Herding Geeks

Carole Matthews on Fresh Inc. posts about managing techies, which is a topic I have discussed at least once here before, emphasizing technical support management. Many people describe it as herding cats.

Most notably, she links an article, "Secrets to Managing Techies," at CIO Magazine.

The article, by Megan Santosus, makes excellent points. While it emphasizes the managerial role of the CIO, this is applicable to anyone who manages technical people.

You have to be prepared to have a reasonable clue and make a solid effort at knowing what the geeks are working with and up against, at the same time being an interpreter to non-technical people in the company. You need to be able to convey a feel for the business needs and goals to the geeks, without suffocating them. This is easier if they take you seriously.

In my experience, the more the management gets into tradititional practices, the harder it is and the faster they lose the best people. Ditto the farther away management of the techs is from being technical themselves. Ironically, the two would seem to go hand in hand.

The article is correct about a relatively hands-off approach, and the creative nature of the work. There's a balance. You can wind up with geeks run amok if there is too little direction and firm, enforced goals. It's just that the goals must be rational, achievable, and not exceed the scope of the tools management is willing to provide. Technical people will work intently for fun, to a point. But they can easily go off on tangents that are fun and contribute nothing to revenue, cost reduction, productivity, or morale. Put it on autopilot, with good people and plans, then watch the wheel with a light hand to stay on course and avoid obstacles.

Respect your geek employees for the skilled, intelligent people they are. They may work for less than you'd expect, if it's fun, fascinating, and there are other compensations like learning new technologies and playing with new "toys." They will never forgive you if you treat them like sweatshop workers.

I could go on and on. Read the article if the topic interests you or you want to see how what it says squares with your experiences.

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Hmm. Sounds like a job I'd be good at. If I could stifle my own tendency to go off on geeky tangents. ;)