Delivered at the Boston DevOps Meetup, February 15, 2017. In a small company, everyone does everything, so understanding roles is more about knowing who does what at any moment. As organizations grow, specialization creeps in, hierarchies develop, and hierarchies beget managers. Too often, though, everyone assumes they know what a manager does. They don't discuss it, plan it, or make sure that the result serves all participants adequately. Usually, it's the care and cultivation of people that gets short changed in the compromise. This presentation breaks down the roles that managers fill so you can craft the position intentionally and make sure you take care of your people as your company grows.

1. Cultivating People
as the Org Grows
Boston DevOps
February 15, 2017
Stephen Vance

2. 2

3. What Does a
Manager Do?
3

4. People Management
• Basic organizational needs
• Hire/Fire
• Reviews/Appraisals
• Raises
• Promotions/Demotions
4

5. Career Guidance
• Career trajectory
• Professional Growth
• Navigating company
5

6. Discipline Mentorship
• Skills development
• Apprenticeship
6

7. Team Leadership
• Coordination
• Inspiration
• Delivery responsibility
7

8. Discipline Leadership
• Standards and practices
• Advice
• Review
• Expertise
8

9. Budget Ownership
• Fiscal planning
• Expense tracking
• Expense approval
9

10. Product Management
• Personas
• Features
• Designs
• Outcomes
10

11. Program and Project
Management
• Schedules
• Dependencies
• Forecasts
• (Budget tracking)
11

12. Honorarium for Time Served
• We don’t have any other way to give you
more money or responsibility
12

13. Summarizing
• People Management
• Career Guidance
• Discipline Mentorship
• Team Leadership
• Discipline Leadership
• Budget Ownership
• Product Management
• Program and Project Management
• Honorarium for Time Served
13

14. How Does This
Help?
14

15. Examine your …
Ratios
Values
Aspirations
Performance
Does your structure support
your needs and goals?
15

16. An Example
(Story Time)
16

17. Mapping Roles
17
Role Engineering
Manager
Team
Lead
Tech
Lead
Scrum
Master
Product PMO
People Manager
✓
Career Guidance
✓
Discipline Mentorship
✓
Product Manager
✓
Project Manager
✓
Program Manager
✓
Team Leader
✓ ✓
Discipline Leader
✓
Budget Owner

18. Mapping Roles
18
Role Engineering
Manager
Team
Lead
Tech
Lead
Scrum
Master
Product PMO Career
Coach
People Manager
✓
Career Guidance
✓
Discipline
Mentorship
✓
Product Manager
✓
Project Manager
✓
Program Manager
✓
Team Leader
✓ ✓
Discipline Leader
✓
Budget Owner

19. How Can You
Apply This?
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20. Caution
Organizational change is
a hard problem
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21. For More Info
What’s In A Title: “Manager”?, https://blog.vance.com/whats-in-
a-title-manager-b3ec1d30f555
Applying Manager Roles, https://blog.vance.com/applying-
manager-roles-8c10cc7519d
Alternative management approaches
Ricardo Semler, https://www.ted.com/talks/
ricardo_semler_how_to_run_a_company_with_almost_no_rules
Reinventing Organizations, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gcS04BI2sbk
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22. Contact Me
Stephen Vance
http://www.vance.com
steve@vance.com
@StephenRVance
srvance on GitHub and LinkedIn
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