From Network Engineer to Network Engineering Manager: A First-Timer's Guide
The Big Leap: From Fixing Networks to Leading People
Almost a month in – my first official role with "Manager" in the title, leading a network engineering department for Boscovs Department Store. After years of troubleshooting BGP sessions, designing network architectures, and automating configurations, managing people is an entirely different kind of complex system.
If you're reading this and facing a similar transition, you're probably feeling that familiar mix of excitement and "what have I gotten myself into?" Let me share what I've learned from mentors, research, and honest conversations with other technical managers about what this journey looks like.
What to Expect: The Reality of Technical Management
The Shift from "How" to "What" and "Why"
As an individual contributor, you spent your days deep in the technical "how" – how to configure OSPF areas, how to troubleshoot spanning tree loops, how to optimize WAN performance. As a manager, you'll increasingly focus on the "what" and "why" – what projects should the team prioritize, why certain architectural decisions make business sense, what skills your team needs to develop.
This doesn't mean abandoning technical work entirely, but your relationship with technology changes. You become more of a technical strategist and less of a hands-on implementer.
Your Calendar Will Look Very Different
Remember those focused blocks of time for deep technical work? Those are about to become much rarer. Your calendar will fill with:
One-on-one meetings with team members
Cross-functional meetings with other departments
Budget and resource planning sessions
Vendor discussions and contract negotiations
Incident post-mortems and process improvement meetings
Strategic planning sessions with senior leadership
The key is learning to be effective in this new rhythm rather than fighting it.
The People Problems Are Harder Than Network Problems
Networks follow logical rules. If OSPF isn't converging, there's a technical reason and a technical solution. People are messier. You'll encounter situations like:
Team members with conflicting work styles
Talented engineers who struggle with time management
Competing priorities from different business units (This is a big one)
Career development conversations that require nuanced guidance
Performance issues that stem from personal challenges
The good news? Many of the troubleshooting skills that made you a good network engineer – systematic thinking, root cause analysis, and patience under pressure – translate well to people management.
Essential Traits for Success
1. Technical Credibility Without Technical Micromanagement
Your team needs to trust that you understand the technical challenges they face. This doesn't mean you need to review every configuration or approve every design decision. Instead:
Do:
Stay current with industry trends and new technologies
Understand the architectural implications of business decisions
Ask thoughtful technical questions during project discussions
Provide technical context when communicating with non-technical stakeholders
Don't:
Insist on reviewing every technical implementation detail
Override engineering decisions without strong justification
Use your technical knowledge to micromanage daily work
Let your technical skills atrophy completely
2. Communication Translation Skills
You'll become a translator between technical teams and business stakeholders. This means:
Upward Communication: Translating technical challenges into business impact. Instead of "The BGP session is flapping," try "Our primary internet connection is unstable, which could impact customer transactions during peak hours."
Downward Communication: Translating business requirements into a technical context. Instead of "Corporate wants better network performance," explain "The new point-of-sale system requires sub-50ms latency to the data center to meet checkout time targets."
Lateral Communication: Building relationships with other department managers who depend on your team's work but may not understand technical constraints.
3. Delegation Without Abandonment
Learning to delegate effectively is crucial, but it's not just handing off tasks. Effective delegation includes:
Clearly defining outcomes and success criteria
Providing necessary context and resources
Establishing check-in points without micromanaging
Being available for guidance while allowing autonomy
Following up on results and giving feedback
4. Strategic Thinking Skills
Your perspective needs to expand beyond immediate technical problems to longer-term strategic considerations:
How do technology trends affect your organization's network strategy?
What skills will your team need in 2-3 years?
How do network decisions impact other business initiatives?
Where should you invest limited budget and resources for maximum impact?
Common Gotchas and How to Avoid Them
Gotcha #1: The "I'll Just Do It Myself" Trap
The Problem: When team members struggle with tasks you could complete quickly, the temptation is to jump in and handle it yourself.
Why It's Problematic: This approach prevents team growth, creates dependency, and ultimately fails to scale.
The Solution: Invest time in coaching and development. Yes, it takes longer initially, but it builds capability and frees you for higher-level work.
Gotcha #2: Trying to Maintain the Same Technical Depth
The Problem: Attempting to stay as technically hands-on as you were as an individual contributor.
Why It's Problematic: Management responsibilities require a significant amount of time, and attempting to fulfill both roles at full capacity can lead to burnout and subpar performance in both areas.
The Solution: Accept that your technical involvement will be more strategic and less tactical. Focus on understanding architectural implications rather than implementation details.
Gotcha #3: Avoiding Difficult Conversations
The Problem: Technical people often prefer clear, logical problems over messy interpersonal issues.
Why It's Problematic: Unaddressed performance issues, conflicts, or unclear expectations compound over time and can derail team effectiveness.
The Solution: Develop comfort with difficult conversations. Address issues early, directly, and with specific examples. Remember that avoiding these conversations is unfair to your team and your organization.
Gotcha #4: The "Open Door" Overcommitment
The Problem: Making yourself too available and becoming a bottleneck for team decisions.
Why It's Problematic: Constant interruptions prevent deep work, and over-accessibility can create dependency rather than empowerment.
The Solution: Establish specific office hours for non-urgent questions, encourage team members to try solving problems before escalating, and create clear guidelines for when immediate manager involvement is needed.
Gotcha #5: Forgetting About Your Development
The Problem: Becoming so focused on team development that you neglect your growth as a manager.
Why It's Problematic: Management skills require deliberate practice and learning, just like technical skills do.
The Solution: Invest in management training, find mentors, read relevant books, and actively seek feedback on your management approach.
Practical First-90-Days Action Plan
Days 1-30: Listen and Learn
Focus: Understanding your team, current challenges, and organizational context.
Key Activities:
Schedule one-on-one meetings with each team member
Review current projects and priorities
Understand budget and resource constraints
Map relationships with other departments
Learn about recent incidents and ongoing technical debt
Questions to Ask:
What's working well with current processes?
What are the biggest frustrations or bottlenecks?
What skills do team members want to develop?
What projects or initiatives need immediate attention?
How does the business measure network team success?
Days 31-60: Establish Foundations
Focus: Building relationships and establishing management fundamentals.
Key Activities:
Implement regular one-on-one meeting schedules
Establish team meeting cadences and formats
Clarify roles and responsibilities
Begin developing team goals and success metrics
Start building relationships with key stakeholders
Days 61-90: Strategic Planning
Focus: Developing longer-term vision and priorities.
Key Activities:
Create team development plans
Identify process improvements and automation opportunities
Develop budget and resource requests for the next cycle
Establish metrics for measuring team and individual performance
Begin strategic planning for upcoming business initiatives
Building Your Management Toolkit
Essential Skills to Develop
Active Listening: Really hearing what team members are saying, including what they're not saying directly.
Feedback Delivery: Providing both positive reinforcement and constructive criticism in ways that promote growth.
Conflict Resolution: Helping team members work through disagreements and competing priorities.
Project Management: Coordinating complex initiatives across multiple people and timelines.
Budget Management: Understanding financial planning and resource allocation.
Recommended Reading
Management Fundamentals:
"The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier (specifically great for technical managers)
"Radical Candor" by Kim Scott
"The First 90 Days" by Michael Watkins
Leadership Development:
"Multipliers" by Liz Wiseman
"The Culture Map" by Erin Meyer (especially important in diverse organizations)
"Thanks for the Feedback" by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
Building Your Network
Internal Relationships:
Connect with other managers in your organization
Build relationships with senior leadership
Develop partnerships with business stakeholders
External Learning:
Join management-focused networking groups
Attend leadership development conferences
Find mentors who've made similar transitions
Measuring Success as a Technical Manager
Team Performance Metrics
Technical Excellence:
Incident response times and resolution rates
Project delivery timelines and quality
Infrastructure availability and performance
Security incident frequency and response
Team Development:
Skill development and certification progress
Employee satisfaction and engagement scores
Retention rates and internal mobility
Knowledge sharing and cross-training effectiveness
Business Impact Metrics
Operational Efficiency:
Cost per transaction or per store supported
Automation adoption and manual task reduction
Vendor management and contract optimization
Capacity planning accuracy
Strategic Contribution:
Support for business initiatives and new store openings
Technology roadmap alignment with business strategy
Risk mitigation and compliance maintenance
Innovation and competitive advantage delivery
The Retail Network Engineering Context
Working in retail presents unique challenges and opportunities:
Scale Challenges: Managing networks across hundreds or thousands of retail locations with varying requirements and constraints.
Business Criticality: Network outages directly impact sales and customer experience in real-time.
Seasonal Variations: Handling massive traffic spikes during holiday shopping periods and promotional events.
Security Requirements: Protecting customer payment data while maintaining operational efficiency.
Cost Optimization: Balancing network performance with cost constraints across a large footprint.
Understanding these business drivers will help you make better technical and management decisions.
Embracing the Learning Curve
Here's the truth: you're going to make mistakes. You'll have conversations that don't go well, decisions that need to be revisited, and moments where you question whether you're cut out for management.
That's normal.
The engineers who become the best managers are those who approach management with the same curiosity and systematic improvement mindset they brought to learning networking. Treat management skills like any other technical domain – something that can be learned, practiced, and mastered over time.
Final Thoughts: It's Still About Solving Problems
At its core, management is still about solving problems – they're just different kinds of problems. Instead of troubleshooting network protocols, you're optimizing team performance. Instead of designing network architectures, you're designing organizational processes. Instead of automating network tasks, you're developing people's capabilities.
The analytical thinking, attention to detail, and systematic approach that made you a good network engineer will serve you well as a manager. You're just applying those skills to a different domain.
Remember that your success as a manager will ultimately be measured not by your individual technical contributions, but by your team's collective impact. Your job is to create an environment where your team can do their best work, grow their skills, and deliver value to the business.
You've got this. The same drive that led you to master complex networking concepts will help you master the equally complex but rewarding challenge of leading people.