I've been gradually sliding a supervisory role in my job (mainly by dint of everyone else with similar levels of seniority not being interested) and it's been a bit of a challenge because I'm an academic and a research nerd and not a manager. My supervisees are all good folks but they haven't been getting important parts of their jobs done and it's negatively impacting the org. I need to learn how to get them finish their crap but the descriptions of most management books stick to my skin in a way that feels hard to wash off. Does anyone know of good books/etc that won't make me talk like an MBA program replaced my soul with foam packing peanuts?

Edit: Thanks for all the really thoughtful responses, it's a huge help.

  • star_wraith [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Best thing I've found is just have a running list of what everyone is working on and deadlines. New project assigned to your team by the boss? You divvy up the responsibilities, check in on progress, and make sure everyone's comfortable coming to you with questions. Give them the goal and the deadline, let them figure it out.

    Of course, under capitalism we're all under pressure to keep ratcheting up output. So in a lot of environments if you try and protect your team you're the one who gets squeezed.

    One book I'd recommend is Managing With Power. Don't let the title put you off, it's a really bad title. Actual content is good. The reality is that if you're a manager you have power, whether you like it or not. Book talks about how to use that power for generally good purposes.