Technical Management

Technical management has different meanings at different places. The way I see it is by dividing the responsibilities into three categories

1. People management — this is the number one responsibilty for any technical manager. He/She needs to be focused on the people reporting to them and make sure that their needs are taken care of. The manager should always create an environment where the direct reports are the most productive. You should be more downward focused than upward focused if you want to build a really strong team. There is a fine line between being the nice guy and being an asshole. The more closer u are towards the line the better for you.

2. Project Management — if you are in a technical company where you are also resposible for projects then you need to have project management skills. The more details you know about the project the easier it is to run a successful project. Transparency is the key to success. Always keep an open communication and inform everyone of the status as often a possible. If you have the flexibilty follow one of the Agile methodologies.

3. Technical decision maker: this is one of the responsibilty of a technical manager. The more closer you are to technical decisions the better you are at managing people and also better at managing the projects. In my opinion this role/responsibilty is what distinguishes a regular technical manager from an exceptional one.