Your Questions Answered – Capacity and Growing Into a Leader
At the GIS Managers Summit in July, attendees were able to submit questions for our live panel. While we had some great answers, there were dozens of questions we didn’t have time for, so we’re going to answer them here!
At the Summit, @AndrewSandifer led a discussion about capacity, and evolving into a leadership role. He was joined by @JohnSteed1, Megan Compton, Izabella Miller, and @CarlZimmerman – Andrew and John were joined by @MatthewLewin1 (Matt) and @JamesPardue2 (Jim) in answering questions from attendees, and they had some great answers!
Q: What would be one piece of advice you would give to someone transitioning to a Manager role or finally getting additional staff to assist in their geospatial journey?
Andrew – The key piece of advice for someone making the transition, is to have a vision, goal, and plan to achieve success. These are the ingredients of a thoughtful path, that can also be shared as an example with others wanting start their own journey.
Q: For well-seasoned managers, what would your greatest advice be for those of us who are green?
Andrew – Great question, based on personal experience, the greatest advice is to trust yourself, be fair and open-minded. Understand your organization's goals and the relationships needed to achieve them. Get to know your team, their strengths and weaknesses to ensure that they are in the best position, to help achieve organizational success.
Jim – The first piece of advice would be to find a few mentors. Find ones that you respect and admire, and that are very good at what they do. I have someone who mentors me on the technical aspects of my job and another person who mentors me on the leadership aspects and how to navigate the organization. That way you get two perspectives from two different angles that cover the skillsets you will need to mature and grow.
The second piece is to develop as a manager, with an eye to becoming a leader. The difference? Managers tend to, well, manage. You manage resources, but you lead people. Learn to manage projects, time, funds, assets, data, etc. But also, learn and grow by taking on diverse assignments to lead and develop people. There are separate skillsets required for both. In the end, these two combined with your competency in your GIS tradecraft, will make you a well-rounded professional that grows into a good geospatial leader. One piece of advice I got when I was very junior – never turn down a leadership opportunity or a training opportunity when offered.
Lastly, the only person responsible for your growth and development is you. Accept the challenge and push yourself to seek out people that have the skills you wish to acquire. Become comfortable being uncomfortable. Stretch yourself out of your comfort zone. If you are a great analyst who has really mastered ArcPro and spatial analytics, push yourself into python programming. Then push into data science and predictive analytics by learning advanced spatial skills and maybe “R” for statistical analysis. Learn and grow in three ways, technical skills, leadership skills, and domain skills. Your domain is the area/sector you work in, i.e., health, defense, oil and gas, natural resources, state or local government, law enforcement, etc.
Q:Do you miss the technical aspect of your job when switching to managing? Do you still work with the technology?
John – I have been fortunate to retain my technical skills, especially as they relate to understanding how to troubleshoot problems.
Q: In the face of the fast-paced changes in GIS technologies, how have you been able to adapt to the change you are now responsible for as a leader?
John – It is important to ensure that your team is constantly taking time to research new and upcoming technologies, and then discussing which are needed and how they can be implemented in existing architecture. Professional development is likewise imperative. GIS Technicians should constantly be learning more skills and understanding how to leverage new technology. This should be invested in by companies and the team leaders.
Q: What are strategies to empower your GIS coworkers or direct reports to lead from their position?
Andrew – The key is the development of a person’s skills, to be able to lead once empowered. This can be a combination of formal and informal approaches; formal leadership training, such as classes or seminars etc. Informal, day-to-day coaching, providing situational opportunities to lead, i.e. leading a meeting. Gradually increase responsibilities, to demonstrate leadership ability and build confidence. Provide encouragement, but also instill an expectation of performance and accountability. Ensure authority is commensurate with responsibilities.
John – Everyone has a skillset that makes them unique on the team. Find those skillsets and identify them to the team, while also ensuring that everyone can backfill and support everyone else. This is a balancing act, but can help analysts lead from their position as experts in their own domains.
Q: What does Leadership mean to you?
John – Leadership means the ability to assist colleagues to achieve their best through the work that they do.
Andrew – Having a vision and the wherewithal to bring that vision to life. Leadership is being fair, honest, and just. Understanding the needs of those that you have been entrusted, to make decisions and provide guidance that are in the best interest of the organization and its people.
Q: What are some good / creative strategies to retain your GIS employees? Beyond salary & training.
John – Keep them happy and busy. Find work that fulfills them and challenges them. Help invest in their professional growth. Praise their work publicly and regularly.
Most employees seek job satisfaction and to be valued, which can be in many forms. The key is understanding the motivations and identifying within your organizational construct, what can be applied to meet those motivations. These include things like opportunities for both personal and professional growth, recognition for a job that was well done, attending a conference as reward for demonstrated technical expertise – these are just a few examples.
Q: What is the typical structure of a GIS department...what's considered as an entry-level position vs a career growth position?
John – This varies on company and contract. A large company with lots of positions may provide growth opportunity as an individual can move from position to position. While small companies with small teams can likewise provide opportunities to show initiative and drive, finding unique ways to change how things are done, which can be rewarded through new opportunities.
Matt – The structure of GIS departments vary widely depending on the size, structure and culture of the organization. Here’s a link to an article covering this topic. In summary, organizations fall into one of five structural buckets:
- Centralized -where a central GIS team is responsible deliver of GIS services and systems and all GIS staff are a part of the team and report to a common manager or super
- Hub and spoke – where a central GIS is responsible for managing foundational data sets and systems, while departments manage department-specific data and systems and have some of their own analyst roles
- Balanced – where a network of GIS practitioners from various business units collaborate to collectively manage data and systems
- Federated – where a small central GIS team serves as a coordinator and facilitates development of standards and best practices but a departments largely manage their own data and systems
- Decentralized – where departments and business units manage their own GIS data, systems and services and coordinate among themselves as required
Where the GIS team is located in the organization varies widely as well. It’s most often embedded within an IT/IS function, but is also commonly found within an engineering or planning function or a business area with the largest “center of mass” for GIS. Occasionally you see GIS set up as a standalone shared service.
In terms of positions, a typical entry-level position would be a GIS Technician primarily responsible for map production and light data management. Often organizations follow this role with a GIS Specialist position which focuses more on geospatial analysis particularly around a specific discipline area, or this role could also be a specialist in a specific technology or data area (mobile GIS for example). From there you GIS administrator and GIS developer roles which become more technical with specialized IT and programming skills. Further along there are GIS architects and GIS Business Analysts requiring ever more technical or business domain knowledge. Beyond that are GIS supervisor or GIS manager/director roles responsible for overseeing the GIS team and function at the organization.
Q: I read that the difference between a manager and a leader is that a manager focuses on the right now, while a leader focuses on the future. My question is what do you think is the difference between a manager and a leader?
Andrew – Traditionally "managers" are the day enablers for the organization to be successful. Whereas "leaders" are more aligned to be the visionaries and setting the organization direction to achieve success. The difference in my opinion, is how a someone sees themselves based on where they sit. I firmly believe there is a confluence of the two roles, and that managers and leaders share some of the same responsibilities and expectations for the organization, so you must be both.
Q: How can one effectively identify and rank one’s weaknesses as a GIS Manager?
Andrew – The first way is to be introspective, "know oneself and seek self-improvement". This can begin with a self-evaluation of abilities that the position requires, and your performance compares to others in the same role. A great resource can be a conversation with your direct, to identify any weaknesses and how to address them.
John – 360 degree reviews are a unique way of identifying ones weaknesses. This can be done through asking a team to provide anonymous feedback to them via a third party.
Q:What do you do if the person with role of GIS Manager is not given that role in the org because folks think GIS is just about infrastructure?
John – This is where it is important to identify sponsors who understand what GIS does and how it is important for the overall work that a company does, along with how it impacts the bottom line.
