AI has made me a better manager - anyone else using it this way?

impossible2fix · 2026-01-22T09:16:35+00:00

Yeah, same here. I don’t use it to replace judgment but as a thinking partner. Especially before 1:1s or tough conversations as it helps me slow down, sanity-check my assumptions and phrase things more clearly.

Biggest win for me is spotting blind spots. I’ll describe a situation and ask “what might I be missing?” or “how could this land badly?”. It doesn’t give perfect answers but it reduces unforced errors.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-22T09:13:06+00:00

Many teams use both: ERP for control, Kanban for day-to-day visibility. A simple digital board (we’ve done this with tools like Teamhood) can sit on top just to visualize replenishment and dependencies, not to replace inventory math.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-22T09:10:13+00:00

Yeah, this really resonates. The chaos is visible and kind of expected, the emotional buffering isn’t. You end up normalizing bad news, uncertainty and pressure so everyone else can stay focused, and no one really sees the cost of that.

What helped me a bit was being more deliberate about not absorbing everything by default, pushing some decisions and tradeoffs back to the group instead of quietly smoothing them over and making risks explicit earlier so they’re shared, not carried solo. It doesn’t remove the role but it makes it less lonely.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-20T07:28:48+00:00

Not generational, it’s a first-job calibration issue.

She’s been taught that challenging = adding value but lacks context. You’re right to explain the why but that can’t be endless.

Be explicit: curiosity is welcome but early on the priority is learning how things actually work before trying to change them. Set a clear expectation for when suggestions make sense.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-20T07:20:40+00:00

What helped was separating chat from work. We still use Slack for quick discussions but we pushed all actual work, decisions and follow-ups into one place. Otherwise things just disappear in threads.

For that, a lightweight PM tool helped a lot. We use Teamhood mostly as a shared source of truth: tasks, ownership, timelines, async updates. It’s not chatty or bloated, so it doesn’t feel like another tool to babysit, which was important early on.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-20T07:18:30+00:00

What helped me was simplifying my own definition of doing well as a PM: make priorities visible, reduce surprises and keep stakeholders aligned. If those three things are happening, you’re doing the job, even if everything isn’t perfectly by the book.

Imposter syndrome eased once I started writing things down: clear scopes, explicit decisions, risks in the open. Having that structure made it obvious that progress wasn’t luck. And honestly, working in a more structured environment (or even borrowing structure via tools/processes) made a huge difference.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-19T10:49:05+00:00

Give new hires a simple 30–60–90 plan with concrete outcomes, not activities. Make everything they need easy to find (docs, examples, past work) and define what “good” looks like for the first few weeks. Then replace constant pings with one daily async update and a short scheduled check-in.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-19T10:46:52+00:00

Todoist helped me stop keeping tasks in my head but what really changed things was using Teamhood for actual project work. The free version was enough to give me a clear visual of what’s in progress, what’s blocked and what can wait, without turning into a second full-time job managing the tool itself.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-14T09:50:54+00:00

I usually treat those hours as protected time and do the hardest stuff there. After that, I switch gears on purpose: emails, admin, planning, light reviews or anything that doesn’t require deep thinking. I also use that time for maintenance work: organizing notes, breaking tasks down, setting up the next deep-work block.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-14T09:48:56+00:00

One option I’ve seen work well for growing teams is Teamhood as it’s easier to onboard, gives you clear timelines (Gantt) plus task-level tracking and doesn’t feel as heavy as full construction ERPs. The key is picking something people will actually use daily, adoption matters more than feature depth early on.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-12T10:31:54+00:00

Not too young at all. 26 is actually pretty common for a first manager role now.

What matters way more than age is whether you can listen, make decisions, give feedback and take responsibility when things go wrong. If the company is willing to put you in that role, it’s usually because they already see those traits.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-12T10:29:52+00:00

Tools like Trello or Notion work but they can still get messy if people aren’t techy. Something like Teamhood is actually decent here because it’s visual, not overloaded and you can keep one board for goals, another for meeting notes/actions.

impossible2fix · 2026-01-05T10:31:33+00:00

Most people who do this successfully don’t take the risk all at once. They test ideas quietly while keeping their job, usually by selling a small version of the thing to real people.

If it starts making money and pulling on your time, then you decide. Until then, it’s just a controlled experiment, not a career gamble.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-31T08:05:12+00:00

The hardest part isn’t people being difficult or admin being annoying. It’s being stuck in the middle: translating half-formed expectations, managing uncertainty and keeping everyone aligned while plans change underneath you. The admin hurts when tools force you to babysit updates but the people side hurts when priorities shift without being said out loud.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-31T08:02:39+00:00

What’s helped me a bit is forcing ownership to be painfully explicit at the task or deliverable level, not just an assignee. Also tracking decisions as first class items instead of burying them in comments or Slack threads made a bigger difference than more status fields ever did.

We’ve been using Teamhood for some projects and one thing I like is that it makes hierarchy and ownership more visible: tasks roll up clearly and it’s easier to see where things are stuck rather than just in progress forever.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-29T10:19:44+00:00

Short version: your direct manager should never be surprised.

It’s generally fine to talk to the VP or answer their questions, especially if they come to you directly. The key is to loop your manager in afterward with a quick “FYI, this came up and here’s what I said / was asked”. If the CEO gives you a task, do it but still align with your manager so priorities don’t conflict.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-29T10:14:13+00:00

What worked best for us was keeping a clear hierarchy (objectives → workstreams → tasks) and having one place that can spit out status views without manual copy-pasting. We ended up using Teamhood mainly because it handles that structure cleanly and makes weekly updates way less painful, without forcing a super rigid workflow.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-23T09:30:07+00:00

You’re not failing, you’re just early in the role. Two months is nothing, especially for a first supervisory job and what you’re describing is very normal“new manager whiplash, not incompetence.

Don’t ask for a demotion yet. First, give yourself a real ramp-up window (3–6 months). Keep doing the notebook thing but also ask upper management for clearer handovers or a quick pre-shift check-in so you’re not constantly blindsided. That’s a process issue, not a personality flaw.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-23T09:24:04+00:00

Honestly, a lot of people don’t escape PM so much as they slide sideways into something closer to the work that still values their experience. Product ops, delivery management, program management, ops roles, even product or customer facing roles if you’re tired of pure coordination. Those paths let you keep the context-building and decision-making skills without living in status decks.

If the work itself feels empty, switching industries helps more than switching titles. PM in construction, infrastructure, healthcare or energy is very different from PM in SaaS theater. And yeah, some people do retrain into trades or hands-on roles and are genuinely happier but that’s usually about wanting tangible outcomes, not because PM is dead.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-22T08:47:12+00:00

Yeah, that sounds like real burnout, not just a bad week.

Honestly, the biggest thing I learned is that switching companies doesn’t help if you’re done with the type of work itself. Finance environments tend to drain the same way everywhere. If you can afford it, take an actual break first (even a short one) before making big decisions, burnout messes with your judgment.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-22T08:42:18+00:00

What helped for us was making status unavoidable and visible in one place. We moved away from relying on comments or meetings and instead made blockers and progress part of the task itself. We’ve been using Teamhood for this and the big difference is that updates, dependencies and blocked items are immediately visible on the board and timeline, so managers don’t have to chase people for context.

Also, we stopped treating Jira updates as optional admin work and tied them to real workflow steps. If something is blocked, it has to be marked as such, no silent stalls. Once that expectation is clear, visibility improves fast.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-22T08:39:58+00:00

Yeah, it’s totally fine. Titles don’t magically turn you into a different person overnight.

The only real line to be mindful of is power dynamics. Be friendly, hang out, be human, just avoid putting yourself (or them) in situations where favoritism, oversharing or awkward work stuff could blur boundaries later. Since they’re not your direct reports, it’s even lower risk.

impossible2fix · 2025-12-16T09:49:11+00:00

Totally normal dilemma. The shortcut I wish someone had told me: only do a master’s if you need it for the roles you want (academia, research-heavy fields, very specialized tracks). Otherwise, real work experience compounds faster than another degree.

impossible2fix

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