How do I successfully transition from network administrator to IT Manager? [closed]
A few starting points ...
Go visit Manager Tools and listen to the "Basics" podcasts ... http://manager-tools.com/ ... start the "Management Trinity".
Get serious about being hands-off. Even if you have to be standing over their shoulder directing mouse clicks and commands, make them do the work. You can't act on performance problems if you never let them do the work, and you can't do your own work either.
Remember that you are no longer their friend or their peer. Don't get your feelings hurt when they don't share gossip or confide in you. Don't talk with them about their peers, particularly negatively.
Be in charge. Listen as much as you need to (or have time to in a crisis), then make the decisions. When you make a decision, be clear and confident about it. And remember, even when you accept a recommendation, you made the decision and have to be responsible for the outcome.
Don't allow others to blame your subordinates, and don't throw them under the bus yourself. See the previous point about decisions. You are responsible.
NEVER allow others to treat your subordinates badly. Your job is to get between them and office politics and between them and the wrath of other managers. If just has to yell, they yell at you. If one of your subordinates needs a reprimand, it comes from you.
Get involved with your peers. Build personal relationships, and get to know what is going on in their realm of the business. They need to trust you.
Do your best to get clear performance expectations from your boss, and ask for feedback regularly if it isn't freely offered.
Good luck .. hopefully you will have a ton of fun!
The Director of Operations that you report to is obviously the key person you need to be able to talk to and work with. You'll also need to be sure you're both on the same page when it comes to talking to the CEO and other execs.
I don't have experience with a lot of different CEO's and other execs, but in my experience the key skill an IT Manager or CTO needs is to be able to speak to execs in a way they understand. If you don't do this well, I'd assume you can get some help/coaching from the Director you report to.
As the IT Manager, you'll presumably be the one most responsible for planning and managing the work the department does. With 4 people under you and about 75 people in the company, you should be able to keep a good mental overview of everything that's going on. As part of making plans, you'll need to communicate that overview to other managers, to execs, and to staff and to make sure you understand what they need from your department.
It obviously depends on the company and the staff and the demands on IT, but if I had 4 people under me to handle only 75 staff, I'd hadve lots of time to stay involved in projects. It's no longer your responsibility to get every detail of a new IT Project done just so, but you should be able to stay hand-on enough to keep your technical skills polished.
You indicated there's a problem with some of the techs, so a top priority obviously needs to be some recruiting.
If you aren't already a proficient speaker and presenter, you should start working on that. In almost all cases, an IT Manager who can stand up in front of group of managers and staff and explain what you're doing and answer questions is way way way way way more likely to be successful.