Making the Transition...from individual contributor to manager

It has been said that we promote our best people to the level of their incompetence.

I suppose that can be true, but it doesn’t have to be.

We take those individuals who are the best technical contributors and show them that the only way to get ahead in the company is to stop what they do best (engineering, computer technology etc.) and begin to do what they have never been trained to do – manage people.  To whom is the greatest level of disservice?  The company?  The staff? Or the individual who has been promoted?  Well, it can certainly be all three.

A client of mine in Schenectady, NY is a large chemical company.  I began to work with this client to help the manager of the Analytical Chemistry Department become a more effective manager.  He was challenged by the “people” issues on his team.  He did not communicate effectively nor delegate properly.  His frustration level was high enough to affect his health and certainly his frame of mind.  I have teased him many times about the fact that it took three weeks of classes before he looked me in the eye.

Some of the greatest challenges faced by technical contributors who become managers are 1) their resistance to letting go of the technical parts of their jobs; 2) their discomfort in handling the interpersonal issues among team members; 3) their inability to grasp the “big picture” and  4) their lack of management training.  None of these is insurmountable; but all take an attitude adjustment. 

Take my friend in Schenectady, for example.  He had been an outstanding analytical chemist and, in my opinion, his career path should have been research or academia.  He really didn’t like having to deal with the people issues that were part of his job as manager of the department; but he knew that, in order to make more money he had to take on more responsibility so here he was.  Fifteen years into his career, he became a manager of people.  Among all those degrees he held, there were no degrees in people management; just degrees in chemistry.  What were the tools he needed to succeed in his present position?  Could he learn them?  Did he want to learn them? Ah, now that was the million dollar question!

Sometimes we have to make hard decisions in our career path design.  In which direction is our arrow pointing?  I use this graphic analogy.  Imagine that the company’s direction is an arrow pointing north.  Inside that big arrow are all the individual arrows of the people who work for that company.  If all of the arrows are headed in the same direction, then the company is probably successful.  It means that the goals of all the members of the organization and the goals of the organization itself are being met.  But what happens when you realize that you are a member of an organization whose arrow is pointing north but your personal arrow is pointing south?  There is conflict...stress...unhappiness and loss of productivity as a result of these issues.  Equally at fault for retarding the forward movement of an arrow heading north is an arrow going around in circles.  If individuals within an organization don’t know which way they are headed and can’t align their personal goals with the goals of the organization the same conflict...stress...and unhappiness occur.  Likewise the same loss in productivity can be measured.

The only way to see to it that all the arrows are headed the same direction is for the management team to be certain that they clearly communicate the goals of the company and that they take the time to find out the goals of the individuals on the team.

Now, consider that manager of the Analytical Chemistry Department.  Do you think that his personal arrow was heading the same direction as the company’s corporate arrow?  Probably not.  He found himself at odds with the role he was required to play.  He really wasn’t good at it.  He couldn’t deliver the results his management required of him.  What were his options?

Number 1

He could choose to leave the company after more than 15 years of service and lose many of the benefits he counted on to fund his retirement and his daughters’ college educations.  That didn’t seem a viable option.


Number 2

He could choose to change careers within the organization; perhaps become an individual contributor again.  Of course the company could not justify a manager’s salary for that function.  So a lifestyle change would be required, not just for him; but for his entire family.


Number 3

He could learn the skills necessary to function as an effective manager of people.
This was the option he chose.  Now, what did he need to learn?

Of primary concern to me was that he became more comfortable communicating with his staff.  He had two team leaders who were quite capable of implementing any plan he presented, but he had to make them aware of the plan.  So he began to hold weekly meetings with his team leaders to discuss projects and strategies for performing the necessary functions of such a department within a chemical production facility.
Communication is almost always at the heart of productivity issues.  Technical managers need to remember that a prerequisite for satisfactory performance of the tasks at hand is a clear understanding of the goal of the task, its parameters and its deadline.  Direct, clear communication is a crucial first step for any manager.

The second step is coaching the team along the way.  Technical managers must remember that their job is not to do the job, but to manage the people who do the job.  Managers provide resources and clout when necessary to enable the technical team to complete the project/experiment on time and within budget.  They are there to be mentors and coaches, teaching techniques and providing their team with expertise in certain areas.  They must remember, however, when to step back and let the team do the work.  This management skill is effective delegation.  

The third step is accountability.  Holding the team accountable for the completion of the task/project by a certain date is equally important.  Empowering the team means that you give them the freedom to succeed, to make choices  and to produce results.

These are the challenges facing engineers or any technical individuals who become managers in today’s corporate environment.  The transition can be successful if technical managers are given the tools to succeed...just don’t forget that those tools are management tools.