Programmers and Managers
I came across this comment posted on /. I usually don’t like to make “someone said somewhere” posts, but I could not resist this one.
Consider if you will for a brief moment the vast difference between the average executive and the average programmer. Programmers are generally broad-picture thinkers who solve largely complicated problems that regular folks can’t possibly wrap their heads around. The executive runs on a schedule and uses reports and correspondance to understand what is going on, because business folks have to judge their employees and projects.
These two groups are forced to work together, and we expect good results? We need someone to interpret between these two groups! The HR department can’t regularly serve in the interpretive capacity, but perhaps they should.
Managers generally don’t want to give the programmers the whole picture, because management often believes that they are superior in rank to programmers, placing the programmers on a need-to-know-basis, only. Huge mistake.
What programmers and managers need to do is realisticly approach their solutions together. They need to be honest with each other. They need to share each other’s thoughts and feelings about the subject matter. It’s not happening today.
The programmers need to come to the table and care about their customers a little more. The managers need to come to the table and care about their programmers a little more. The customers need to be more specific and realistic about how far their dollar can go. Then deadlines will be met and promises kept and successful solutions provided to customers.
Well said. The same goes for those “leading” others.
rogrammers are generally broad-picture thinkers who solve largely complicated problems that regular folks can’t possibly wrap their heads around.
I guess programmers don’t comment on slashdot because all slashdot readers care about is open source everywhere and ogg. Businesses be damned.
Depends where you work whether it is happening today. There are enlightened managers and organizations.
I agree with this blog.
For a long time I had a prejudice against managers. That was largely because some past managers did not communicate well with me and I did not communicate well with them. Usually this is some form of arrogance and/or ignorance on either side. My outlook changed dramactially due to how my current boss deals with me. He has taught me humility and demonstrated that managers aren’t necessarily pinheads.
Managers don’t want to hear about the technical details. Programmers want to talk technical. It’s important to discuss *timelines* and the customer *impact* of any given issue. It’s hard for programmers to think at this level of abstraction and often programmers only think about programming itself instead of who’s paying the bills (i.e. the customer).
Who is the most knowledgeable about softare? It’s the programmer. Management knows about business. Customers know their workflow. Programmers know about creating software. So many programmers expect the others to understand software development and get frustrated when bad decisions are made. Programmers need to speak at the right level of detail, understand the needs of the customer, understand the needs of management, and educate (but not over-educate) everyone about software development.
Managers are good at managing people (ideally). They are typically leaders. In the eyes of management, programmers are merely foot soldiers - some are good, some are bad, and some average. What is important is that a manager positions his programmers for success. Once there is trust, good things happen.