Published on 12, July, 2020
So i've been thinking about an issue that I think is dificult for STEM employees and especially autistic ones in companies. And that is that there offten isn't a path to career progresion that doesn't involve transitioning, even if gradually, from a technical to a people manament role. The issue is a lot of stem personel don't want to do this. And for autistic personel it may not be within their capabilities. That isn't to say autistic people are bad at managing tasks, planing projects, just not nessiceraly good at handeling the people working on those tasks and projects. So my proposal in a nutshell is let the two aspects of managment be seperated. Let the task manager and the line manager be two seperat people. Let the people persons specialise in line mangment and the probblem solvers specialise in task managment. Lots of orgonisations already do matrix managment where one person may answer to multiplu project heads but generally only has one line manager (who is also a project head or who is line managed by one) So why not have line managers who are not project managers, they just look after people. Training, vacations, sicknesses, absences, complaints etc, all that stuff. but not actual bread and butter work which they leave to the project managers. That way people can bepromoted from technical roles into technical roles or even promoted in place as they get more expert so the orgonisation can keep that acumulated skill.
The way I see it as things stand autistic people get stuck in junior roles, leave for other companies or go into roles that don't realy suit them. Also if you get really great people persons as line managers they can mange more people. And freed of the red tape project managers can project manage more people. And do it better.
What do people think?
Most IT companies, at least the ones I've worked in, have matrix management - people report to a project lead for the team they work in who is responsible for the software delivery, meanwhile being line managed by someone different. And while I wasn't diagnosed autistic at the time, I suspect that many of my colleagues were autistic, both managers and developers.
And some autistic people are highly sensitive due to their sensory processing, so I wouldn't be using that (generally male) stereotype to assume all autistic people are poor people managers.
In general it is easier if both these roles are conducted by one person as interpersonal issues within teams can be sorted quicker than if they are 2 or more separate managers that need to get involved.
Fiona said: And some autistic people are highly sensitive due to their sensory processing, so I wouldn't be using that (generally male) stereotype to assume all autistic people are poor people managers.
While I'm not saying all. I'm going to point out social dificulties is a diagnostic nessesity for autism. Autistic people with out social dificulties are either not autistic or have truly brilient support mechanisms around them to make that happen. That princaple will of course translate to the workplace.
Fiona said:In general it is easier if both these roles are conducted by one person as interpersonal issues within teams can be sorted quicker than if they are 2 or more separate managers that need to get involved.
Since most interpersonal issues at work are between people and their managers I doubt that.
Peter said:social dificulties is a diagnostic nessesity for autism
Yes - but this is different for each of us. I have difficulties in groups of 3 or more but am perfectly able to manage one employee at a time, or mediate an issue between two people (I did this with around 10 people once, but it was exhausting). Particularly because I experience emotional empathy rather than cognitive empathy. Part of my 'overwhelm' socially is that I feel what other people feel, so the more people in the group the more I get overwhelmed with the feelings and needs of the group, as I can't distinguish all the feelings, it is like a tsunami of feeling, in the same way I can't cope with multiple varied sounds at the same time. I am autistic, I met the criteria, just not in a stereotypical way, which often happens with women being misdiagnosed. So I'l agree to disagree with you on that paragraph.
Peter said:most interpersonal issues at work are between people and their managers
I'm not sure, I've found the conflict is most often with people who work closely together who don't communicate well, don't share how they work best, and don't accommodate others. 'Rank' doesn't really come into it for me. I do think that sometimes managers get blamed a lot for the things 'the organisation' asks them to get the staff to do, and often they don't receive any training on how to manage when they get promoted. And some of that (appraisals or mandatory training) we just have to accept as part of our conditions of employment.
I don't know that I agree. What some people might call 'emotional empathy' others might call people pleasing. I knew one autistic girl who was supper social and popular, in general and at work. But at work she couldn't seem to say no and she was constantly burnt out.
And while she didn't seem to get into conflict with her team she often had to say no to other people in other departments or orgonisations which lead to lots of conflict. Just not with her team ... they were quite happy to have someone to hand the phone to who could tell the other end which bridge to go jump off of.
Fiona said:I'm not sure, I've found the conflict is most often with people who work closely together who don't communicate well, don't share how they work best, and don't accommodate others. 'Rank' doesn't really come into it for me.
I guess it depends how vertical your orgonisation is. In my exprence most project are one man jobs (or have been broken down into one man sub jos) and most interaction is with your manager. That's the norm in most places I've worked.