I first joined Diabetes Australia in 2018 as the only web developer. I was promoted three and a half years later when we hired our first junior developer, who became my first direct report. My very first direct report ever. And so, I was thrown onto the management track.
I was an example of ‘a developer doing well getting promoted into management’. I never saw myself as manager material nor did I think I ever would be. Tell people what to do, get status updates and fill out reports?
Who wants to do that.
But I accepted anyway. I accepted because it was a nice pay increase. I also liked the idea of having another developer on staff that I could talk to about developer things. And so I was bestowed the flashy new title of ‘Team Leader - Web Services’.
The immediate twelves months after that was hell.
My first mistake was thinking that I would be able to split up my work 50/50. Coding half of the time and doing management things the other half. Trying to balance being a developer and a manager just made me bad at both. Even with just one report.
Since then I’ve learnt a whole lot more and the team has grown to three. It’s only in these last six months that I feel like I am starting to get better at being a manager (emphasis on the feel).
I have spent about eighteen months now managing and leading a technical team. Here are a few things I have learnt:
-
You need to want to do it
-
It’s about growing and supporting a team
-
Look after your team but don’t coddle them
-
Let your team swim on their own
-
Trust your team
-
Give your team motivation, a vision and agency and they’ll do amazing things
-
Push back and say no
-
You will not code as much anymore
-
…But sometimes you will
-
You still need to keep up to date
-
It’s important to have good relationships with other teams
-
Get help
-
Push back and say no
-
Management is really hard
-
Management is super fulfilling
-
It’s a balancing act
-
You will make mistakes
-
Decide what will be dropped
-
Learn to prioritise
-
Push back and say no
-
Your team comes first
-
You will still feel like you have no idea what you are doing