Leadership & Strategy

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Why Would Anyone Mob Program? (an intro)

Mob Programming is a concept where a team of ~3-5 works together on a single feature, with only one person typing at a time. It is a difficult process to go from troll-coding to mobbing, but it is an incredibly valuable and efficient experience. It is slow, but the quality of work produced is multiple times better than what a single developer can create. It also allows for full domain knowledge of the system developed, and one member of the mob can represent the team in meetings.

Finding the Mission-Driven Product Management Role That You Want

When searching for a mission-driven job, it is important to evaluate the company's mission, the leaders, and the role itself. If you can't find the perfect job, look for the next best thing and pick your battles. Additionally, find leaders who will help you grow into your target role and focus on the long-term.

Leading a Team: A Short Introduction to Chaos

When joining a small Big Data Engineering team in chaos, the leader had to figure out how to set a vision and roadmap for the team. Through meaningful exercises, the team was able to build a shared vision and mission statement, and set objectives to achieve their goals. The team was able to turn around and hire new talent, and the team still exists today. The key lessons learned were to build a shared vision, put the team through meaningful exercises, and communicate the vision to the rest of the organization.

Craft or Context?: Simplifying the Career Path

This article discusses the importance of formalizing a career path and the tools used to do so. It explains how the author used spreadsheets and professional tools to create a simplified two-pronged career path for their organization. It also explains the three dimensions of growth (scope, time frame, and size) that need to be considered when managing a career path. Finally, it highlights the success of the career path and how it was used to promote several engineers.

Motivating a Team to Work on Less Exciting Tasks

When a tech lead expressed disinterest in a feature they were assigned, the team leader took a win-win approach to the situation. Through conversation, they were able to come to a compromise that allowed the tech lead to work on both features in parallel with more resources and access to knowledge. This enabled the team to achieve a successful outcome while also allowing the tech lead to feel more motivated and engaged.