I currently manage a commercial software product, and one of the most frequent questions that I get from both my staff and staff on other product teams is "How do I move into management?" I've been answering this question for a few years, and have decided to start a blog so that I can answer these same questions for more people than those that I interact with at work. Not only would I be happy to answer questions through comments or email, but I'd also be interested if there are any other program managers who would also be interested in posting.
The answer I always provide in one form or another to developers / testers / analysts looking to move into management is always the same, and always in the form of another question. "Do you know what management is like day to day?" That's the question that I plan to address with this blog, but not only answering questions and going into my background and how I got to where I am, but to chronicle the day to day activities. I find that it is critical for people to understand what a move into management truly entails, and that they are motivated and ambitious for the right reasons. Generally speaking, the motivation that the only way to make more money is to move into management does not really apply to software, and the same concept is spreading to more and more knowledge based industries. Companies are learning that talent comes in many forms, management being no more or less of a skill than a deep technical expertise.
I've been thinking about this blog for a while now, so I have some pre-planned entries that I'll post in the days to come...
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