Becoming a manager of managers

The SheTO community fosters thoughtful discussions amongst members to learn from each other and grow together. One of the stepping stones in the engineering organization is the transition from a manager of a team to a manager of managers role. How do you do that? Here are some strategies and tactics shared by our group members. 

Building trust with your team

The first year as a manager is focused on growing, supporting your team and showcasing the impact of your team. Build the execution muscle of your team, anticipate issues and support them. Advocate for your team and grow your team members. This trust will enable you to delegate and to manage your time for your own growth activities.  

Fostering relationships with your peers 

Now that you are in your stride with your team, build relationships with managers and peers in the organization. Start with the engineering org and expand out to Product, Customer Success, other functions.  

Understand other teams' problem space, technology and the issues faced by your engineering peers and their teams. Brainstorm solutions with them to become a trusted partner.

Understand your customer & their journey

One of the other facets of relationship building is with customers. Depending upon the size of your org, you want to understand which customers create the maximum impact for the business, leverage opportunities to connect with those customers and understand their feedback. You will then be able to propose solutions at scale with direct business impact. 

Develop a vision

It is definitely important to have a vision for your team and what they need to accomplish, scale into.  Also crucial is to be clear on the challenges and bottlenecks experienced by the Managers within your team.

As you develop your relationships you will develop a deep understanding of the people dynamics, organizational politics and gaps in the organization. Using your team scope as a base, create a vision for your division/organization, and other cross functional teams which are aligned with your vision. 

Share your vision with your manager to ensure that you are aligned. This showcases that you are thinking beyond your current role and are proactive about your growth.

Pitch yourself

Having developed a 360 degree view of your organization and a strategic vision, do not be afraid to pitch yourself for the role. Since you have already been involved with the cross-functional teams you will be able to anticipate changes and pitch at the appropriate time long with your vision.  Advocate for your next role and identify sponsors who can be your voice in the rooms where these decisions are made. 

Introspect & retrospect

There is a lot to be learnt from introspection and retrospection. If you feel that you got the role by happenstance or luck, spend some time introspecting about why you succeeded and what skills you developed along the way. 

Understand how you developed relationships, who could have been your advocate\sponsor. There is a lot to learn from the journey to the role as well. We recommend having a coach or a mentor who can see through you and brainstorm potential opportunities with you. 

For growth, being proactive and advocating for yourself is key. Develop the skills required and foster relationships. Use your “tribe” to brainstorm, learn from each other and grow.