{"id":32091,"date":"2013-01-05T23:37:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T06:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/05\/the-non-remote-manager.html"},"modified":"2013-01-05T23:37:41","modified_gmt":"2013-01-06T06:37:41","slug":"the-non-remote-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/05\/the-non-remote-manager.html","title":{"rendered":"The Non-Remote Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2001, I was a regional IT support manager, with folks working for me mostly in Denver, but also in Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. But that year we got a new CIO, who moved us from a regional to a functional model, and I started managing groups in other various areas of the IT organization (mostly, in the last 8 years, development teams) all over the US, and into Europe and Asia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And all of those folks, in particular the direct reports to me, were remote. \u00a0My directs and I\u00a0talked all the time by email, by IM, and on the phone at least twice a week (one-on-one and as a group). Managing remote teams can be tough, but I've gotten used to it.<\/p>\n

And now … things change.<\/p>\n

As of Monday, I have a new direct report, a new hire, the result of changing positions back in April, one of my directs getting promoted to another group, and my decision to reorganize the team. \u00a0And this person will be sitting here in Denver with me. In fact, at an adjacent cubicle.<\/p>\n

Most people worry about having managing people who aren't in easy reach, but being now quite used to it I'm somewhat apprehensive about the opposite. Will I tend toward micromanaging Bob\u00a0(not his\/her name), with him sitting so close-by and initially needing help? \u00a0On the other hand, will Bob's proximity mean that I collaborate more with him than with my other directs, unfairly?<\/p>\n

There's a personal convenience factor. Yes, it's easier to reach out and touch someone (in a proper and metaphoric sense, of course) who's right there. But in that proximity, there are may be\u00a0more calls I'll want to consider taking in a private conference room. Or, for that matter, calls that both Bob and I will be on that it will make sense for us to grab a conference room for rather than the convenience of doing it from my own cubicle desk.<\/p>\n

And, for that matter, I'll need to be more\u00a0cognizant\u00a0of my own work habits, and the example I\u00a0set for Bob. \u00a0When you're a remote manager, the gal sitting in Atlanta can't see that you took a long lunch today, or maybe that you were checking on Twitter during that long, boring phone call you were on. \u00a0The guy in Antwerp doesn't see your messy desk. The fellow in Chicago doesn't see your mood or body language, for good and for ill. Leadership by example is a different thing when you're live and direct.<\/p>\n

Now, I'm not really<\/i> worried about all of this. Well, much. It's all concerns over doing the right thing, which are rarely amiss to have (but not good to obsess over). \u00a0It is, though, a different experience for me, and, so I expect, probably a good thing.<\/p>\n

I won't be blogging any\u00a0more about it, at any rate,\u00a0since that gets into the personally off-limits area of discussing actual<\/i> personnel issues (once Bob starts) and HRish sorts of things that shouldn't be bandied about in public. But I wanted to note (for my own personal blogging record) the change and some of the thoughts I had about\u00a0it. I expect the reality will be much smoother than any "OMG CHANGE!" jitters I might have.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Google+:<\/strong> View post on Google+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2001, I was a regional IT support manager, with folks working for me mostly in Denver, but also in Albuquerque and Salt Lake City. But that year we got a new CIO, who moved us from a regional to a functional model, and I started managing groups in other various areas of the IT … Continue reading “The Non-Remote Manager”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6785,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/01\/03\/now_it_can_be_t.html","url_meta":{"origin":32091,"position":0},"title":"Now it can be told (New Years Version)!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Jan-05 6:34am","format":false,"excerpt":"Nothing quite like coming back into the office after three weeks (albeit with a few work days in a foreign office nestled in there), opening up your e-mail, and finding...","rel":"","context":"In "Job Jollies"","block_context":{"text":"Job Jollies","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/job-jollies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16231,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/11\/19\/so-about-all-the-cryptic-wailing-and-gnashing-of-teeth-here-of-late.html","url_meta":{"origin":32091,"position":1},"title":"So about all the cryptic wailing and gnashing of teeth here of late","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 19-Nov-09 4:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"About three weeks ago, I was informed that, due to business conditions, we were going to have to lay off some folks.\u00a0 I was asked to update a rating of the folks in my department, and note potential candidate positions to be terminated. (Just to jump to the end for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Job Jollies"","block_context":{"text":"Job Jollies","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/job-jollies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/unemployment-line-depression.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/unemployment-line-depression.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/unemployment-line-depression.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12514,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/04\/04\/opportunities_missed.html","url_meta":{"origin":32091,"position":2},"title":"Opportunities missed","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 4-Apr-08 3:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, so I do a lengthy status report each week to my boss, compiling and distilling down\u00a0submissions from my direct reports, max 3 pages. Each of my boss's directs also...","rel":"","context":"In "Job Jollies"","block_context":{"text":"Job Jollies","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/job-jollies"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9127,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/02\/14\/remotely_possib.html","url_meta":{"origin":32091,"position":3},"title":"Remotely possible","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 14-Feb-06 6:21am","format":false,"excerpt":"In this week's Open Question: \u201cHow many different remote controls do you have in your home? How many do you actually use? Do you have any remotes for for devices...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1728,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/05\/11\/random_occupati.html","url_meta":{"origin":32091,"position":4},"title":"Random occupations","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 11-May-02 9:26am","format":false,"excerpt":"Things going on so far this weekend: I provided some hours of remote tech support to my folks, both on the problem diagnosis below and on installing Norton the following...","rel":"","context":"In "Media & Culture"","block_context":{"text":"Media & Culture","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10134,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/08\/28\/weekend_update.html","url_meta":{"origin":32091,"position":5},"title":"Weekend Update","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 28-Aug-06 6:24am","format":false,"excerpt":"Occasionally lazy, mostly crazy. FRIDAY: A \"long\" Friday for me, to make up for this coming Friday being off. Still a fairly placid day, very little e-mail, little activity --...","rel":"","context":"In "Doctor Who"","block_context":{"text":"Doctor Who","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/media-tv-doctor-who"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}