One of my daughters has been talking with me about a not-so-good manager in charge of her. The manager seems to have experience managing, but not managing engineers. Allow me to explain how managing engineers is different.
Think about this: if you manage people who work with their hands, you won’t increase productivity by interfering with their hands. Right? Likewise, if you manage people who work with their minds, you won’t get improvements from interfering with their minds. There are a lot of ways to interfere with a person’s mind, without realizing you’re doing it, or without considering the consequences.
The hamster wheel spins
Imo, the primary strength of a good engineer is the ability to solve problems. The best engineers that I know seem like they were made for this sort of thing. Solving problems is not confined to work & engineering stuff though. It often expands into other (or sometimes all) parts of their lives. If you meet an engineer, and want to have some fun conversations, start talking about a problem or challenging task that you’re trying to overcome. It doesn’t have to be a familiar topic, just a challenge. The puzzle-solving opportunity alone will be a real treat for the engineer.
It reminds me of the book “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus”. Among other things, the book discusses the challenge of a Venusian (woman) discussing problems with a Martian (man). The Venusian talks about a problem because she needs someone to listen & understand. Nothing more. The Martian is tantalized by the prospect of solving a problem. The Martian cannot help himself, and often seems insensitive (like a bad listener) because his mind has gone-off into space (or something) to work-out this interesting problem. When the Martian has some good answers, the Venusian is frustrated because she didn’t want a solution. So she dismisses or outright rejects all reasonable solutions. The Martian is frustrated by this rejection to his excellent work. The Venusian is frustrated because this isn’t remotely close to what she was seeking. It is some interesting and insightful psychology.
Problems
If you are working with an engineer, and you have a problem with that person, (a non-engineering problem), just know that when you talk about it, the engineer’s mind will probably stop working on the things already assigned, and start working on this new problem instead.
I think you can see, a next-level problem here. Losing focus, not staying on-task, being distracted or being otherwise unproductive, is a problem. If you discuss this additional problem, without a solution, it creates a circle which rolls into itself. “hmm, how do I solve this problem of being distracted right now without becoming distr… Oh no. I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
Solutions
Normally, it is a good idea; if you bring-up a problem also bring-up the solution, but this will also derail an engineer’s mind. It still sounds like you are assigning different work (or priority). This is a major differentiating factor in a person who is a good engineering manager vs a bad one: Help the engineer manage his mind and stay-focused. If he gets off topic, if a butterfly floats past his face, if his smartphone buzzes, you can help remove distractions, or prepare an environment which is more well-suited for focusing and staying on the tasks which you really need an engineer to solve. Don’t ask him to manage himself better. That is your job. He will (implicitly) learn it from you if/when you manage him well. (or, perhaps how to do it badly, if that is what you are demonstrating)
And that is what makes a great engineering manager. Understand how an engineer operates, give him appropriate assignments & resources to be successful, DO NOT (inadvertently) give him problems / assignments which you do-not want him to work-on. Monitor your people so you know when to change-the-plan and what change will improve (and not ruin) productivity.
TLDR: Generally, know your people. Do your job. Let them do theirs.
Oh, I nearly forgot my disclaimer: This is not about my employer or team or manager. They are great.
Aah, the pain of being an elitist 