The Internet is full of memes. Some memes come and go, ridiculing or poking fun of something or someone because of a media context. Then there are those memes which are timeless, poking fun of something which is not really dependent on a news item in the media. A commonly found set of memes aims at making fun of managers and/or team leaders. One of the memes I distinctly remember is one which shows a baby in a diaper with the following quote.
Managers are like diapers. Always behind your ass and always full of shit.
Funny, isn't it? Well, in the last two years, I have had a chance to wear the hats of both a project manager as well as a team leader. Prior to this, I spent six years locked up in a room either getting mentored occasionally or mentoring occasionally, both of which are not too hard in comparison to the two roles I just mentioned. Nothing could really prepare me for some of the challenges I have faced and continue to face even today. The situation is made even worse by the fact that in Indian academia, there does not seem to be any urgency to institute training programs in fields of leadership, team and project management.
I tried reading a couple of books as well as a bunch of articles on the Internet to brace myself for the role but nothing really prepared me for the challenges. I have come to believe that there is no book or article out there than can truly prepare you - it is like swimming, no matter how much you read about it you cannot learn until you have stepped into the pool and made an attempt to float. And we all know how that works - the water in the nose, the gasping of the air, the panic etc.
I believe there are two aspects of being a manager. One is the very art of planning work allocation, setting timelines etc. This task is definitely not easy and there is a plethora of books, articles and courses about this. There are also several IT platforms which help in this task. Of course, experience makes you better and efficient with this aspect of management but going through formal training and courses can have a dramatic impact on how fast you learn your lessons. In my case, I had no immediate access to these techniques and tools and had to self-learn. One of these days, I intend to throw my own personal money, find some nice workshop or course to attend and correct this lack of formal knowledge.
The second aspect is the social aspect. Team members who refuse to change their wrong habits and methods despite telling them patiently about why they should, balancing between liberty/freedom of work method and technique vs imposing rules / micromanaging every activity, deciding when to raise your voice vs explaining in a controlled manner, balancing needs of the project vs important needs or emergencies faced by the members, giving up on the growth potential of a member vs continuously chasing them to chase glory, trying to prevent staganancy among people who choose to be stagnant, ensuring no single member feels singled out, left out or treated unfairly, finding a way to award hard workers despite the system putting constraints on how you can do so etc.
And a manager is seldom the king. The manager has someone on top of the food chain to handle as well. And this person is unlikely to make things too easy either. Here are some things I and a couple of other people I have interacted with, have heard.
Your team's failure is your failure.
I don't care how you do it, just make sure your team delivers on time.
I know you care about team motivation but we simply don't have the budget to do this. You find another way to do it.
I understand why you wish to do this. But it is simply against our policy.
And I repeat - I doubt if there is anything that can prepare anyone for these challenges. If any of you are aware of a magic book, an instructional video or a magical article which can achieve this, please do let me know. The one solution I can imagine is for us to take advantage of platforms like MeetUp and organize round-table discussions where managers from various industries can take turns in explaining a certain situation or a challenge they had to face and allow alternate solutions and views to pour in, something like a group therapy session.
And because of this whole issue being complex, it is easy to fail as a manager and a leader. It is easy to become known as a bad one, it is easy to fall into the ranks of those managers who will never attract anything but criticism. Yes, we have plenty of examples of good leaders and managers but remember that they are famous because they did a great job. Those who took a shot at it or found themselves forced in this situation and failed, will not be illustrated in the books obviously. That of course does not mean that if you belong to such a class, you shouldn't be making efforts to switch!
So, there it is! My small tribute to all those who find themselves in the position of a manager or a leader. Kudos to you all! You have attempted something indeed very mind boggling!