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    Managing Technical Professionals

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    Pera Peric
    The document discusses when an individual contributor who has transitioned to a management role may consider transitioning back to an individual contributor role. It notes that managers often lack managerial skills and competencies, which can negatively impact performance and the organization. The document advocates that transitioning back is a valid career choice if better aligned with one's skills and that organizations should support such moves.

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    Managing Technical Professionals

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    Pera Peric
    17 views2 pages
    The document discusses when an individual contributor who has transitioned to a management role may consider transitioning back to an individual contributor role. It notes that managers often lack managerial skills and competencies, which can negatively impact performance and the organization. The document advocates that transitioning back is a valid career choice if better aligned with one's skills and that organizations should support such moves.

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    t o Tr a n s i t i o n F r o m Te c h n o l o g y M a n a g e r

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    The document discusses when an individual contributor who has transitioned to a management role may consider transitioning back to an individual contributor role. It notes that managers often lack managerial skills and competencies, which can negatively impact performance and the organization. The document advocates that transitioning back is a valid career choice if better aligned with one's skills and that organizations should support such moves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    17 views2 pages

    Managing Technical Professionals

    Uploaded by

    Pera Peric
    The document discusses when an individual contributor who has transitioned to a management role may consider transitioning back to an individual contributor role. It notes that managers often lack managerial skills and competencies, which can negatively impact performance and the organization. The document advocates that transitioning back is a valid career choice if better aligned with one's skills and that organizations should support such moves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    IEEE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT REVIEW, VOL. 41, NO.

    4, FOURTH QUARTER, DECEMBER 2013

    Managing Technical Professionals:


    When to Know to Transition From
    Technology Manager to Individual
    Contributor!
    TUNA B. TARIM
    President, Manager
    IEEE Technology Management Council

    IEEE DOI 10.1109/EMR.2013.2288174

    MY previous articles focused

    on transitioning from individual


    contributor to technology
    manager and I raised the issues
    about the need for managers
    to develop both technical and
    non-technical competencies. The
    non-technical skills included
    dealing with difficult employees,
    managing remote teams, knowing
    when its time to cancel a
    project, differences between
    project management and people
    management, and in my TMC
    Presidents blog, I wrote about
    mid-year reviews.
    In this article, Ill cover another
    very different but related and
    important topic: What, if after
    moving from a position of
    individual contributor to manager
    and trying for months or perhaps
    a year or two, you are convinced
    that managing engineering and
    technology is not really your
    major interest; you concluded
    youd prefer to be involved deeply
    in technology as an individual
    contributor working on technical
    projects or leading them. Is it
    too late to make a career change
    and what are the implications?
    What will your managers, peers,
    and team members think of your
    decision?
    Many managers and individual
    contributors think that once they
    transition to management there
    is no going back without losing a
    great deal of compensation and
    perhaps a great deal of respect.

    0360-8581 2013 IEEE

    An individual contributor,
    who chooses to become a
    manager, sees the move as a
    career opportunity, even though
    management involves different
    competencies. Often, after
    having accepted a management
    position, managers soon realize
    theyd prefer not to deal with
    people issues, remote teams, the
    projects of their team members,
    and the administrative details
    that now seem to dominate
    their work effort. However, a
    return to individual contributor
    raises a question: will the move
    to individual contributor affect
    their careers negatively when
    they inform management of their
    decision. Does the organizational
    culture permit such changes
    without negative consequences
    on future career opportunities?
    Consider the following situation:
    Five years after being hired into
    a company, an accomplished
    individual contributor, in a small
    group, receives several quick
    promotions and then becomes
    the senior leader of the entire
    organization that consists of
    several groups. Lack of his
    managerial competencies causes
    the organization to fail in meeting
    its commitments, so he decides
    to step down voluntarily to
    prevent a further degradation
    of organizational performance.
    The question: would most of
    his colleagues and management
    see him as a failure or would
    the organization appreciate his

    IEEE ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT REVIEW, VOL. 41, NO. 4, FOURTH QUARTER, DECEMBER 2013

    integrity and applaud him for


    making this difficult decision?
    What would his chances be to
    become the senior manager of
    this or any other organization
    in the future, when he gains
    sufficient experience to meet the
    job requirements?
    Under such circumstances, many
    managers, who fail because of a
    lack of managerial competence
    and inexperience, decide to leave
    the organization for various
    reasons, but often because
    they have lost face in the eyes
    of their colleagues. What is
    forgotten very often is that these
    individual-contributors-turnedmanagers were very competent
    individual contributors; technical
    competence led to their promotion
    to manager, most likely with little
    if any education related to the
    art and practice of managing.
    Somehow this past history of the
    individual seldom surfaces. At
    the same time, some managers
    will continue in their managerial
    positions, even if the organization
    fails to recognize their lack of
    competence, because of their
    compensation and other benefits.
    Generally, managers will be
    paid more than individual
    contributors, because they have

    both people as well technical


    responsibilities. So, once
    managers begin receiving added
    compensation, it is difficult for
    them to give up the management
    position. On the other hand,
    it is also important to note
    that managers, who lack the
    required competencies, often
    do not realize that they lack
    the competencies, even after
    months of coaching; so the
    possibility of transitioning from
    manager to individual contributor
    does not even occur to them.
    Unfortunately, under such
    circumstances, the organization
    and the team members pay the
    price for inadequate leadership.
    In these cases it is up to the
    responsible manager to take
    the appropriate action: explain
    why performance as a manager
    was unsatisfactory, provide
    specific examples of failures to
    manage, and counsel on career
    opportunities and options. Once
    the transition to individual
    contributor takes place, the
    manager has a responsibility
    to promote a positive attitude
    toward the career change and
    assist in the transition; in
    essence, fulfill the management
    responsibilities. It is critical for

    managers to understand that


    being an individual contributor
    is as good a career option as
    being a manager, and one is
    not better than the other. The
    important caveat, for people
    and the organization; select
    an option that best aligns the
    education, experience, personal
    characteristics and attributes
    of the individual with both the
    goals of the organization and the
    individuals career goals.
    Nobody wants to work for a
    manager who lacks the basic
    managerial competencies.
    Extremely smart and effective
    individual contributors leave
    because of incompetent
    managers, and nobody wins when
    this happens. It is important
    for us to know our strengths
    and admit our weaknesses, be
    honest with ourselves and make
    our career choices accordingly,
    without thinking of what others
    might think of us; we will live
    with the choices we make.
    In future articles, I will discuss
    the technical knowledge
    requirements of a technology
    manager. Please send your
    comments to Dr. Tuna B. Tarim
    at ([email protected]).

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