I know how to do my job. My team knows how to do theirs. But we keep losing time and focus because our manager won’t stop interrupting. They are checking in and offering suggestions all the time, while it’s painfully obvious every one of us knows the work ten times better than they do. I get that they need to justify their existence somehow, but all they’re really doing is proving the point. Most managers aren’t just useless, they’re disruptive.
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bump for whoever asked what working in tac is like
Same reason there's so much RTO talk, senior management especially is very weak and locked in old Theory X management thinking.
they're bored and need to justify their existence
training? are you referring to the AI slop mind tickle garbage that business units foist upon everyone. monotone delivery, questionable accuracy, mostly irrelevent with the added bonus of nonsensical quizzes
Ahh, I see you’ve seen training from the security BU
Thankfully I haven’t had a lot of managers like this. I kind of have the opposite problem where my manager is nowhere to be found. Replies to messages hours later etc. drives me crazy
They need to look busy.
There are entire subreddits dedicated to office worker management bragging and making fun of the fact they do almost nothing every day.
So they are paying people to pretend to be occupied but doing actually very little. And then they wonder why they are in debt.
hover == micro management/do not trust you?
You might be getting managed out of your job if:
- Everything you do is suddenly micromanaged.
- You're being given impossible tasks with unrealistic deadlines.
- You're excluded from important meetings.
- Your responsibilities are reduced or shifted to less desirable tasks.
- Your achievements are ignored or downplayed.
- Reasonable requests for time off, training or resources are consistently denied without valid reasons.
- Your position or similar roles are being advertised externally.
- You're penalised for minor infractions others get away with.
@a7 what expertise specifically ? Managers here have less than average intelligence. You must be managing G6's and G8's
What even does a "good manager" look like?
This is true. The ELT top level goals were clear to use AI and simplify operations of teams. Instead the bureaucracy of Senior Directors, Directors, Senior Managers misread that as put in more micromanagement tools and processes to pile on more demands to the ICs doing the actual work. These new processes further slow down progress of teams. Not only that, but many of them manage by spreadsheet like they are in the 1990's. All the middle management pat themselves on the back and give each other high fives. Little do they know that ELT has been watching and they are well aware of how badly middle management missed the mark this year. Instead of simplifying, middle management created an even more dystopian nightmare of archaic tools and processes, many of which aren't even tied into an AI initiative. The bloodbath of middle management might not happen in August, but it will be coming soon to a theater near you.
@a7 so why are you even necessary.
I try my damnest not to hover. I let my folks know I'm here for them if they need my advice or expertise, but otherwise I trust them to do the work. All I ask is for them to occasionally fill me in on what they're doing.
@a2+1k1e61h9m Sounds like you need to hire and develop people better. Your only job is to block the Cisco BS from reaching your people so they can do the actual work.
"Don’t forecast on time:"
forecasts are complete BS. you know it, they know it, everyone knows it.
the final hour of the quarter crunch is proof of this. the numbers are mostly arbitrary with the primary goal to keep commissions as low as tolerable for sales.
"don’t complete training on time:"
training? are you referring to the AI slop mind tickle garbage that business units foist upon everyone. monotone delivery, questionable accuracy, mostly irrelevent with the added bonus of nonsensical quizzes.
hire teachers to teach, the "SMEs" su-k so bad
"Don’t forecast on time, don’t complete training on time"
Why are you controlling the time management of others? Most adults can do this themselves.
FYI - self-directed teams is the new thing for successful companies.
Honestly, as a leader I find that to not be the case. Many ICs don’t do everything they need to do. Don’t forecast on time, don’t complete training on time, aren’t constantly working on pipeline development and so on.
The oversight is to push the team in that direction or coach them out of the business so we can find someone who will.
Trust me every manager wants to not micromanage and they would if they knew all ICs would do what they needed to do.