled coffee on the only prototype board in office, burning the lab as well because electric short-circuits
H: Really? That is interesting
Note: This type of manager doesn't really exists...
3 comments:
Actually I used to have one guy that doesn't give a damn what I do as long as I submit the project stuff as agreed.
The prob with responsibility is that you gotta set your own directions. And I think that's a good value add for an employee.
An employee with a firm direction that props up the project is hard to replace or costs a lot to replace.
Ger was a pretty good boss, in retrospect. :)
The main functions of a manager include helping an employee to set priorities, and clear political/admin obstacles. Setting direction should be one of the items of a manager in corporate world.
Sooth: I was never under Ger, not sure about his management style. But I do think he is quite good.
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