I’m taking a Service Management course through pax8Academy, and the first thing our instructor said we needed to do was let go of being a technical expert. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. The bulk of my career has been me doing the work, learning the things. This reminds me of an episode of Compiler where they discuss should managers code and if so, how much. The bulk of the people they spoke about followed the 80/20 rule with very few exceptions of managers going deep with the code. And, although I identify with wanting to remain technical, I see the value of passing that knowledge on so others can grow. More importantly, if I am getting caught up with the technical work then that means I'm spending less time on making the team more efficient.
Scott Hanselman’s Scaling Yourself is starting to make more sense
So, in what areas can I systematically improve?
- Time tracking (🤮)
- Creating workflows for dispatching tickets and for common issues (password resets, account compromises, VoIP programming)
- Learning to delegate
- Finding a coach
This Tuesday starts week two. I’ll give myself a goal of completing my time tracking in the moment (and I’ll have my dispatcher hold me accountable by watching my day specifically), creating at least three flowcharts, and directing the techs to use said flowcharts before needing to escalate.
As for the coach, I’ll start with a service management group. My current classmates seem to struggle with the same issues that I have and although it’s nice not to feel alone. I need to find some established service managers who have moved beyond what I’m doing so that I can elevate the type of problems I work on.