For me the best moments at work have been when the direct manager was sick or on a very long holiday. We're adults, why would I need someone to tell me 'I agree with you', 'go ahead, I trust you'. Maybe if you don't know what you're doing, or you can't manage the stakeholders, but otherwise, the manager just gets in the way, unless they know how to make themselves invisible, or they have the connections and will to propel your career forwards I've had plenty of managers in 20+ years
replyExpecting everybody else to be like you is the issue.
reply> why would I need someone to tell me
This isn't about you. It is about working with others that are not exactly like you.
> Maybe if you don't know what you're doing . . .
Making up insulting reasons doesn't help either.
I think it’s good if the phone call heavy people can find their way to phone call heavy managers, while the people who communicate well without constant phone calls can group together and work that way.
replyThere’s a third category of people who actually need a lot of communication for different reasons (constant reassurance like you highlighted or maybe contestant management to keep them on track) but who also avoid communications like the plague. These are the hardest to manage without some rhythm of mandatory check ins.
There have been times when a founder was constantly on calls but allowed me to manage teams without them. He also continued to hold occasional calls with the team, but I wasn't present for those calls. I provided him with written progress reports. I didn't try to convince him to stop holding calls, and he didn't try to convince me that calls were mandatory. But such cases are rare.
replyI hate video calls, but sometimes is so much easier (and really faster) to align with someone over a complicated issue. feels almost counter intuitive but the more complicated the matter the easier to align over voice / video than text in my view
replyI think it depends on the person. For me, for example, text work best for any kind of question, no matter how complex. On the other hand, for simple questions, when I just want to chat, I'll opt for a call or meet in person.
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