When hiring a new Engineering Manager, it is important to set clear expectations that they will be coding for 3-6 months before transitioning into a tech lead and then management role. This helps to build trust in the team and ensure the manager is familiar with the organization. This approach has been successful in helping new managers gain trust from the team and eventually revamp engineering processes.

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Marin Dimitrov

Director of Engineering at Craft

Developing a Career Development Plan

This article discusses the need for a career development plan and the steps taken to create one. The author created a framework that combines different available resources and approaches, such as performance reviews, Insights Discovery, and the Intent Matrix. The framework consists of three parts: core values, strengths and areas for improvement, and a vision. The author also emphasizes the importance of having supporters to help with the journey. The article also highlights the importance of having a simple, comprehensive plan that connects different levels and provides clear benefits.

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Udi Bobrovsky

Co-founder & VP of Product at Selfcare

Approaching Predictive Analytics Problems

This article discusses the challenge of communicating predictive analytics results in the healthcare industry. To address this, surveys and focus groups were conducted to understand the type of message to convey to consumers. The algorithm was changed to compare populations instead of giving scores, and the message was changed to focus on biomarkers instead of risk. Additionally, the communication to consumers and physicians was separated, with physicians being the ones to communicate any uncertain results. The lesson learned is that communication in the health industry needs to be done carefully and with consideration of the implications.

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Ramayan Tiwari

Senior Software Engineer at Netflix

Managing Expectations on a Highly Visible Project

This project was aimed at improving the Netflix recommendation system by taking into account user browsing habits in real-time. To manage expectations and deliver features timely, the project manager talked to users and teams to understand the most common use cases and prioritize them. A proof of concept was built and demoed to users to get feedback. The project manager also built a tool to make the raw data more visually appealing. Lessons learned included using a less adopted technology with caution, building for scale from day one, and starting integrations early on.

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Bobby Asher

Sr Engineering Manager at Meta (Facebook, Oculus, & Family of Apps)

How To Successfully Transition From a Manager of ICs to a Manager of Managers

Transitioning from managing individual contributors (ICs) to managing managers is a difficult process. To be successful, it is important to create a scalable process to check in on organizational health, coach individuals who want to grow, and set up systems to understand the pulse of the organization. Additionally, it is important to set well-defined goals, enact a coaching mindset, act situational based on each manager, and stay technical. These tips will help managers be successful in their new roles.

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Sarper Horata

Product & Project Management Author at Pluralsight

Software Development Life Cycle: A Product Guy’s Perspective

The author joined a new company in a product role and found that the software development life cycle was not being followed. To address this, the author implemented changes to the software development life cycle, including explicit instructions to stakeholders, project tracking with Jira, and workflows for design. These changes resulted in increased productivity and output quality, and other PMs followed the author's initiative. The author also learned lessons about the importance of following a software development life cycle and the difficulty of changing people's habits.

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Kushal Dalal

Director of Engineering at Suzy

Providing Career Guidance to Your Employees

A software engineer was having difficulty focusing on their work due to a newfound interest in product management. The leader helped them weigh their options and encouraged them to learn the skills necessary for product management while continuing their current path. Through periodic check-ins and understanding the engineer's perspective, their performance improved. Ultimately, the engineer became a great coder and the leader learned lessons about understanding perspectives, helping with important decisions, and speaking up when help is needed.

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Andrew Tsui

Director of Product at CNN

Finding the Right Fit as a Product Manager

This article provides a rubric of 11 questions to help product manager interviewees assess a company's technology, business aptitude, product and user experience, and company culture. It also provides advice on how to ask questions to uncover the company's inner dynamics, such as how frequently releases happen, how engineering, product, and design collaborate, and how the company shares information with the product team. The article emphasizes the importance of finding a company that fits the individual's style and interests, and encourages product managers to ask questions to uncover the company's culture and decision-making processes.

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Who to follow

Milos Stojanovic

Senior Staff Software Engineer

Ramya Gadiyaram

Engineering Leader

Leonardo Andreucci

Experienced Startup VP with 20yrs in Apontador & Creditas. Expertise in people management, mentoring, leadership development

Mario Hebert

Growth Engineering Leader | Advisor | Mentor | Board Member

Nimrod Vered

Engineering executive - Ex-Microsoft, Ex-Twilio, Ex-Cisco, Ex-Checkpoint with experience in pre-seed to round E companies.

Philippe Girolami

Highly technical and effective people manager with decades of hands-on software engineering experience

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Hakim Hanif

Sr Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services

Top 7 software bloggers to follow

This blog highlights the top 7 bloggers in the field of software engineering and product development. These bloggers provide valuable insights and ideas on software design, processes, and methodologies. The list includes Martin Fowler, known for his expertise in software patterns; Kent Beck, the creator of Extreme Programming and Test Driven Development; Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator and an expert on startups and entrepreneurship; Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow; Andy Hunt, founder of the Pragmatic Programmer series; Joel Spolsky, a blogger who offers both sensible and surprising perspectives; and Steve Yegge, known for his entertaining content. Following these bloggers can help software engineers improve their skills and gain knowledge from the best in the field.

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Jose Ciccio

ex-Senior Engineering Manager at SchoolMint

Learnings of a Solo Game Developer — Wacky Drivers video game

The author shares their journey of creating a video game called "Wacky Drivers" for Android and iOS. They had the idea for the game since they were a teenager and decided to use Unity as their development tool. They emphasize the importance of having a Game Design Document (GDD) to stay on track and discuss the development process, including creating reusable components and optimizing performance. They also highlight the importance of refining aspects such as controllers, game balancing, settings, and particles. The author advises releasing a minimum viable product (MVP) and gathering feedback early on. They also discuss their marketing efforts and future plans for expanding the game. The author encourages readers to try the game and provide feedback, and concludes by emphasizing the importance of consistency and sharing their enthusiasm for video game development.

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Hakim Hanif

Sr Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services

10 learnings from 10 years at Amazon

The author of this blog post shares their ten learnings as a software engineer at Amazon. They discuss the importance of leadership principles, taking on different roles, implementing mechanisms for consistent behavior, asking questions, learning from failures, following personal interests, taking calculated risks, having meetings with agendas, contributing in meetings, mastering tools, and helping other engineers grow in their careers. These learnings have contributed to the author's continuous growth over the past decade at a fast-paced company like Amazon.

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Jose Ciccio

ex-Senior Engineering Manager at SchoolMint

Improving Performance in Code Reviews

Pull requests are an important part of the software development process, but they can become slow and inefficient as projects grow larger. This article provides tips and strategies for optimizing performance in pull requests. Some common challenges include ineffective pull requests, long wait times for reviews, and poor code quality. Strategies for improvement include setting up a team culture that values the pull request process, optimizing the code review process with clear guidelines, breaking down large pull requests, using performance profiling tools, implementing automated testing, making pull requests more efficient, allocating dedicated time for reviews, making the process visible through team chats, and creating merge requirements. By implementing these strategies, teams can enhance the performance of their pull requests and maintain a smooth software development process.

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Sumedh Bala

Senior Engineering Manager, Platforms

Enabling Copilot: The Journey

The author of the text initially heard about Copilot, a coding tool, at a gathering for engineering leaders. Intrigued, they decided to try out the free trial and were impressed by its capabilities. They then proceeded to convince the stakeholders at their company, including engineering leadership, security, and legal teams, of the tool's potential. Concerns such as licensing, budget, sensitive information, and legal risks were addressed and resolved. The deployment process was straightforward, and after one month of usage, the author gathered early results which showed positive feedback and a significant number of users opting to continue using the tool. The author also highlighted areas for improvement and provided additional resources for reference.

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