How to grow in IT: the mechanics of career advancement
Maksym Prokhorov Founder and IT manager of PM Partners
Not every employee can be a manager, but if you feel the strength and ability, at the first opportunity you can become in control of an “IT team”. In this case, be prepared to gradually scale the tasks and change the attitude to some of the processes. Let’s examine in detail.
First stage: project manager
To start with a small and promising project for a new manager is both an opportunity and responsibility. That’s because the management believes in this project very much.
The positive side is that the local project automatically minimizes global risks, as it does not affect the financial and reputational performance of the entire company. On the other hand, when you lead even a small team of five or seven people, you are at least responsible for their continued well-being and success in achieving the goals set by top management. In addition, your reputation as a leader is at stake. So you have to start trying right away.
The first thing that managers often face at the start, is the fact that you need to find a balance between customer orientation and team interests. Your command’s wants in practice do not always coincide with the wishes of the customer.
You will have to face unusual, controversial, and awkward situations almost every day, but this is what will allow you to improve your managerial skills. You have to set the right tasks for your IT team, monitor the implementation of deadlines and check everything carefully. Here your ability to write and check codes, test and other technical skills will be indispensable.
A good guide is to show ordinary people how to do the work of a splendid person
John D. Rockefeller, an American businessman, the first “dollar” billionaire in human history
The second stage: from the project to the program
A successful start and a prosperous project under your leadership will definitely not go unnoticed by the CEO. And after a certain (most likely, short) time you become the program manager. At this stage, the technician will finally become a manager, as strategic priorities will now be added to the functions of the delegation of authority and control. Here you will be able to fully feel how personal sympathies and attachments fade into the background, giving way to calculation to meet the indicators lowered from above. Yes, the interests of the company gradually cross the line of alienation: you begin to perceive what is happening from the position of direct involvement in obtaining the overall result.
Management does everything right. The leader is doing the right things.
Peter Drucker, one of the most influential management theorists of the twentieth century
Third level: the responsibility grows
Once you met your expectations and showed your managerial qualities, the tasks began to scale. Talented and successful IT managers, on the one hand, are highly appreciated, and on the other hand, they are attracted to work with a large number of important clients for the company. And if you previously knew in great detail about each of them, then at this stage the situation will change slightly. Now you have to take into account the interests of three parties: the client, the teams, and the company. In other words, the obligatory parameter — “business” has been added to your working days. Accordingly, you prioritize the customer’s desires, each employee’s abilities, and the priority of decisions, based on the profits and labor costs of IT professionals needed to implement them — that is, determine whether it’s worth it.
Also in this perspective, you look at the current costs of attracting additional employees to a particular project, purchasing additional equipment and software. In other words, enter the world of “investment-attractive activity”.
When it seems that everything is going against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind, not it follows the wind.
Henry Ford, one of the founders of the US automotive industry
What’s up there?
It seems that after all the ups and downs (we know that it is impossible to live without them), which handed you over to a highly qualified and well-paid manager, it becomes cramped within the country. And here is the good news ?! The IT industry allows you to go beyond the borders of Ukraine.
So, you have come to the head of a company whose offices are located on different continents. This turn in your career will be associated with new challenges, including personal ones. Imagine that now when setting goals to meet targets, you also need to take into account the characteristics of employees from different countries. Each of them has its own understanding and approach to work, basic skills, perception of deadlines and the degree of willingness to take responsibility.
At the same time, your functions now include solving global challenges related to opening new offices, eliminating local problems that disrupt the normal work process (for example, lack of electricity or water supply), providing the necessary technical means, say, to test the program, and many others.
You spend more and more time on management tasks (reviewing, approval, consulting) and gradually move to strategic and tactical actions of the company.
A person always has two motives for any action: one beautiful and the other real.
John Pierpont Morgan, American businessman, banker, and financier
And a few words at the end
The given description of the basic career stages is directly connected with the abilities of the manager. However, such a chain does not always begin with the first (and simplest) step. It happens that the situation requires a promising leader to start immediately with the second stage. And then the mistakes “hurt” more painfully, and the probability of soon returning to the number of ordinary employees becomes quite high.
Of course, you can’t feel comfortable everywhere, but if you are a good IT specialist and are already targeting managers, try to look at your tasks not only from the position of an employee but as a creator of a mutually beneficial process for the client and the company.
