Promotion to management?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Yes, I’ve taken a management job. I’ve since gone back to the underling job.
I was laid off from the management job.
I liked the job itself. My parallel colleague and our boss stopped getting along because I was better at the job than they were. Both of them made it another two years and were pushed out by the board because of their incompetence.

So, that part I didn’t like.
Having gone back to the underling job, I do appreciate the reduced stress. I literally have a gray streak in my hair from my time in management. It has not expanded since I left that position.
I’m halfway through Year three of the return to underling. I’ll stay another year until my youngest child graduates from high school. Then, I’ll probably apply to management positions.

[MJ2.0]

I did.  I didn't like managing former peers.

[hoops902]

I did it for 6 months, hated it, and got out to a job at the same pay level but without having to manage anyone. It wasn't about the job so much as the fact that I don't want to deal with people...and it's hard to manage people without dealing with them. I would consider another one if I knew the people and their skill level. The real problem with the prior position was that these people needed a lot of hand-holding which is why they needed a manager...and I just hated holding their hands.

[dannylion]

I was in management for 15 years because for a long time, that was the only reliable path to continued advancement. Once my agency started establishing senior technical leader roles at the higher grades, I was thrilled to be able to bail out of management for something less annoying but more intellectually challenging. I still got to tell people what to do, but I was no longer responsible for seeing that they did it or rating them (though I still had input into their evaluations) or riding herd on them or refereeing disagreements or counseling the bozos or any of those pesky personnel issues.  It was a relief not to have to deal with politics and policies and upper management (who had their own agendas that were often incomprehensible) and all the other soul-destroying issues that plague well-meaning managers who are just trying to get something done. 

I knew many managers who were well suited to their roles, thrived in their positions, and had a positive impact on the mission as managers.  There were others, like me, who were dedicated to the mission and did our best but never really enjoyed the management experience. 

Everyone has different talents and strengths to offer.  Sometimes you don't know whether you're going to be good at something and enjoy doing it until you actually do it. 

[lynnerself]

I took a supervisory position and liked most of it. I enjoyed making decisions on organization, bringing new processes on board, acquiring new equipment etc.
I did not like the personnel part, especially disciplinary problems or squabbles between employees.
All in all I was happy I took the advance and everyone told me I did a good job at it and ran things smoothly.

[brdsl]

Jan 8, 2018 15:22:14 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Jan 8, 2018 14:29:49 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Yes, I’ve taken a management job. I’ve since gone back to the underling job.
I was laid off from the management job.
I liked the job itself. My parallel colleague and our boss stopped getting along because I was better at the job than they were. Both of them made it another two years and were pushed out by the board because of their incompetence.

So, that part I didn’t like.
Having gone back to the underling job, I do appreciate the reduced stress. I literally have a gray streak in my hair from my time in management. It has not expanded since I left that position.
I’m halfway through Year three of the return to underling. I’ll stay another year until my youngest child graduates from high school. Then, I’ll probably apply to management positions.

I avoided the management opportunities while my kids were really young, now they are all in grade school so it's not quite as stressful at home.  Really this is not something I would've sought out, but the opportunity just fell in my lap.  

It is a low-level management job with very few direct reports, so it'll somewhat take the pressure off.  I have taken on quite a bit more responsibility than some of my other peers, which is my wife thinks it makes sense to at least cash in and get compensated for it by making it official.  

I am not sure of the industry, but I have not taken management positions.  They are usually chopped first when upper management/administration turns over for cost savings.  I think you are making significant side income...so taking out the $$$ part, do you really have interest in putting up with the headaches of management of people?  Would there be a path back to your original job....or just let go during cuts.

[dee27]

I agree with your wife to go for the management position. If you hate it, there is always plan B.

[Tennesseer]

Jan 8, 2018 15:22:14 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Jan 8, 2018 14:29:49 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Yes, I’ve taken a management job. I’ve since gone back to the underling job.
I was laid off from the management job.
I liked the job itself. My parallel colleague and our boss stopped getting along because I was better at the job than they were. Both of them made it another two years and were pushed out by the board because of their incompetence.

So, that part I didn’t like.
Having gone back to the underling job, I do appreciate the reduced stress. I literally have a gray streak in my hair from my time in management. It has not expanded since I left that position.
I’m halfway through Year three of the return to underling. I’ll stay another year until my youngest child graduates from high school. Then, I’ll probably apply to management positions.

I avoided the management opportunities while my kids were really young, now they are all in grade school so it's not quite as stressful at home.  Really this is not something I would've sought out, but the opportunity just fell in my lap.  

It is a low-level management job with very few direct reports, so it'll somewhat take the pressure off.  I have taken on quite a bit more responsibility than some of my other peers, which is my wife thinks it makes sense to at least cash in and get compensated for it by making it official.  

Ryan-should you accept the management position over the group of employees working on this project, what will become of everyone once the project is completed? Or are projects always going to go to this work group (more or less) in the future?

[happyhoix]

Jan 8, 2018 15:22:14 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Jan 8, 2018 14:29:49 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Yes, I’ve taken a management job. I’ve since gone back to the underling job.
I was laid off from the management job.
I liked the job itself. My parallel colleague and our boss stopped getting along because I was better at the job than they were. Both of them made it another two years and were pushed out by the board because of their incompetence.

So, that part I didn’t like.
Having gone back to the underling job, I do appreciate the reduced stress. I literally have a gray streak in my hair from my time in management. It has not expanded since I left that position.
I’m halfway through Year three of the return to underling. I’ll stay another year until my youngest child graduates from high school. Then, I’ll probably apply to management positions.

I avoided the management opportunities while my kids were really young, now they are all in grade school so it's not quite as stressful at home.  Really this is not something I would've sought out, but the opportunity just fell in my lap.  

It is a low-level management job with very few direct reports, so it'll somewhat take the pressure off.  I have taken on quite a bit more responsibility than some of my other peers, which is my wife thinks it makes sense to at least cash in and get compensated for it by making it official.  

Are you earning overtime now that you will lose once you become 'management?" We've got several high paid tech people who refuse to go into management because they would actually take a cut in pay, once overtime goes away.

I don't like being a manager and would love to find at job I could transition to that didn't require managing people. I lack patience, and I'm not good at coaching. I have one guy right now who is lazy and I can't figure out how to motivate him. He also is never wrong, and spends a lot of time explaining to me how things are never his fault. Ever. I don't really care, I just want to the work to get done. He's also very easy to offend and he sulks, so I end up having to waste time smoothing things over between him and other employees. Unfortunately, everyone knows he's a poor performer, so no one wants to move him to their department. I've thought about working through the steps required to terminate him, but he does just enough work to avoid being labeled useless, and he's not an attendance problem, so it'd be hard to put together a case to get rid of him.

Not that you would have the same problem. Most people are more patient and better at coaching their employees than I am.

[swamp]

I've had to manage attorney. It's like herding cats.

[alabamagal]

Most people in management work longer hours.

[Ryan]

Jan 8, 2018 17:12:12 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Jan 8, 2018 15:22:14 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I avoided the management opportunities while my kids were really young, now they are all in grade school so it's not quite as stressful at home.  Really this is not something I would've sought out, but the opportunity just fell in my lap.  

It is a low-level management job with very few direct reports, so it'll somewhat take the pressure off.  I have taken on quite a bit more responsibility than some of my other peers, which is my wife thinks it makes sense to at least cash in and get compensated for it by making it official.  

Ryan-should you accept the management position over the group of employees working on this project, what will become of everyone once the project is completed? Or are projects always going to go to this work group (more or less) in the future?

It's actually a new division in the company.  Up until recently, they basically just had different departments allocate existing employee's time to the venture.  Once the ball got rolling, they started ok'ing the hiring of employees to specifically support this business unit.  We'll be adding a few within our department and it will likely expand from there; not necessarily all reporting to me though.  In other words, it's not likely it will go away due to the amount of money invested already.  

I have already had a pretty large workload due to juggling two jobs, so part of me thinks that this will give me the ability to focus on one thing and be able to handle this pretty well.  Still though, there are a lot of moving parts so I'm sure it's going to be a lot of headaches as well.  

I think they are somewhat creating this job specifically for me in some ways, both to alleviate some of the job duties from my boss and as a way to train me to allow me to go another level up when the opportunity arises.  

I'm a little worried that if I turn the opportunity down, then I won't be up for new opportunities if I wanted them in the future.  The only issue is that I tend to get a little complacent and the idea of taking on something big somewhat stresses me out.  

Still though, I have kids to put through college some day and the pay raise would help me reach my financial goals a little quicker and give me more much more upside since I'm moving up a pay grade.

[Tennesseer]

Jan 8, 2018 23:15:28 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Jan 8, 2018 17:12:12 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Ryan-should you accept the management position over the group of employees working on this project, what will become of everyone once the project is completed? Or are projects always going to go to this work group (more or less) in the future?

It's actually a new division in the company.  Up until recently, they basically just had different departments allocate existing employee's time to the venture.  Once the ball got rolling, they started ok'ing the hiring of employees to specifically support this business unit.  We'll be adding a few within our department and it will likely expand from there; not necessarily all reporting to me though.  In other words, it's not likely it will go away due to the amount of money invested already.  

I have already had a pretty large workload due to juggling two jobs, so part of me thinks that this will give me the ability to focus on one thing and be able to handle this pretty well.  Still though, there are a lot of moving parts so I'm sure it's going to be a lot of headaches as well.  

I think they are somewhat creating this job specifically for me in some ways, both to alleviate some of the job duties from my boss and as a way to train me to allow me to go another level up when the opportunity arises.  

I'm a little worried that if I turn the opportunity down, then I won't be up for new opportunities if I wanted them in the future.  The only issue is that I tend to get a little complacent and the idea of taking on something big somewhat stresses me out.  

Still though, I have kids to put through college some day and the pay raise would help me reach my financial goals a little quicker and give me more much more upside since I'm moving up a pay grade.

I would go ahead and take the job. The saying goes 10% of a work group requires 90% of their manager's time. Most of the employees will be a piece of cake to work with. If your employer offers management training, jump on it asap. It will help you out in the long run.

[toomuchreality]

Jan 8, 2018 23:15:28 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Jan 8, 2018 17:12:12 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Ryan-should you accept the management position over the group of employees working on this project, what will become of everyone once the project is completed? Or are projects always going to go to this work group (more or less) in the future?

It's actually a new division in the company.  Up until recently, they basically just had different departments allocate existing employee's time to the venture.  Once the ball got rolling, they started ok'ing the hiring of employees to specifically support this business unit.  We'll be adding a few within our department and it will likely expand from there; not necessarily all reporting to me though.  In other words, it's not likely it will go away due to the amount of money invested already.  

I have already had a pretty large workload due to juggling two jobs, so part of me thinks that this will give me the ability to focus on one thing and be able to handle this pretty well.  Still though, there are a lot of moving parts so I'm sure it's going to be a lot of headaches as well.  

I think they are somewhat creating this job specifically for me in some ways, both to alleviate some of the job duties from my boss and as a way to train me to allow me to go another level up when the opportunity arises.  

I'm a little worried that if I turn the opportunity down, then I won't be up for new opportunities if I wanted them in the future.  The only issue is that I tend to get a little complacent and the idea of taking on something big somewhat stresses me out.  

Still though, I have kids to put through college some  and the pay raise would help me reach my financial goals a little quicker and give me more much more upside since I'm moving up a pay grade.

Congrats on the opportunity!

[gooddecisions]

I never regretted accepting management positions. Keep your skills though. I survived 3 reorgs because they were able to put me back in an individual contributor role instead of out the door, like many other managers. I was promoted in 2008, and then 2009 was a reorg. It took 5 years to get another management position and then another reorg in 2016 and back to individual contributor. A year ago I was promoted once again. It's a bit of a square dance at my company instead of a ladder.

Enjoy that 17% raise and realize that you'll find your groove in the new position and nothing has to be permanent.