The first thing you need to do is learn the capabilities of your team.
Who are the best programmers? Who are the best programmers for the given types of problems you have to solve? Who are the most creative thinkers? Who is good at meeting deadlines?
If somebody is bad at meeting deadlines, why?
One of the best programmers I've ever worked with was always missing deadlines. Turns out, it was only because he was really bad at estimating time. Once I learned that, and started handling some of his estimates for him, he was the best programmer on paper too.
As for managing, I try not to micro-manage, but it's easier to get a sense of who does and doesn't need it once you understand, from a manager's perspective, who is capable of what, and to what degree of consistency.
For the actual management, most of the time, I would just periodically see if anybody needed any assistance, and let them know that I was always happy to help where needed.
"One of the best programmers I've ever worked with was always missing deadlines. Turns out, it was only because he was really bad at estimating time. Once I learned that, and started handling some of his estimates for him, he was the best programmer on paper too."
Who are the best programmers? Who are the best programmers for the given types of problems you have to solve? Who are the most creative thinkers? Who is good at meeting deadlines?
If somebody is bad at meeting deadlines, why?
One of the best programmers I've ever worked with was always missing deadlines. Turns out, it was only because he was really bad at estimating time. Once I learned that, and started handling some of his estimates for him, he was the best programmer on paper too.
As for managing, I try not to micro-manage, but it's easier to get a sense of who does and doesn't need it once you understand, from a manager's perspective, who is capable of what, and to what degree of consistency.
For the actual management, most of the time, I would just periodically see if anybody needed any assistance, and let them know that I was always happy to help where needed.