Re:Screw the Bonus, Ask for This at Work Instead
by ohjeez on Tuesday February 26, 2013 @01:15PM
(#5287290)
Respectfully, I think you have been working at some of the wrong places.
The manager may not know how to _do_ your job, but she probably can tell if (a) you got good results (b) you put a lot of energy into it (even if it didn't achieve the results you hoped for) (c) you contributed to the team in a visible way (e.g. "I really appreciated how much time you spent with the intern").
None of that means the manager could write code (or whatever) as well as you do. She has you on the team because you do that task well. But letting you know that the work you do is appreciated and valued and makes a difference... that doesn't require that the admiration be for your elegant indenting style or your brilliant use of recursive descent.
A good manager who didn't necessarily understand the tech involved often can bring out the best in her people by getting _them_ to talk. I had one manager ask, after a project was done, "What would you do differently, if you had this to do again?" Asking that doesn't mean that he would have made decisions any better than I did, but it does mean that he was doing his best to help me self-assess and get better at my job.
The manager may not know how to _do_ your job, but she probably can tell if (a) you got good results (b) you put a lot of energy into it (even if it didn't achieve the results you hoped for) (c) you contributed to the team in a visible way (e.g. "I really appreciated how much time you spent with the intern").
None of that means the manager could write code (or whatever) as well as you do. She has you on the team because you do that task well. But letting you know that the work you do is appreciated and valued and makes a difference... that doesn't require that the admiration be for your elegant indenting style or your brilliant use of recursive descent.
A good manager who didn't necessarily understand the tech involved often can bring out the best in her people by getting _them_ to talk. I had one manager ask, after a project was done, "What would you do differently, if you had this to do again?" Asking that doesn't mean that he would have made decisions any better than I did, but it does mean that he was doing his best to help me self-assess and get better at my job.