# Cristian Dragnea's Manager Readme

**Technical Project Manager at MSG Nexinsure AG**

## Why should you read this?

I am an adept of an open  communication, which is in my opinion, the first step in having effective teams. This Management README intends to introduce you into my credo, my management style and my way of working with you.   
  
It should help you communicate effective and efficient with me, even when you don't know me well / yet. It should help you collaborate with me and know my expectations. Furthermore, it should help accelerate any process and answer upfront some questions that you might have about me.

# What do I want to achieve?

I want to achieve greatness. I want to see smiling developers facilitated to work without anything hindering them from delivering great quality, I want to have satisfied customers that recommend our products and services and most of all I want to professionalize and modernize our entire set of internal processes. If you are feeling the same, then we're friends.

In order to achieve this greatness, I don't necessary want to use patterns that are used by most of the managers. I think greatness comes from seeing things differently, seeing value where others don't see it. I think, this mindset is the one that fosters innovation, change and finally a better world.

# How do I achieve, what I want?

I'm in contact with different stakeholders every day. I want to know what our customers are saying, I want to know how developers are thinking, I want to know how other managers are working, so I want to have the big picture. Communicating with me will be a part of our interaction.

I'm here to understand how the written and unwritten processes of the company look like. Then I want to define official processes together with you that help us speak a common language, identify ourselves inside the company and collaborate effective without any bottlenecks and bashing. It might as well be, that some processes are not efficient or not state-of-the-art. In this case, I will replace them.

Even in IT companies, we have stakeholders that aren't technical: Project Managers, Business Domain Consultants, Business Domain Architects or the upper management. I'm here to help all these stakeholders understand what is technically feasible and support or advise them in taking the right technical decisions.

I want to be state-of-the-art with my knowledge. I need to keep in touch with the newest technologies and tendencies in order to identify any potential new idea that could change our business.

I want to understand the company's strategy, mission and vision. Each company has them (written or not). Understanding them helps me take the right decisions without creating resistance. 

Working effectively it's half of it, you also need to work efficiently: clear roadmaps and structured work help me to achieve this.

# What do I value most?

- **Be direct!** Tell me what is the problem and what is your opinion about it. Don't hesitate, even if it's uncomfortable. The time we lose in translation of the real issue will be counted on your side;
- Conflicts and escalations can be solved only with all parts at the table being transparent;  
- Don't hide anything from me;
- Be positive but don't underestimate concerns;
- I think each company (regardless if in the IT business or not) should have at least one board member with  strong IT knowledge. Even if you don't see it, digitization should be one of your main concerns.

# What are my expectations from you?

- **Ask** and it will be given to you by me, or a member of a team that I coordinate;  
- **Seek** and you will find, if nothing shows, go on and ask;
- Come with problems, but most of all come with **ideas** to solve them;
- **There are no stupid ideas.** Come with them to me at earliest, don't wait until you forget them or until they have no meaning anymore;  
- Time is valuable for all of us. I don't accept meetings, business trips and workshops without an agenda. **Prepare an agenda, or don't invite me!**
- If you are an **upper manager** , don't come to me with **solutions** that you didn't prove with me or your employees. **Present it, explain it and challenge it** ;
- **Call me** whenever you need an advice or want to discuss something that would take you centuries to write, or it's itchy (production issue, etc.);
- **Message me** when you're not sure of what you want, or you want to report to me something privately; 
- **E-mail me** when you want to arrange or communicate official matters (always);
- **If a process is defined for a request, use it**. Expecting me to circumvent the process is not going to be successful. Tell me, if you think the process is not effective.

## What can you expect from me?

- A technical manager: Somebody that manages and understand projects and internal processes having a technical (IT) background;
- Structure, structure and structure;
- An open-minded person you can discuss the company's problems with;
- Somebody that can help identify customer's, developer's and company's pains and how to solve it;
- Direct communication and an agile mindset;
- Lateral thinking: Should we really act before identifying the problem?
- Somebody that gives you a fast response in urgent cases and that expects the same from you;
- Using state-of-the art methods and frameworks, but not as if they are representing the one and only way in solving any issue;   
- Being angry if you're thinking in patterns or not willing to progress;
- I don't expect people to answer to me **before 08:30 AM or after 06:00 PM**. If you like to work very early or very late, you can e-mail me your idea to not forget it, but don't expect an answer. If the matter is really urgent, do insist;
- Discrimination has no meaning in my vocabulary, just performance (or what you can do).

# 1:1s

Even though at this point I'm not your personnel manager, I would like to give you frequent feedback, and I'm expecting the same from you. In both good and bad situations.

# Personality quirks

Telling me that a thing needs to be done in a particular way because it was always done like that will not be going to help us collaborate.

# Where to focus on your first 90 days?

**You are new to the project or team and want to start working efficiently.** Be curious, have a positive mindset, explore for yourself, ask me, ask your colleagues, understand how we work and why we work like this. Alarm me if you identify unknown pains that can be seen easier by somebody new to the team.