Working with Manager

These are my notes on working with a manager completely based on Julia Evans’ Help! I have a manager! Zine which also recommends Laura Hogan’s When your manager isn’t supporting you, build a Voltron article

Table of contents:

💬 121 Topics

  • Wins / fails
  • Team goals - what must we do this quarter?
  • Ask for Opportunities
  • Career Path
  • Get Feedback - Any doubts about the project?
  • Give Feedback - Goals were vague
  • Brainstorm
  • Ask for Tools - This training would help me

🥅 Set Clear Goals

  1. Make a plan for what to do first
  2. Tell my manager my plan
  3. Trust them when they say yes

    Screenshot 2024-09-28 at 14.33.26.png Example of setting clear goals from Julia Evans’ Help! I have a manager! Zine

🎸 Rocking Performance Reviews

  • write a BIG DOCUMENT for your manager
    • Every project from last year
      • Project goal and results
      • Cool graphs and data that show project was a win
      • What I did for the project
    • People I helped
    • Project plans + docs I wrote

🪜 Climbing the Career Ladder

  • Can we look at what I need to do for the next level?
  • What should I focus on?
  • If I did X, would that be enough for Y?
  • Keep asking for updates
  • Ask for clear feedback

💪 Know What Your Manager is Great At

  • Seeing business issues
  • Fixing people problems
  • Knowing who’s who
  • Making products
  • Solving big tech issues
  • Setting team tasks
  • Building remote teams
  • … Not every manager is good at everything, use their strengths

🦾 Build your Support Network

  • There will always be things your manager can’t help with
  • Find a group of people with different skills who you can count on
    • Know what you need help with before asking, use your group’s and manager time well!
    • Focus on fixing issues, not complaining!

support_voltron.png

Mixing your group’s strengths can open new doors!

🆕👨‍💼 Getting a New Manager

  • Change is tough, that’s okay
    • Write a doc on past work
    • Ask about concerns directly
    • Watch their strengths closely
    • Tell them when they do great

You can start thinking about your Support Network by filling out the Bingo card:

Manager Voltron Bingo page from https://wizardzines.com/zines/manager/

Manager Voltron Bingo page from Julia Evans’ Help! I have a manager! Zine

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