I’m a program manager my role is very close to this. People are confused when I give them my title and explain that I don’t have direct reports, but I “manage” our team about as much our director does.
That means handling administrative tasks, organizing work, stakeholder management, or any of the other million tasks involved in running a successful team that developers shouldn’t need to worry about. It’s very easy to conflate prioritizing and planning with telling people what to do, and sadly in many orgs that is the case. However, those tasks and everything else falling under the “management” umbrella should not imply a hierarchy.
It’s just a different type of work to be done by people with different skill sets. I don’t know if that reality will ever be embraced by my fellow business bros, but that simple mindset has made me a better manager than any class, book, or course I’ve experienced.
That means handling administrative tasks, organizing work, stakeholder management, or any of the other million tasks involved in running a successful team that developers shouldn’t need to worry about. It’s very easy to conflate prioritizing and planning with telling people what to do, and sadly in many orgs that is the case. However, those tasks and everything else falling under the “management” umbrella should not imply a hierarchy.
It’s just a different type of work to be done by people with different skill sets. I don’t know if that reality will ever be embraced by my fellow business bros, but that simple mindset has made me a better manager than any class, book, or course I’ve experienced.