
Q & A on Leaving Management for Development - rwalling
http://www.softwarebyrob.com/2007/10/15/q-a-on-leaving-management-for-development/
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huherto
I am currently applying for a management position. My boss tells me that that
I will have to leave the technical side. I guess I don't understand this
corporate culture, I have been running my own consulting firm for 8 years and
I am new at this job. I don't see why you can not do anything technical after
you are a "manager". My vision of a manager is more like that of a coach that
helps the developers improve their skills, and can discuss technical
approaches with them. A see a development manager like a technical leader that
has a good vision of where technology will go.

I suppose these activities will take up my time in this position: \- Meetings.
(I could handle a couple of hours a day) \- Evaluations. (kind of bad) \-
Recruitment. (I actually like this) \- Budgeting. (bad) \-

I would really like to do this: \- Talk and help the developers of what they
are doing. \- Research new technology. \- Look for ways to improve the
development environment. like tools and techniques. \- Organize study groups.

Am I being too innocent? What do you think?

My point is that the role of a technical manager doesn't necessarily have to
be just boring clerical work.

