Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Reviewing Up - Revenge? [Philippe Habib]

At my first job, when the VP of engineering asked me if I could come to his office for a few minutes, I felt like I was 10 years old and called to the principal’s office. Things did not improve when he asked that I shut the door. This was my first job; I was trying my best to do good work. I mentally searched for what I could have done to be in this much trouble.

Instead, he asked for my opinion of my boss. In my previous work experience , sweeping an airplane hangar, or working in a factory, my opinion of my boss was neither important or solicited. I just had to do what the boss said, and do it quickly enough and well enough to keep my job. I had no idea of how the boss was evaluated, but I was sure that what I thought of the boss never entered the equation in any way.

I don’t remember exactly what I said. Probably something lame like “She’s fine.” or some such. This really wasn’t enough to satisfy him, so he asked me more detailed questions.

• Did my manager make it clear to me what I was expected to do?
• Did she provide me with relevant and useful feedback along the way?
• When I needed help, did she provide it?
• Did she give me too much guidance and try to control my every step?
• Did she have adequate technical skills to give me the help I needed?
• Did she act in a way that made me uncomfortable or afraid to ask for help?
• In areas where another person in the department had more knowledge, was she willing to defer to that person, or did she always need to act as the expert?
• When I did something wrong, did she tell me what I did wrong and explain what I should have done instead? Was this delivered in a constructive way that helped me learn and do a better job the next time?
• Did she give me guidance about what I could be doing to get myself ready for more responsibility in the future?

Once I got over shock of having the tables turned and being asked to evaluate the boss, I answered the questions as best I could.

After we were done, I had my own question. Since she was the manager of 6 or 8 engineers and I was the newly hired, zero-experience, source control person, what did it really matter what I thought of her? I would do what she said and get my work done, whether I liked her or not.

The VP explained to me that the manager’s job went beyond making sure that I had current listings of all software and that I could build the same executable each time. Her job was to make sure that I did my job in an efficient and effective way and that I was happy doing it, so that I would not look for another job. She was also to help me grow into a more skilled role. She wanted me to succeed and be able to relay my knowledge of the company's products and processes, so that they would not be lost when I was ready to do something else.

He explained that all he could evaluate from his position was that the work was getting done, (dust on the floor, finished machines on the rack). He also cared about the stuff that would keep people happy and productive long term, so that he wouldn’t have to hire a replacement for me or have schedules jeopardized by turnover. In order to get that kind of information, he had to solicit it from the people who report to the manager.

Looking back on it after more than 20 years in the work world I now see benefits for all involved in this kind of a review. The VP knew if productivity was the result of fear and intimidation and would vanish, when his people did, at the first upturn of the job market. My manager could be alerted to good and bad habits and become a better and more effective leader. As an individual contributor I was able to influence my work environment and to learn about the bigger picture of how a department is run.

I'm sorry to say that in over 20 years of industry experience I have never worked at another company that did that kind of a review. Lacking the explicit interest from upper management, most people don't take the risk and trouble to review their manager. They just vote with their feet.

______________________
Philippe Habib consults on embedded device design and firmware. Prior to consulting he has worked for Oracle, IBM (lotus/cc:Mail), Apple, and several startups. More information can be found at www.phenomasoft.com.

1 comment:

Scrappy Kimberly said...

What an extraordinary story! In fact this VP is the kind of leader/manager that Gallup Research has shown attracts and retains the very best people, and builds companies that enjoy the highest employee satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profit. (See the details of the research in "12: The Elements of Great Managing" by Wagner and Harter, or First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.)

There's really no downside to the business for managing the way this VP did. And it doesn't cost any more to manage well than to manage poorly. So why do so many people manage and lead poorly? Quite simply it's discipline. The "secrets" of great leadership and management are not secret at all. They are accessible to everyone. The only thing required is the discipline to apply them in daily activities. Kind of like dieting. With most of the US population overweight, you can see the problem.

Better to hire disciplined people and teach them to lead and manage well than to hire talented people and hope they can become disciplined leaders and managers. Being talented is overrated. Even a woman with a limp moves faster than someone sitting in an easy chair watching TV.

- Kimberly Wiefling, Author, Scrappy Project Management