Every person is “useless” when things go well or everyone else can fill in (which is most of the time). The point of a manager is handling the snags and keeping it out of others’ hair so they can focus on their tasks.
You only appreciate it when you actually know what good management looks like. It sucks how rare it is, though, I’ll give you that. About as rare as having parents that know how to parent and instruct without the authoritative cliches. (or hopefully that situation has improved by now but I dunno…)
I’m a solid manager. I started my current job about 5 months ago. I don’t think the staff I inherited had ever worked under anyone halfway decent. Three months in I was still reassuring my team that I wasn’t trying to replace them, I was only hiring people because we were grossly understaffed. Two months later we’re fully staffed, no one has been fired, and they finally trust me.
It’s fucking tragic how poorly most managers do their jobs.
Yeah, you don’t value management until you work a job that requires a lot of cooperation and management isn’t managing enough.
Good management holds your coworkers accountable so their fuck ups don’t become your problem. Good management coordinates efforts. Good management sets goals and expectations so you aren’t wasting half your time on something that only kinda matters until you need the important thing that takes a month immediately. Good management understands the workers and can emphasize their strengths to the task at hand and cover their weaknesses. Good management sends ideas up the chain when needed and can remove obstacles from your path.
And when you’re doing a multi year project that involves several departments, insufficient management is frustrating as fuck.
It’s good and fine for labor and management to conflict. But there’s a reason worker owned coops hire managers.
Every person is “useless” when things go well or everyone else can fill in (which is most of the time). The point of a manager is handling the snags and keeping it out of others’ hair so they can focus on their tasks.
You only appreciate it when you actually know what good management looks like. It sucks how rare it is, though, I’ll give you that. About as rare as having parents that know how to parent and instruct without the authoritative cliches. (or hopefully that situation has improved by now but I dunno…)
Lemmy is full of kids for whom “management” means the asshole they worked under at McDonalds.
Solid managers shield their people from the bullshit and help them move forward and up.
I’m a solid manager. I started my current job about 5 months ago. I don’t think the staff I inherited had ever worked under anyone halfway decent. Three months in I was still reassuring my team that I wasn’t trying to replace them, I was only hiring people because we were grossly understaffed. Two months later we’re fully staffed, no one has been fired, and they finally trust me.
It’s fucking tragic how poorly most managers do their jobs.
Yeah, you don’t value management until you work a job that requires a lot of cooperation and management isn’t managing enough.
Good management holds your coworkers accountable so their fuck ups don’t become your problem. Good management coordinates efforts. Good management sets goals and expectations so you aren’t wasting half your time on something that only kinda matters until you need the important thing that takes a month immediately. Good management understands the workers and can emphasize their strengths to the task at hand and cover their weaknesses. Good management sends ideas up the chain when needed and can remove obstacles from your path.
And when you’re doing a multi year project that involves several departments, insufficient management is frustrating as fuck.
It’s good and fine for labor and management to conflict. But there’s a reason worker owned coops hire managers.