Main Lessons from My First Year in Management

It's been a year (and even more) since I took the position of Head of Web & Mobile Development at Bereke Bank - retrospective 2023.

Passed or flew - it's hard to say. But I would like to share the observations and conclusions that I made after moving from the role of a direct performer to a manager.

Not instant results

One of the most important changes in my work is that now the result is not visible instantly.

In my public speeches, I often focus on the fact that I chose front-end development precisely because of the ability to instantly see the result of my work. When you move into management, you realize that everything you do today may not see the light of day right away.

This causes frustration in the moment, but over time you adapt, laying the foundation for future changes in processes and work.

I think this is a skill I still need to improve, so next year I will focus on strategic change planning.

The most interesting thing is that I was warned about this (Sasha K. and Pasha K., hello 👋), but still this became the most serious change in my work over the past 12 years.

People are not code

When you are a developer, your main interaction is still with the code. In flow mode, you are practically not distracted by external factors.

When you're a manager, your main interaction is with people (and Excel 🤡). On the peak days, the number of active personal chats alone reaches 40, not to mention interactions with people in the office.

In the first months, this really took me out of my working state, because it seemed to me that I had to do something with my hands, and not talk to people.

But quite quickly the realization came: 1:1, discussing processes and problems is your direct responsibility. Employee support is very important, as is understanding the status of all changes in the company.

No priorities

If you look at the backlog of what you need and want to do, it may seem that I'm definitely not going anywhere in the next five years 😉. You don't even have to take on new tasks. But, as in development, priorities are very important in management. Some of them are set by the general pace of the company and management, some are formed by you yourself.

When faced with a large number of tasks, it may seem important to make quick decisions and help everyone, but this is a big mistake that can ultimately eat you up.

Since the results of decisions may not be immediately visible, the best thing to do is to take time to "think" and come up with a solution that will benefit people, the company, and yourself in the long run.

When you look back at what happened this year, it feels like you didn't do anything. But if you dig deeper, you realize how serious the tasks and challenges that had to be faced were.

In the end, I would like to record the thoughts that I repeat to myself when faced with various situations at work:

1. Not everyone is like you.
2. You can't help everyone, but it's important to create opportunities for people.
3. Age doesn't affect anything at all.