What makes a good software manager

First off, skip past the job title. Aside: It would be nice if organisations realised this and labelled such positions more descriptively and appropriately. We are some years away from this, I suspect. Maybe decades. Oh yes, you may be thanked for it — you may even be tasked, via explicit or implicit targets and expectations, to do it. But hey, they may want to change that — even without explicitly understanding the core issues, such as how the effectiveness of the entire organisation is a function of the prevailing organisational mindset.

And to champion the necessary transition to a more effective organisational mindset. Many executives ask for one without realising what that actually entails disruption; fundamental change; end of the status quo; executives, too, having to change the way they think, work and see the world of work. Sometimes organisations really just want a good software development manager.

Someone who will skulk quietly and proficiently in the hinterland of the IT department and not make waves. In these circumstances a great software development manager will rarely last long, or achieve much. Sounds good? Until you realise the potential exists for a hundred, two hundred, three hundred percent improvement — across the whole organisation.

On working on tools, methods, processes and technology issues. Every day you spend on that is a day lost in accomplishing the real work of transition. And no one outside the development function will have much interest, excepting those few things that impact them and their departments. And the solutions to those issues generally lie outside the development function itself, not inside.

So easy, in fact, that many software development managers never get out of this busywork and on the the real work of greatness. Maybe you think of yourself as some kind of saviour, riding in on a white horse and saving the organisation from its follies. But a great software development manager knows he or she is only a catalyst for change. A dead nematode in the heart of the oyster. He or she knows that the real work comes from everyone in the organisation, and the accolades are due to everyone, likewise.

So, act to create the situation where folks can actually give of their best. And even then, in organisations hobbled by years of ineffectual or under-achieving change initiatives, getting folks to step up and engage can be a challenge.

Coercion, however sugar-coated, is not helpful here. Find out what folks want and need — for themselves, for their colleague — for the wider organisation. Go look at what their jobs entail. And not just within Software Development. You may have a nice office — even a corner office — but every hour you spend in it is a hour lost on the road to greatness. Work together to find a common cause, a common purpose, that everyone can buy into — at an emotional, as opposed to rational, level.

As well as getting out of the office — get out of the building. Go see customers, suppliers, competitors and communities — work-related and social, both.

In the same way as understanding where and how the software development function fits in the wider organisation, get to understand where the organisation fits in its wider commercial ecosystem, and in society as a whole. Problems will always appear, mistakes will always be made, bugs will always exist.

What makes a true difference is how the team approaches these issues; having a strong engineer-manager bond means that the manager is likely to detect issues earlier because the team will know that bringing the problem to light, as soon as it happens, is the best way of finding a good solution. Micromanagement is one of the most enervating approaches a manager can use with their engineers. It breaks trust little by little and sends the message that the engineer is not trustworthy or capable enough.

Even when an employee is struggling to deliver as expected, micromanagement is rarely a healthy way of addressing the problem. The trust bond that I mentioned earlier is challenged when a manager questions every single move made by the engineer. Managers that provide space for engineers to figure things out without letting them drown are more likely to see those employees come out of the experience with valuable insights that can be used for their continued improvement.

I worked on Windows Phone for over a year, made mistakes, learned, improved, and grew by working alongside brilliant engineers and incomparable managers.

Today Windows Phone is officially discontinued. If a product fails, does it mean the team involved wasted their time? Absolutely not. Thousands of people advanced their careers and became senior engineers while developing Windows Phone. Good managers are quite direct and specific about their expectations from employees. They also validate their expectations with specific reasons as to how these will positively affect you, your organization, and the employees themselves.

Effective communication is the key to not only maintaining amicable relationships in the workplace but also delivering work successfully. Good managers are the first ones to recognize this, and therefore, invest their time and energy in ensuring a smooth flow of communication throughout the project.

From navigating team meetings with poise to providing people with the right direction in the project — a great project manager ensures that things never slip through the cracks. They are not afraid to take the help of the available resources like online communication tools for the same.

Only 45 percent of employees are completely satisfied with the amount of recognition they receive. Poor managers are biased, but good managers identify and understand the differences that every individual brings, evaluate performance fairly, without prejudice. Even when they identify weaknesses or faults, they criticize constructively so as to make employees realize their mistakes and work hard to correct them.

Good managers make sure they have an effective review process in place to evaluate performance fairly. Thanking your employees for their contributions and rewarding them for the job well done goes a long way in improving their morale. Good managers respect their employees and show them that they are valuable assets to the organization. Even the smallest of achievements need to be celebrated at first.

Believe in your team even if no one else does, and you will certainly bring out the best in them. Smart managers know that technology, like project management software or online collaboration tool, is there to simplify the way they handle their teams, and their teams manage their work.

They know that technology has a solution for everything — right from efficient task management and simplified collaboration to effortless reporting and time tracking. This is the reason they never hesitate to invest in the latest tools. In fact, they are the first ones to look for tech solutions to make life easy for their teams and make them productive. To ensure this, they focus on individual performances, while aligning their efforts with the overall team goal.

By bringing together all the aspects of successful team building like communication, collaboration, clarity and trust, they make sure that the team knows the purpose of their efforts.

Most importantly, a good manager never fails to inspire others. This inspiration comes at many levels; from boosting the morale of the team when things are not going right to talking it out with individuals when they are facing problems in their personal lives. Good managers know that their role is not limited to only making a productive environment. Rather they have a role to play in building a positive work culture so that individuals thrive, and continue to strive for betterment at every level.

When you are part of a positive work environment , innovation and creativity come out naturally. In a nutshell, being a manager is all about handling not just your work but your team with great responsibility. You are expected to deliver the goods as well as command the respect of your team. And a good manager knows how to achieve this.

They cultivate happiness at work and encourage every employee to be a better version of themselves. Good managers positively influence the lives of their team members and help them develop their skills. They groom them for senior roles in the organization in the future. The main thing that should motivate product managers is satisfying users, regardless of the language they speak.

A successful product manager puts customers and their needs first. Any new or improved product should build more value for clients and the company as a whole, rather than boosting sales temporarily. Quantitative data, such as the number of tickets your customer support staff receives every month, can help you to identify the types of problems your customers have.

Once you have a clear image of their pain points, talk to local users to gain some qualitative data. Launching websites, apps or software in foreign countries requires a lot of research. Feedback from local experts is essential. It may not generate sales overnight but it will pay off in the long run, with satisfied clients. Julia Austin, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, believes that a successful product manager has core competencies that help build the solid foundation of effective product management.

These competencies range from performing a market assessment and having design skills to conducting customer interviews. Product managers should also be skilled at allocating resources and modeling prices and revenues. They should be able to define and track the right metrics to measure and analyze team and product performance.