“From a technical role to a management role? New Year job transition: [4 major pitfalls] Let’s take a look!

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As a technician, do you have such concerns as well? I want to switch to a management role, but I’m not interested in management or worried that I won’t be up to the task. Staying in a technical role for a long time means that, on one hand, the salary doesn’t increase, and on the other hand, there’s concern that newer employees might surpass one, leaving one in a difficult position. What are the misconceptions and experiences when we transition from positions that focus on individual professional skills to management roles that emphasize team performance? Major flaw No. 1: Single-threaded thinking. Some people, once they move into management roles, give up on their technical skills, thinking that they can finally get rid of their previous technical identity and focus solely on management, with the aim of advancing to middle or senior management positions in the future. Keep in mind that there are plenty of pure managers everywhere. If you lose your technical skills, when changes occur in a project, it’s not necessarily necessary for you to take on management duties. It would be very difficult to return to a technical role, and in such a case, leaving the job might be the only option. The demand for pure managers isn’t that high; generally, people prefer to promote those they trust from within. If you change jobs, the new company will see you as a newcomer – why should they trust you? At most, I can only give you a chance to be a key member or deputy to see how you perform. I’ve seen many people switch to purely management roles; aside from a very small number who continued to advance, most of them basically stopped working once there were changes in the projects or they changed jobs. There are also those who prefer pure technical work; when there’s an opportunity to move into a management role, they don’t pursue it, believing that only technical positions allow them to excel in their technical skills. In fact, there’s no need to worry so much about this. There are quite a few non-technical tasks involved in management roles, but the allocation of work is relatively flexible; aside from managing tasks, you can take the time to focus on studying those key issues that are important for the project. Second major flaw: unclear self-positioning. The ultimate goal of technical management is to solve problems; you are hired to handle various projects, not just to sit idle. The purpose of management itself is to achieve set goals with limited resources. Time and human resources are limited; if resources were unlimited, then what would be the need for you? Since everyone else can’t handle it and time is running out, when it’s your turn to step in, you need to do so without hesitation – don’t try to act like a hands-off manager. You’re not the boss; you’re a manager. There’s no need to be a hands-off type of person. Don’t think that just by assigning tasks to others it’s enough. Hardware can’t be purchased in just one minute; there are no suitable conditions, and there are various shortages – you need to find ways to solve these problems ； On the other hand, when it’s time to go all out, you need to have the determination to encourage the team to push forward, such as by working overtime. A manager with correct values must take the side of the company; when it’s time to set requirements for everyone, he or she should be able to do so. Everyone wants to be a nice person, but the problem is that you are a manager, not a frontline employee. Only by being strict with yourself and your team, and by resolving each problem one by one, can everyone’s income increase and their careers progress – that is what’s truly good for everyone ； Normally, everyone gets along harmoniously and lives comfortably; but if the problems can’t be resolved and as a result people’s incomes and positions don’t improve, then you are harming them all. Third major flaw: Just wanting to be a good person. That’s how people are – they want to run while they should walk, walk while they should stand, stand while they should sit, and sit while they should lie down. It’s human nature; it’s not that some specific person in your team is lazy. So you need to pull this string; for a person who is walking, sometimes you need them to run – they can take two steps ； But a person who is used to sitting or even lying down for long periods of time, if you ask them to run, they are likely to sprain their feet or break their legs in just a few steps. I used to not understand why military training involved so much marching in step, why recruits had to do repetitive tasks over and over again, and what the point was of folding blankets into squares Over time, I came to realize that the bond within a team needs to be maintained regularly; if it’s not strained, it becomes weaker and weaker, until it eventually breaks when strain is applied. Only by keeping the strings tight usually can one be invincible at critical moments. I have never advocated for **-style management, but there are some common principles. A unit that is used to sitting down cannot run. When managers set requirements for their teams, they feel burdened mentally and experience internal struggles; this is true for ordinary people as well – everyone wants to be happy and work together in a harmonious atmosphere. You need to know that it’s not easy to keep the team spirit strong, but it’s easy to let it slip ； Although there is emotional harmony and everyone is living comfortably, the tasks assigned by the company cannot be completed, bonuses cannot be obtained, and there is no opportunity for advancement – ultimately this harms everyone. Only by setting strict requirements in normal times, so that they can be called upon to come, be ready to fight when they arrive, and be able to win battles, can you truly be responsible for everyone. So my basic requirement for a leader is that they shouldn’t be a pushover; they need to maintain their combat readiness and solve problems. Major flaw number four: tendency to fall into passive management. The biggest problem faced by many technical experts when they switch to management roles is that they end up trapped in the pitfall of \"passive management\" – having to deal with things as they arise ； A problem has occurred; please fix it. It’s not possible to set goals for the future; when conflicts arise, one only knows how to gloss over them. There is no decision-making in the face of contradictions, with an attempt to let big issues become small ones and minor issues go unaddressed. At times when action and decision-making are necessary, hesitation sets in. It is a great failure if one cannot actively strive for benefits for everyone, if one cannot quantify everyone’s work so that higher management can be aware of and recognize their achievements. Truly influential people, even without any official position, are able to affect those outside their sphere of authority, getting others to listen to them and accomplish things that would require more resources from others to achieve. Those without influence, even if given a position, can only carry out minor tasks within the boundaries of their assigned authority, and they may not be able to influence the allocation of people and resources under their control. When working in technology, one must calm down and load all the problems into one’s mental cache, so as to be able to consider everything comprehensively and plan accordingly. By ignoring what’s going on outside and focusing solely on learning from valuable knowledge, one can enter a state of creativity and have ideas flowing like a fountain. Being a manager means not only dealing with a large number of unexpected issues on a daily basis, but also proactively identifying and resolving potential problems in order to secure more resources. Some people encounter such situations for the first time, and the switching between the left and right sides of their brain becomes less efficient; they prefer to stay in the comfortable zone of their previous technical way of thinking, which ultimately leads to serious mistakes. Technical positions and management positions are interrelated; in a company, there are no purely technical roles nor purely managerial roles. On the one hand, even in management positions, one should not neglect their technical skills ； On the other hand, when we have the opportunity to take on management positions, we should strive for them actively; capable people will not be overlooked anywhere.