Who wants to be a manager
Who wants to be a manager
(OP)
I have had an argument with one my colleagues regarding 2to be a manger"
We both process engineers and have good experience >4 years
but our views are different,
I myself want to be a manger in the future and he was opposing my view by saying that "do not think about the management since it will come to you when time comes" but I replied to him saying "I have to think about this so that I will be motivated to reach my goal"
By long speech, we could not reach to an agreement while our views are totally different.,
I
I think "to be a manger" everybody’s wish not me only.
Do you see same as I have seen or you have different opinion in this subject?
Regards
We both process engineers and have good experience >4 years
but our views are different,
I myself want to be a manger in the future and he was opposing my view by saying that "do not think about the management since it will come to you when time comes" but I replied to him saying "I have to think about this so that I will be motivated to reach my goal"
By long speech, we could not reach to an agreement while our views are totally different.,
I
I think "to be a manger" everybody’s wish not me only.
Do you see same as I have seen or you have different opinion in this subject?
Regards





RE: Who wants to be a manager
If that is what you want to be, go for it. Good luck.
From past experience, the ones that don't want the job, or are not good mangmt material, are usually the ones that get it.
Chris
Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP1.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Hg
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Managers may loose touch with the technical aspects of the work at-hand. The higher you rise, the less that you even deal with the technical people. Soon they are all just numbers on a spreadsheet as you become consumed by the cost per hour or per equipment piece. You must continuously improve while expending as little on prodictivity toys or training. Your conflicts require you to discipline your reports for failing to make goals, set by others in the organiztion without any regard to reality.
...
As suggested by others, take some night classes on organizational behavior, perhaps accounting and the requirements for a masters in business administration. Some writing classes may help to target the information in a report to convince others to go-you-way on an issue, etc. Learn the people evaluation skills from technical papers. Learn how to delegate authority - while maintaining sufficient oversight to take responsibility for the acts of those reports.
GOOD LUCK!
John
RE: Who wants to be a manager
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Hg
RE: Who wants to be a manager
John
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Also along the lines of being a brownie, you need to show that your a company man from the beginning (always stay late and arrive early, volunteer for highway clean-ups, etc). All of these will help you get the manager position you want (or you think you want).
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Below wants that you stand up against the dumb decisions from above, and they are behind you (far...behind, watching with binoculars you getting crushed)
Your subordinates screw up, you will take the first punch.
You ought to know everything what is happening
Everybody wants the managers pay but not the responsibilities
It is easier to deal with machines then people..
Don't let this scare you, if you like to coach people, it can be fun
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
RE: Who wants to be a manager
You need to be mentally prepared to work as a Manager - doesn't come automatically to everybody. As somebody suggested, go for some night classes or browse the net and learn more about "Organisation Behaviour", "Negotiation Skills", "Money/Finance Management", "Decision Making Skills", "Marketing", "Public speaking", etc.
Also learn Power point, excel, charts - these are required literally on a daily basis !!!
HVAC68
RE: Who wants to be a manager
However, in many companies, that is, happily, no longer the case. Many companies have explicitly created a dual career path for those who, like myslef, have little or no interest in management. I can happily stay a technoweenie FOREVER!!
Obviously, my sway over company performance and direction is highly limited, but from what I've seen, even those in charge are seldom really in charge anyway.
TTFN
RE: Who wants to be a manager
But you forget something that is important in the management or "to be a manager" that is the qualification degrees.
would you think that a higher qualification has a better chance in his/her organization to reach the management ladder than those with not having nor more than a B.S. provided that they are almost equivalent in other aspects such as experience, field ..etc.?
Secondly, I agree with your suggestions to take management courses at free-time to build up skills which are in touch with people, money, equipment ..etc
Is anybody did take courses in management "not those given by the company" and find that it is worth and help in getting good skills?
Regards to all of you
"To be a manger"
RE: Who wants to be a manager
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Continued course tuition may be reimbursible. I took graduate classes at the university night school. The company often rewards thos who appear suited for management with the 2-3 day group sessions such as Negotiation, Effective Presentations, Effective Writing, etc. Once into the supervisory levels thay likely provide training on employee evaluations and a host of the EEOC harassment type issues.
John
RE: Who wants to be a manager
I don’t agree with you in this statement that will de motivate the engineers from being engineers with advanced degrees and broad thinking and much better imagination and brainstorming even they are working with design eng. organ.
Back to the main subject "To be a manger", mangers need such skills from thinking ahead and out of the box, doing and setting goals for future while they consider the past, motive staff to do imagination and practising brainstorming (not me!)
They are many things the advanced degree holders have and lead direct or indirect to the management rather than those without the advanced degree.
Does this make sense to you guys?
RE: Who wants to be a manager
RE: Who wants to be a manager
I have been up and down on the resposibility ladder (but not with the title or pay) with as many as 25 engineers under me. I enjoyed the part where I could direct multiple engineering jobs and help out where needed, and at the same time take care of the upper executives quickly.
The part I didn't enjoy, and also observed is that the upper executives became clueless as to what was going on. They were ordering engineering to build out more and faster in spending as much as $400 million in a quarter while we watched our customer's going bankrupt. We knew what was going to happen with us spending like crazy and customers leaving in herds, but the upper exec's were cashing stock options at the same time and not mending the company.
Well, one of the upper exec's bosses just was convicted of fraud and is facing up to 85 years. If they would have been a little more in touch with reality, he wouldn't have been convicted and many managers would still have either stock or jobs.
Good luck.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Also management comes with time, the managers I have been working under all had technical degrees as a basis. Mechanical and chemical engineering.
In your case you could work toward a management position by asking your boss to lead small or big projects to hone your leadership skills. I don't know the bussiness your in, but I would imagine things like turnarounds, or other projects that involve dealing with people and activities. If you are succesfull, you are likely to receive specialized training to boost up your management skills, and they can work towards a career plan for you.
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
RE: Who wants to be a manager
I shouldn't ask projects from my boss to build my skills in leadership he should give me himself.
I experienced this sometimes when my boss gave some responsibilities and with time he has started given me more responsibilities. The reason that I was doing my best in the first time I was given the responsibility so that he would trust with my capabilities and leadership.
I was successful in the next responsibility and the result that a good picture of leadership has been shown to my boss.
By this, I wouldn't ask the boss for responsibilities but rather he should give himself.
Regards
RE: Who wants to be a manager
You may plan to work on your language skills. It will help you sometime later in managment life.
Ciao.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Would u please elaborate more by what you meant in working out in the language skills.?
I didn't understand this point, what do u mean exactly?
Regards
RE: Who wants to be a manager
If you have a couple of subordinates and they ask you in the morning what to do, and your answer is: ... I don't know, my boss did not tell me...
You have to stick out your neck to stand-out in the crowd
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
RE: Who wants to be a manager
There's my two (2) cents.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
On the other hand if English is not your first language, my apologies.
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
RE: Who wants to be a manager
To be a manager in these turbulent times doesn't just mean to supervise or control while executing company's policies, it also entails leadership. Why hasn't this subject received the due attention of posters ?
A leader isn't just a front-man or figurehead, nor a charismatic guru, but a trailblazer, a trendsetter, an initiator in any field of endeavour. Do you agree ?
RE: Who wants to be a manager
"You have to stick out your neck to stand-out in the crowd "
The focus shifted to the theoretical luggage needed to be a manager, but did we examine when a typical manager aquired this luggage? Most likely when he was already in a managerial position and recognised that his current skills were not enough. Powerpoint is something used for presentations, when you have to defend your proposal/project for the decision takers. The detail engineering is not important at that level. Terms like Return On Investments have more impact.
More important, any descent organization is constantly watching his workforce to decide who will be the "leaders of the packs" at any level. The weak and submissive definitely don't stand a chance, just like in the animal world.
In the selection process of a manager, there are 3 verbs
Can (We all think we are capable)
Will (do you have the guts to do it?, you have to prove it)
May or Permitted to this is the decisive verb, this has to do with acceptance
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Particularly important is your ability to make presentations and persuade your audiences to your point of view. In such cases, the presentation skills must work in concert with language skills to select the "right" wording for the occasion and to persuasively discuss your topic.
TTFN
RE: Who wants to be a manager
There can be many Managers, there can be many bosses, but there are only a few LEADERS. One of the posters I have see read - The Leader leads, the Boss/Manager screws !!!
HVAC68
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Cheers
Greg Locock
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Steven van Els
SAvanEls@cq-link.sr
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Crap, crap, and more crap. I gotta agree with svanels. Leadership means taking initiative. Leadership does not mean being passive, and only exercising as much "leadership" as is forced on you by someone else.
If you have a really fantastic manager who is really great at developing your potential and makes that one of their goals (I've had exactly one boss like that), they'll keep ahead of you on that and will do as you say above, give you increasing responsibilities not only over tasks but over other humans. But the only leadership there is on your boss's part, not yours. What you are doing is simply following orders of increasing complexity--NOT leadership.
Leadership is not just how well you manage the people under you, but how well you take control of your own professional life. It's possible to "show leadership potential" (gawd I hate that phrase but it seems appropriate here) without being in any kind of supervisory position at all. Conversely, it's possible to get all the stuff done on time without having all the staff quit and still have bupkes for leadership ability. When it comes time to select new managers, it's those with the good leadership ability that will be at the top of the heap.
Hg
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Dealing with people is the most difficult and misunderstood skill in industry today.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
"manager's primary function is to make sure that the teams I am on get the support they need"
All too many managers fail to support their team and instead expect their team to support them.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Time, Workloads, Decisions, Technology, Equipment, Money, Standards, Meetings, Other people ..etc
Also, mangers make predications, plan ahead, decided how things will change & develop, review the past when planning and forecasting the future
mangers do: control, taking responsibility, setting objectives and/or goals, organization, delegation, accepting authority, decision making, support and communication, training, monitoring/ evaluating, leadership, motivation and planning ..etc
Being proactive doesn't mean that you should ask your boss for responsibilities, but you take the initiative in doing things u think of importance to u and your company.
Management has many things, and "To be a Manger" u should be familiar with these things.
Thank you
Regards
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Hg
Eng-Tips guidelines: FAQ731-376
RE: Who wants to be a manager
mangers do: control, taking responsibility, setting objectives and/or goals, organization, delegation, accepting authority, decision making, support and communication, training, monitoring/ evaluating, leadership, motivation and planning "
Very well said.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
Let's not forget Petter's principle: All members of a hierarchy rise to their own level of incompetence.
RE: Who wants to be a manager
42
John
RE: Who wants to be a manager