2015 - Working with Management
At this point in my life, I had no other obligation. I have just finished college, and I was not fully employed. So I could pick up anything to work on.
What I most like to do
At that moment, I have experimented different positions and roles, and that really helped me to identify I what most liked to do. In this case, I notice that I do my best, and get most motivated while I have to work with others, on collaborative projects, coordination people and bringing technology perspectives to business.
Managing people
So that was what I wanted to do. And it is fun because everything that I've done so far has helped me to become ready to work as a manager.
I started managing a small team on a company I started called Devoe Technologies, and we were building products and MVP for startups. We had to worry about the development and design of the applications. And I had to take care of all the pieces playing well together.
Servant leadership
I have had great managers before, so I knew what my management style would be like. And with that in mind, I knew what I should do. I always had questions to help me identify what do to:
Are people being relevant to the project? If not, how I could help people to feel they are part of something bigger than themselves?
Are people having enough to do, both in quantity but also in excitement? Is your work motivative? And do you have nor more nor less than what you can handle?
Are people on the same page? Do they know where the product is heading to and how their specialized work overlap someone else's work?
Autonomous teams
One of the things I had in mind was that I'm a facilitator. That means that when I'm around, things should work smoother, but when I'm not, things should still work and people should learn how to solve their own problems.
There were 2 things for me that really make that work. First, putting people in charge of responsibilities and second, people understanding the business impact of their decisions.
Everyone should know what the common goals are, which usually are the business goals or global KPIs. By understanding that people can focus on their work without forgetting about that should be achieved at the end. That helps people to avoid overthinking or doing more of that needs to get the job done.
It also helps a lot during taking decisions. As people are in charge of things, and they will be responsible for their decisions, they tend to act in a more realist way, taking in consideration other areas of the product's development, instead of thinking more purely and idealistic about their own areas only.
Do it together
There is a lesson I really like, which says about "you should never expect someone to do something in a way you never explained to them how to do". And I like to use it as a mindset to instruct others.
Never blaming someone in the first place, instead, make sure you have done with them what needs to be done at least once. Help others to understand what they are doing wrong, how to correct it, and repeat the process as many times as needed.
You need to make sure people are proficient in what and how they are doing before you can trust them completely. Without that, you are putting your team and the product at risk.
The empathic way
Dealing with the bad parts, and with things that didn't go well. Everyone has a feeling when something goes wrong, and you don't need to be the one to project your bad feeling onto to the others.
When things go bad, try to understand your team's reasons, why they think they, and you, failed. Listen to them carefully and avoiding judging. Remember that you need to be the one they trust, the one they can tell anything about the project and their work, this way you will develop a better relationship for the long term.
Wrapping up
I have learned so many lessons about coordination a product execution that I could list everything here, but the above things were the most relevant to me while I was still starting in this new universe.
Regards,
Renan de Azevedo
Updated at 2021/04/05 23:35.