Comment by mattchamb
2 years ago
I have one week left as a manager before I start a new job as an IC. I am so excited to change back to being responsible for only my own output.
2 years ago
I have one week left as a manager before I start a new job as an IC. I am so excited to change back to being responsible for only my own output.
I'm on the journey back too and can't wait to find a role where I actually have some creative input and decision making again.
This obviously varies from role to role but I was told I would be highly involved in deciding what the team does and how they go about it. The reality is that I am responsible for arbitrating the delivery of decisions from more senior managers to the teams and the decisions from the teams on how they execute on those decisions back to the managers.
Facilitating the growth of other engineers is wonderful but, frankly, I can do that (and was doing that) as an IC.
If I'm honest I don't think the exact role I want exists out there but I think I'll make a far better "lieutenant" to a manager who actually likes the job than I make a manager who is becoming increasingly unengaged with their own role.
> The reality is that I am responsible for arbitrating the delivery of decisions from more senior managers to the teams and the decisions from the teams on how they execute on those decisions back to the managers.
"What would you say... you do here?"
I experienced the exact same things. I have never before felt so accountable for decisions that I have such little input on.
If it were only that simple. Often one needs to be at least a team lead to set the technical direction. As an IC, I sometimes found myself being asked to implement a solution in a form that I did not agree with.
With the right team/leader, there'd be room for your inputs on the matter. Even if you find yourself in a not-so-good team setup, I'd argue there's still merit in letting your opinion be known, regardless of whether you end up implementing said solution in the way you were told or not.
You can only have that shot down so many times before you give up.
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I don't think that changes much. To oversimplify; by telling you how to do it, the team lead is taking responsibility for the outcome of your output. You are just responsible for doing it how they said.
Good for you! Just like software engineering, people management is not for everyone. Hope you build kick-ass software in your next role.