Coordinating a team: difficulty medium

March 31, 2015 7:13 AM

Give me tips for managing a team that I do not supervise.

A few weeks ago I started a new job (hooray!). This new job involves planning all year for something that happens one month out of the year.

A big part of the job is wrangling five other people to help me plan, make decisions and prepare for this month-long program throughout the year. They all have more immediate things to worry about because they're running programming all year. They also are not supervised by me (we're all pretty much the same level hierarchically) and actually are not even in my department, though the two departments work closely obviously.

From what was said in the interview and what I've seen so far, this situation is a little tense. The previous (and only other) person who's had my job was apparently kind of a micromanager--but got everything done. I would like to avoid this, but my supervisor seems to think that leaning on people pretty hard is the only way I'll get the things I need done done because otherwise people will keep putting it off and working on more immediate things. The other thing is that I've come in late enough into the planning process for the year that a lot of the details have already been set and so I'm in the position of communicating policies that I wouldn't necessarily put into place myself. I think everyone understands this at a mental level, but perhaps not an emotional one.

So far I've met with everyone on the team individually for lunch or coffee to get an idea of their work style and ideas (I also have been working with them on various things, they're all in and out of the office but I see them at least a few times a week). I also set up a standing meeting with their supervisor--who is not my supervisor--so I can run things like deadlines, new policies etc past him. Otherwise have been putting a ton of time into learning all of the details of the program (of which there are a lot) so that I can coordinate all these people effectively.

This isn't a disaster or anything, but it's kind of a tricky situation and I'd like to get off on the right foot--I'm not that experienced managing people even in the most straightforward of situations (I have some experience, but not a ton). Ideas? Things you wish you'd known about this sort of situation fifteen years ago?

posted by geegollygosh to Work & Money (5 answers total)

I'd emphasize the "coordination" part of your role, and nix vocab that suggests you "manage" these people. (Because you don't, after all, manage them - you're not in a supervisory role and they are basically your peers, as you say.) Make it clear to them that you want the group to work together to make this project a big success, and that your role is basically to help streamline the process and make sure everyone is on the same page. You can manage them without saying that you're doing so - lead by projecting authority, etc.

I say this because, especially if things were already tense, I would not react well to being "managed" by a peer.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 7:35 AM on March 31, 2015

Response by poster: Yeah, I definitely don't refer to myself as their manager. Or ever say the word managing. That was, however, how it was presented to me.

I think that ideally it would be structured as less management and more a team, so that's kind of what I'm looking for here --ideas on how to coordinate this team while still remembering that I'm the person who in the end needs things done by everyone by certain deadlines so I can get on with my work.
posted by geegollygosh at 7:43 AM on March 31, 2015

This seems like a fairly classic project management type situation, and one key to that is to frame it as you managing the project, and the project requiring certain inputs from the people you are working with. Set a timetable with milestones, ensure responsibilities are clearly assigned, and communicate regularly about upcoming goals and who needs to take action.
Then you can engage with those people not as "I am your manager, please do x" but "to achieve project goal y, we need to have x done by the end of this month. Alice, are you on track to get that done?"
If things are slipping then escalate to the people's actual managers.
posted by crocomancer at 7:50 AM on March 31, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: That pretty much described my first big job at the company I work at. Some things that helped:

1. Recognising that people have other things on their plate. You seem to have this covered, but it's also important to remember this when they inevitably fall behind in work owed. Saying "haha it's ok, I know you're busy. What's a reasonable time you think you can get this to me by then?" seemed to help a lot. When you're not the direct boss, being "that nice person" goes a long way.

2. Checking up with a quick phone call. It helps in reminding them that they have this other thing to do for you outside of the many important things that require their immediate attention. And more importantly, it keeps you in the loop so that you know what issues need addressing (that may be hindering their progress) and whether there might be any likely delays or problems.

3. Having CLEARLY defined responsibilities that are known to all. You don't want a last minute case of "oh I didn't know that was my job. I thought the other person was supposed to be handling that".

As crocomancer mentioned, this is basically project management. There are various resources you can find both online and offline - try googling for starters.

Good luck :)
posted by appleses at 8:00 AM on March 31, 2015 [4 favorites]

a standing meeting with their supervisor
Be sure to tell the supervisor when something goes well/succeeds and not just when something fails. It seems obvious at first, but praising accomplishments can be overlooked when things get hectic.
posted by soelo at 9:48 AM on March 31, 2015