Re:Advice to new managers: don't joke about firing people
by totaldex on Wednesday June 10, 2020 @02:52PM
(#23480679)
While this may fix the issue you pointed out, it gets rid of a crucial benefit of managing a team you're familiar with: context and trust.
By the time a manager gets promoted, they often have enough context to functional well at that level. They may have built a network within their organization, have seen the product or technology go through several iterations, and developed a good understanding of how their team members work. In turn, this makes them a better manager.
New managers have to work hard to gain these skills, and incur great cost in doing so.
Also, on the main topic of the article: personally I seriously limit all my jokes around my team... and also around anyone I could reasonably suspect of moving to my team in the next two years (you gotta always think ahead). IRL most people would describe me as very funny and always joking, and my humor often tends dark. At work, I think a lot of people would describe me as humorless, or amusing at best. This is on purpose. I don't subscribe to the "bring you whole self" theory of modern workplace. I think it's important for the people who entrust their careers in me to see me as serious, thoughtful, and decisive -- not as a goofball whose proudest moments include 40K-upvote memes on reddit!