Manageress without the gender
Managing IT projects when people sometimes judge competence by gender.
There are more women in Russian IT, but men still make up most technical teams. A female project manager is hardly a novelty, yet she still occasionally has to prove she knows her own job.
Get me someone competent
A PM doesn’t have to write code or make technical decisions for the team. They do need to understand the constraints, follow up on commitments and explain the reasoning behind their position. Sometimes the PM explains the timeline and what a scope change would mean, but the person listening would rather hear it from a male developer. And just like that, the same arguments become more convincing. A client wanting to speak to a technical specialist is fine. The issue is when it comes down to that person’s gender.
Mansplaining happens within the team too. Ask for the reasoning behind an estimate or a technical constraint, and get a patronising lecture on just how complicated software development is. Thanks. I suspected as much.
A dress code for the chosen few
In IT, men get to wear stretched-out T-shirts, hoodies and shorts. Nobody minds a tech lead who looks like he’s just popped out for bread. A woman is more likely to be expected to look understated and vaguely businesslike.
Oversized clothes, trainers and a slightly scruffy look can apparently raise questions about professionalism. Especially if the woman leads a team and talks to clients. I’ve yet to spot a link between someone’s wardrobe and how well they manage projects.
Smile. You’re a manager.
The same behaviour can get different reviews depending on who it comes from. An assertive man is standing his ground. An assertive woman is being difficult. Somehow, a woman has to be firm enough to be heard and agreeable enough not to annoy anyone.
Make everyone feel at home
A female PM sometimes gets assigned the office mum role by default. Remind everyone about the meeting, get the developers to make up, check nobody’s upset and organise a colleague’s birthday celebration.
Organising the team’s work is part of the job. Waiting on adults who can manage their own calendars and commitments wasn’t in the job description, as far as I recall.
Come on, sweetheart. No need to be so formal.
Overfamiliarity, flirting, pet names. Sometimes a work conversation suddenly becomes an attempt to make things personal. After all, she’s being friendly and doesn’t look utterly disgusted.
It happens with clients too. Ordinary politeness can get read as an invitation to something more personal. Try to steer the conversation back to the project and suddenly that’s rude. Now there are boundaries to manage, when all I wanted was to discuss the tasks, agree on deadlines and get back to work.
Leave gender out of it, please
At work, I keep things as neutral as possible. We’re discussing estimates, risks and urgent requests. My gender shouldn’t come into it. I allow myself to be a little more candid on Managerka, but I don’t think Russian IT is full of sexists. Almost all the teams and clients I meet are reasonable people who couldn’t care less about their PM’s gender. I’d like decisions and results to be what counts.
I’m a project manager. About working with russian clients and teams, sharing experience and things I’ve noticed.
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