Knowledge shared by our community

Leading Your Team in Stressful Situations

When a major performance issue with an app needed to be fixed in less than two days, the app team was faced with a stressful situation. The leader stepped in to pause the chaos, requested a room for the team to work together, and asked the CEO and other leaders to show their appreciation for the extra effort. The leader also took ownership of the situation and motivated the team in a genuine way. By the end of the day, the team was able to get the work done and the experience was remembered as one of the fondest memories. To manage stressful situations, it is important to step back, take ownership, and motivate the team in a genuine way.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Why You Should Take Technology Risks in Product Development

ComunidadFeliz, a software for building management, had to innovate their way of working when their app user base started to rapidly grow. Despite the skepticism around serverless computing, they decided to try it and it solved their scaling and financial problems. The team communicated the risks and benefits of the change and customer satisfaction went through the roof. This story serves as an example of how taking risks on new technologies can have a high impact on the user.

Identifying Individuals for Career Growth Opportunities

As an engineering lead, it is important to identify high-performing team members in order to promote them. To do this, managers should look for consistency in delivering goals, going above expectations, ensuring the team delivers goals, and being detail-focused. Additionally, they should look for how well the team member interacts with technical and non-technical individuals, as well as their ability to complete tasks and projects under stress. When dealing with specific promotion situations, managers should engage their strengths and provide them with leadership materials. However, it is important to be honest with team members if they have reached their growth limit within a company.

How to Successfully Hire a Team in the Remote World

The transition to a remote working environment has made hiring more difficult, as companies must find ways to identify and assess technical skills from a wider range of potential employees. Companies can use external recruiters, agencies, or LinkedIn to find talent, and should set goals and incentives for the vendor they choose. The onboarding process should include a well-written problem statement, specific tasks, and a check-in system to ensure the new team member is growing.

The Challenges of Becoming a New Manager Among Old Peers

When obtaining a new management position with no prior experience, it is important to have confidence in yourself and to be intentional in building trust with your team. This can be done by having weekly 1-1s, listening to feedback, and understanding the perspective of your team. It is also important to accept the challenges that come with the position and to create an environment based on trust.

Combining User Research with Testing to Build a Successful Product

After joining a company, I was assigned to build a booking funnel for senior citizens to find caregivers. We tested our product with profiles for each caregiver, but users were apprehensive to book services. After team discussions, we decided to pivot and changed the model to where users reserved services based on their specifications. This gained initial traction and eventually success. It is essential to be flexible during discovery and to keep the key focus on the needs of the customers.

Implementing and Reviewing Roadmaps: Strategies for Transparency and Alignment

As Chief Technology Officer, it is essential to create structures and processes that help align engineering teams with their goals. This includes investing in the hiring process, creating roadmaps for success, and fostering diversity within teams. Additionally, it is important to review and refine processes to ensure they are relevant to the current moment in time, and to build a network to help stakeholders understand the roadmap.

The Necessary Structures of Time Management

Time management is an essential component of achieving success in any project. It is important to consider how much time is needed for each task, and to have a plan in place to manage multiple responsibilities. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to prioritize and organize tasks, and to reduce distractions. Structuring and organizing time and priorities will help increase productivity and achieve completion.

Fostering Emotional Safety as a Leader

This article discusses the importance of communication and support in times of distress for team members. It emphasizes the need for leaders to focus on how they make people feel, rather than what they say, and to create a culture where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. It also encourages leaders to remind their team that their careers are not defined by one small thing, but by an accumulation of small things.

The Importance of Slow Rollouts in Product Development

This article discusses the importance of releasing features slowly and conducting user research before introducing a new feature. A slow rollout of 1-5% of users initially is recommended to get a manageable amount of feedback and reduce the risk of failure. Additionally, user feedback should be taken into account to avoid wrong assumptions and biases.

Navigating Your Role Change: From IC to Engineering Manager

This article provides advice for first-time managers, such as understanding job expectations, acquiring mentors, delegating tasks, giving actionable feedback, and making decisions with limited information. It also emphasizes the importance of aligning the team around a shared strategy and being transparent with leaders.

The Secret To Product Growth is Your People

When scaling a product team, it is important to consider both the product and the people. Hiring the right people is key, and it is important to find a balance between visionaries and realists. It is also important to structure the team correctly, and to empower people to work on the product end-to-end. Finally, bringing in fresh perspectives in the form of juniors can help to assess the product and processes.

Why Documentation Is the Key to Success

As a leader, one of the best ways to enable team members to become more productive is to document every step of the process. This will help new hires become familiar with the work culture and processes, and it will also increase transparency and collaboration. Documentation should be kept up to date, and it should be checked regularly for improvement, clarification, and simplification.

It's Time to Say 'No' to Manual Business Processes

This article discusses the importance of automating processes as a business scales, as manual processes can be error-prone and time-consuming. It outlines the steps taken to automate processes, such as continuous integration, code review, and automated tests, as well as communication with the support team. The article emphasizes the need to be confident in changes and to act quickly to improve efficiency.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

How to Hire and Build High-Value Teams

This article discusses the process of building a successful team, including the importance of hiring based on values, setting clear rules of engagement, and fostering trust between team members. It also emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to act as leaders and having consistent meetings to maintain productivity.

How Remote Product Teams Can Operate Successfully

Working with a remote team can be difficult, but there are ways to improve productivity and communication. Leaders should empower their team members to work autonomously, set expectations for communication, limit meetings, and improve touch points with junior team members. Executives and C-Suite Leaders should also be in alignment when it comes to setting expectations and priorities for the team.

Shortening the Feedback Loop to Improve Collaboration

This article discusses the difficulties of a long feedback loop in a company where the certification process was done externally to the team. To overcome this, the team proposed an idea where they had certification dates, which allowed them to focus on the certification with the external team during the last two or three days of the iteration. This shortened the feedback loop and increased collaboration between teams, allowing them to prioritize the most important items in the backlog.

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Leading Your Team in Stressful Situations

When a major performance issue with an app needed to be fixed in less than two days, the app team was faced with a stressful situation. The leader stepped in to pause the chaos, requested a room for the team to work together, and asked the CEO and other leaders to show their appreciation for the extra effort. The leader also took ownership of the situation and motivated the team in a genuine way. By the end of the day, the team was able to get the work done and the experience was remembered as one of the fondest memories. To manage stressful situations, it is important to step back, take ownership, and motivate the team in a genuine way.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Why You Should Take Technology Risks in Product Development

ComunidadFeliz, a software for building management, had to innovate their way of working when their app user base started to rapidly grow. Despite the skepticism around serverless computing, they decided to try it and it solved their scaling and financial problems. The team communicated the risks and benefits of the change and customer satisfaction went through the roof. This story serves as an example of how taking risks on new technologies can have a high impact on the user.

Identifying Individuals for Career Growth Opportunities

As an engineering lead, it is important to identify high-performing team members in order to promote them. To do this, managers should look for consistency in delivering goals, going above expectations, ensuring the team delivers goals, and being detail-focused. Additionally, they should look for how well the team member interacts with technical and non-technical individuals, as well as their ability to complete tasks and projects under stress. When dealing with specific promotion situations, managers should engage their strengths and provide them with leadership materials. However, it is important to be honest with team members if they have reached their growth limit within a company.

How to Successfully Hire a Team in the Remote World

The transition to a remote working environment has made hiring more difficult, as companies must find ways to identify and assess technical skills from a wider range of potential employees. Companies can use external recruiters, agencies, or LinkedIn to find talent, and should set goals and incentives for the vendor they choose. The onboarding process should include a well-written problem statement, specific tasks, and a check-in system to ensure the new team member is growing.

The Challenges of Becoming a New Manager Among Old Peers

When obtaining a new management position with no prior experience, it is important to have confidence in yourself and to be intentional in building trust with your team. This can be done by having weekly 1-1s, listening to feedback, and understanding the perspective of your team. It is also important to accept the challenges that come with the position and to create an environment based on trust.

Combining User Research with Testing to Build a Successful Product

After joining a company, I was assigned to build a booking funnel for senior citizens to find caregivers. We tested our product with profiles for each caregiver, but users were apprehensive to book services. After team discussions, we decided to pivot and changed the model to where users reserved services based on their specifications. This gained initial traction and eventually success. It is essential to be flexible during discovery and to keep the key focus on the needs of the customers.

Implementing and Reviewing Roadmaps: Strategies for Transparency and Alignment

As Chief Technology Officer, it is essential to create structures and processes that help align engineering teams with their goals. This includes investing in the hiring process, creating roadmaps for success, and fostering diversity within teams. Additionally, it is important to review and refine processes to ensure they are relevant to the current moment in time, and to build a network to help stakeholders understand the roadmap.

The Necessary Structures of Time Management

Time management is an essential component of achieving success in any project. It is important to consider how much time is needed for each task, and to have a plan in place to manage multiple responsibilities. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to prioritize and organize tasks, and to reduce distractions. Structuring and organizing time and priorities will help increase productivity and achieve completion.

Fostering Emotional Safety as a Leader

This article discusses the importance of communication and support in times of distress for team members. It emphasizes the need for leaders to focus on how they make people feel, rather than what they say, and to create a culture where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. It also encourages leaders to remind their team that their careers are not defined by one small thing, but by an accumulation of small things.

The Importance of Slow Rollouts in Product Development

This article discusses the importance of releasing features slowly and conducting user research before introducing a new feature. A slow rollout of 1-5% of users initially is recommended to get a manageable amount of feedback and reduce the risk of failure. Additionally, user feedback should be taken into account to avoid wrong assumptions and biases.

Navigating Your Role Change: From IC to Engineering Manager

This article provides advice for first-time managers, such as understanding job expectations, acquiring mentors, delegating tasks, giving actionable feedback, and making decisions with limited information. It also emphasizes the importance of aligning the team around a shared strategy and being transparent with leaders.

The Secret To Product Growth is Your People

When scaling a product team, it is important to consider both the product and the people. Hiring the right people is key, and it is important to find a balance between visionaries and realists. It is also important to structure the team correctly, and to empower people to work on the product end-to-end. Finally, bringing in fresh perspectives in the form of juniors can help to assess the product and processes.

Why Documentation Is the Key to Success

As a leader, one of the best ways to enable team members to become more productive is to document every step of the process. This will help new hires become familiar with the work culture and processes, and it will also increase transparency and collaboration. Documentation should be kept up to date, and it should be checked regularly for improvement, clarification, and simplification.

It's Time to Say 'No' to Manual Business Processes

This article discusses the importance of automating processes as a business scales, as manual processes can be error-prone and time-consuming. It outlines the steps taken to automate processes, such as continuous integration, code review, and automated tests, as well as communication with the support team. The article emphasizes the need to be confident in changes and to act quickly to improve efficiency.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

How to Hire and Build High-Value Teams

This article discusses the process of building a successful team, including the importance of hiring based on values, setting clear rules of engagement, and fostering trust between team members. It also emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to act as leaders and having consistent meetings to maintain productivity.

How Remote Product Teams Can Operate Successfully

Working with a remote team can be difficult, but there are ways to improve productivity and communication. Leaders should empower their team members to work autonomously, set expectations for communication, limit meetings, and improve touch points with junior team members. Executives and C-Suite Leaders should also be in alignment when it comes to setting expectations and priorities for the team.

Shortening the Feedback Loop to Improve Collaboration

This article discusses the difficulties of a long feedback loop in a company where the certification process was done externally to the team. To overcome this, the team proposed an idea where they had certification dates, which allowed them to focus on the certification with the external team during the last two or three days of the iteration. This shortened the feedback loop and increased collaboration between teams, allowing them to prioritize the most important items in the backlog.

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Leading Your Team in Stressful Situations

When a major performance issue with an app needed to be fixed in less than two days, the app team was faced with a stressful situation. The leader stepped in to pause the chaos, requested a room for the team to work together, and asked the CEO and other leaders to show their appreciation for the extra effort. The leader also took ownership of the situation and motivated the team in a genuine way. By the end of the day, the team was able to get the work done and the experience was remembered as one of the fondest memories. To manage stressful situations, it is important to step back, take ownership, and motivate the team in a genuine way.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Why You Should Take Technology Risks in Product Development

ComunidadFeliz, a software for building management, had to innovate their way of working when their app user base started to rapidly grow. Despite the skepticism around serverless computing, they decided to try it and it solved their scaling and financial problems. The team communicated the risks and benefits of the change and customer satisfaction went through the roof. This story serves as an example of how taking risks on new technologies can have a high impact on the user.

Identifying Individuals for Career Growth Opportunities

As an engineering lead, it is important to identify high-performing team members in order to promote them. To do this, managers should look for consistency in delivering goals, going above expectations, ensuring the team delivers goals, and being detail-focused. Additionally, they should look for how well the team member interacts with technical and non-technical individuals, as well as their ability to complete tasks and projects under stress. When dealing with specific promotion situations, managers should engage their strengths and provide them with leadership materials. However, it is important to be honest with team members if they have reached their growth limit within a company.

How to Successfully Hire a Team in the Remote World

The transition to a remote working environment has made hiring more difficult, as companies must find ways to identify and assess technical skills from a wider range of potential employees. Companies can use external recruiters, agencies, or LinkedIn to find talent, and should set goals and incentives for the vendor they choose. The onboarding process should include a well-written problem statement, specific tasks, and a check-in system to ensure the new team member is growing.

The Challenges of Becoming a New Manager Among Old Peers

When obtaining a new management position with no prior experience, it is important to have confidence in yourself and to be intentional in building trust with your team. This can be done by having weekly 1-1s, listening to feedback, and understanding the perspective of your team. It is also important to accept the challenges that come with the position and to create an environment based on trust.

Combining User Research with Testing to Build a Successful Product

After joining a company, I was assigned to build a booking funnel for senior citizens to find caregivers. We tested our product with profiles for each caregiver, but users were apprehensive to book services. After team discussions, we decided to pivot and changed the model to where users reserved services based on their specifications. This gained initial traction and eventually success. It is essential to be flexible during discovery and to keep the key focus on the needs of the customers.

Implementing and Reviewing Roadmaps: Strategies for Transparency and Alignment

As Chief Technology Officer, it is essential to create structures and processes that help align engineering teams with their goals. This includes investing in the hiring process, creating roadmaps for success, and fostering diversity within teams. Additionally, it is important to review and refine processes to ensure they are relevant to the current moment in time, and to build a network to help stakeholders understand the roadmap.

The Necessary Structures of Time Management

Time management is an essential component of achieving success in any project. It is important to consider how much time is needed for each task, and to have a plan in place to manage multiple responsibilities. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to prioritize and organize tasks, and to reduce distractions. Structuring and organizing time and priorities will help increase productivity and achieve completion.

Fostering Emotional Safety as a Leader

This article discusses the importance of communication and support in times of distress for team members. It emphasizes the need for leaders to focus on how they make people feel, rather than what they say, and to create a culture where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. It also encourages leaders to remind their team that their careers are not defined by one small thing, but by an accumulation of small things.

The Importance of Slow Rollouts in Product Development

This article discusses the importance of releasing features slowly and conducting user research before introducing a new feature. A slow rollout of 1-5% of users initially is recommended to get a manageable amount of feedback and reduce the risk of failure. Additionally, user feedback should be taken into account to avoid wrong assumptions and biases.

Navigating Your Role Change: From IC to Engineering Manager

This article provides advice for first-time managers, such as understanding job expectations, acquiring mentors, delegating tasks, giving actionable feedback, and making decisions with limited information. It also emphasizes the importance of aligning the team around a shared strategy and being transparent with leaders.

The Secret To Product Growth is Your People

When scaling a product team, it is important to consider both the product and the people. Hiring the right people is key, and it is important to find a balance between visionaries and realists. It is also important to structure the team correctly, and to empower people to work on the product end-to-end. Finally, bringing in fresh perspectives in the form of juniors can help to assess the product and processes.

Why Documentation Is the Key to Success

As a leader, one of the best ways to enable team members to become more productive is to document every step of the process. This will help new hires become familiar with the work culture and processes, and it will also increase transparency and collaboration. Documentation should be kept up to date, and it should be checked regularly for improvement, clarification, and simplification.

It's Time to Say 'No' to Manual Business Processes

This article discusses the importance of automating processes as a business scales, as manual processes can be error-prone and time-consuming. It outlines the steps taken to automate processes, such as continuous integration, code review, and automated tests, as well as communication with the support team. The article emphasizes the need to be confident in changes and to act quickly to improve efficiency.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

How to Hire and Build High-Value Teams

This article discusses the process of building a successful team, including the importance of hiring based on values, setting clear rules of engagement, and fostering trust between team members. It also emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to act as leaders and having consistent meetings to maintain productivity.

How Remote Product Teams Can Operate Successfully

Working with a remote team can be difficult, but there are ways to improve productivity and communication. Leaders should empower their team members to work autonomously, set expectations for communication, limit meetings, and improve touch points with junior team members. Executives and C-Suite Leaders should also be in alignment when it comes to setting expectations and priorities for the team.

Shortening the Feedback Loop to Improve Collaboration

This article discusses the difficulties of a long feedback loop in a company where the certification process was done externally to the team. To overcome this, the team proposed an idea where they had certification dates, which allowed them to focus on the certification with the external team during the last two or three days of the iteration. This shortened the feedback loop and increased collaboration between teams, allowing them to prioritize the most important items in the backlog.

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Leading Your Team in Stressful Situations

When a major performance issue with an app needed to be fixed in less than two days, the app team was faced with a stressful situation. The leader stepped in to pause the chaos, requested a room for the team to work together, and asked the CEO and other leaders to show their appreciation for the extra effort. The leader also took ownership of the situation and motivated the team in a genuine way. By the end of the day, the team was able to get the work done and the experience was remembered as one of the fondest memories. To manage stressful situations, it is important to step back, take ownership, and motivate the team in a genuine way.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Why You Should Take Technology Risks in Product Development

ComunidadFeliz, a software for building management, had to innovate their way of working when their app user base started to rapidly grow. Despite the skepticism around serverless computing, they decided to try it and it solved their scaling and financial problems. The team communicated the risks and benefits of the change and customer satisfaction went through the roof. This story serves as an example of how taking risks on new technologies can have a high impact on the user.

Identifying Individuals for Career Growth Opportunities

As an engineering lead, it is important to identify high-performing team members in order to promote them. To do this, managers should look for consistency in delivering goals, going above expectations, ensuring the team delivers goals, and being detail-focused. Additionally, they should look for how well the team member interacts with technical and non-technical individuals, as well as their ability to complete tasks and projects under stress. When dealing with specific promotion situations, managers should engage their strengths and provide them with leadership materials. However, it is important to be honest with team members if they have reached their growth limit within a company.

How to Successfully Hire a Team in the Remote World

The transition to a remote working environment has made hiring more difficult, as companies must find ways to identify and assess technical skills from a wider range of potential employees. Companies can use external recruiters, agencies, or LinkedIn to find talent, and should set goals and incentives for the vendor they choose. The onboarding process should include a well-written problem statement, specific tasks, and a check-in system to ensure the new team member is growing.

The Challenges of Becoming a New Manager Among Old Peers

When obtaining a new management position with no prior experience, it is important to have confidence in yourself and to be intentional in building trust with your team. This can be done by having weekly 1-1s, listening to feedback, and understanding the perspective of your team. It is also important to accept the challenges that come with the position and to create an environment based on trust.

Combining User Research with Testing to Build a Successful Product

After joining a company, I was assigned to build a booking funnel for senior citizens to find caregivers. We tested our product with profiles for each caregiver, but users were apprehensive to book services. After team discussions, we decided to pivot and changed the model to where users reserved services based on their specifications. This gained initial traction and eventually success. It is essential to be flexible during discovery and to keep the key focus on the needs of the customers.

Implementing and Reviewing Roadmaps: Strategies for Transparency and Alignment

As Chief Technology Officer, it is essential to create structures and processes that help align engineering teams with their goals. This includes investing in the hiring process, creating roadmaps for success, and fostering diversity within teams. Additionally, it is important to review and refine processes to ensure they are relevant to the current moment in time, and to build a network to help stakeholders understand the roadmap.

The Necessary Structures of Time Management

Time management is an essential component of achieving success in any project. It is important to consider how much time is needed for each task, and to have a plan in place to manage multiple responsibilities. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to prioritize and organize tasks, and to reduce distractions. Structuring and organizing time and priorities will help increase productivity and achieve completion.

Fostering Emotional Safety as a Leader

This article discusses the importance of communication and support in times of distress for team members. It emphasizes the need for leaders to focus on how they make people feel, rather than what they say, and to create a culture where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. It also encourages leaders to remind their team that their careers are not defined by one small thing, but by an accumulation of small things.

The Importance of Slow Rollouts in Product Development

This article discusses the importance of releasing features slowly and conducting user research before introducing a new feature. A slow rollout of 1-5% of users initially is recommended to get a manageable amount of feedback and reduce the risk of failure. Additionally, user feedback should be taken into account to avoid wrong assumptions and biases.

Navigating Your Role Change: From IC to Engineering Manager

This article provides advice for first-time managers, such as understanding job expectations, acquiring mentors, delegating tasks, giving actionable feedback, and making decisions with limited information. It also emphasizes the importance of aligning the team around a shared strategy and being transparent with leaders.

The Secret To Product Growth is Your People

When scaling a product team, it is important to consider both the product and the people. Hiring the right people is key, and it is important to find a balance between visionaries and realists. It is also important to structure the team correctly, and to empower people to work on the product end-to-end. Finally, bringing in fresh perspectives in the form of juniors can help to assess the product and processes.

Why Documentation Is the Key to Success

As a leader, one of the best ways to enable team members to become more productive is to document every step of the process. This will help new hires become familiar with the work culture and processes, and it will also increase transparency and collaboration. Documentation should be kept up to date, and it should be checked regularly for improvement, clarification, and simplification.

It's Time to Say 'No' to Manual Business Processes

This article discusses the importance of automating processes as a business scales, as manual processes can be error-prone and time-consuming. It outlines the steps taken to automate processes, such as continuous integration, code review, and automated tests, as well as communication with the support team. The article emphasizes the need to be confident in changes and to act quickly to improve efficiency.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

How to Hire and Build High-Value Teams

This article discusses the process of building a successful team, including the importance of hiring based on values, setting clear rules of engagement, and fostering trust between team members. It also emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to act as leaders and having consistent meetings to maintain productivity.

How Remote Product Teams Can Operate Successfully

Working with a remote team can be difficult, but there are ways to improve productivity and communication. Leaders should empower their team members to work autonomously, set expectations for communication, limit meetings, and improve touch points with junior team members. Executives and C-Suite Leaders should also be in alignment when it comes to setting expectations and priorities for the team.

Shortening the Feedback Loop to Improve Collaboration

This article discusses the difficulties of a long feedback loop in a company where the certification process was done externally to the team. To overcome this, the team proposed an idea where they had certification dates, which allowed them to focus on the certification with the external team during the last two or three days of the iteration. This shortened the feedback loop and increased collaboration between teams, allowing them to prioritize the most important items in the backlog.

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Leading Your Team in Stressful Situations

When a major performance issue with an app needed to be fixed in less than two days, the app team was faced with a stressful situation. The leader stepped in to pause the chaos, requested a room for the team to work together, and asked the CEO and other leaders to show their appreciation for the extra effort. The leader also took ownership of the situation and motivated the team in a genuine way. By the end of the day, the team was able to get the work done and the experience was remembered as one of the fondest memories. To manage stressful situations, it is important to step back, take ownership, and motivate the team in a genuine way.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Why You Should Take Technology Risks in Product Development

ComunidadFeliz, a software for building management, had to innovate their way of working when their app user base started to rapidly grow. Despite the skepticism around serverless computing, they decided to try it and it solved their scaling and financial problems. The team communicated the risks and benefits of the change and customer satisfaction went through the roof. This story serves as an example of how taking risks on new technologies can have a high impact on the user.

Identifying Individuals for Career Growth Opportunities

As an engineering lead, it is important to identify high-performing team members in order to promote them. To do this, managers should look for consistency in delivering goals, going above expectations, ensuring the team delivers goals, and being detail-focused. Additionally, they should look for how well the team member interacts with technical and non-technical individuals, as well as their ability to complete tasks and projects under stress. When dealing with specific promotion situations, managers should engage their strengths and provide them with leadership materials. However, it is important to be honest with team members if they have reached their growth limit within a company.

How to Successfully Hire a Team in the Remote World

The transition to a remote working environment has made hiring more difficult, as companies must find ways to identify and assess technical skills from a wider range of potential employees. Companies can use external recruiters, agencies, or LinkedIn to find talent, and should set goals and incentives for the vendor they choose. The onboarding process should include a well-written problem statement, specific tasks, and a check-in system to ensure the new team member is growing.

The Challenges of Becoming a New Manager Among Old Peers

When obtaining a new management position with no prior experience, it is important to have confidence in yourself and to be intentional in building trust with your team. This can be done by having weekly 1-1s, listening to feedback, and understanding the perspective of your team. It is also important to accept the challenges that come with the position and to create an environment based on trust.

Combining User Research with Testing to Build a Successful Product

After joining a company, I was assigned to build a booking funnel for senior citizens to find caregivers. We tested our product with profiles for each caregiver, but users were apprehensive to book services. After team discussions, we decided to pivot and changed the model to where users reserved services based on their specifications. This gained initial traction and eventually success. It is essential to be flexible during discovery and to keep the key focus on the needs of the customers.

Implementing and Reviewing Roadmaps: Strategies for Transparency and Alignment

As Chief Technology Officer, it is essential to create structures and processes that help align engineering teams with their goals. This includes investing in the hiring process, creating roadmaps for success, and fostering diversity within teams. Additionally, it is important to review and refine processes to ensure they are relevant to the current moment in time, and to build a network to help stakeholders understand the roadmap.

The Necessary Structures of Time Management

Time management is an essential component of achieving success in any project. It is important to consider how much time is needed for each task, and to have a plan in place to manage multiple responsibilities. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to prioritize and organize tasks, and to reduce distractions. Structuring and organizing time and priorities will help increase productivity and achieve completion.

Fostering Emotional Safety as a Leader

This article discusses the importance of communication and support in times of distress for team members. It emphasizes the need for leaders to focus on how they make people feel, rather than what they say, and to create a culture where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. It also encourages leaders to remind their team that their careers are not defined by one small thing, but by an accumulation of small things.

The Importance of Slow Rollouts in Product Development

This article discusses the importance of releasing features slowly and conducting user research before introducing a new feature. A slow rollout of 1-5% of users initially is recommended to get a manageable amount of feedback and reduce the risk of failure. Additionally, user feedback should be taken into account to avoid wrong assumptions and biases.

Navigating Your Role Change: From IC to Engineering Manager

This article provides advice for first-time managers, such as understanding job expectations, acquiring mentors, delegating tasks, giving actionable feedback, and making decisions with limited information. It also emphasizes the importance of aligning the team around a shared strategy and being transparent with leaders.

The Secret To Product Growth is Your People

When scaling a product team, it is important to consider both the product and the people. Hiring the right people is key, and it is important to find a balance between visionaries and realists. It is also important to structure the team correctly, and to empower people to work on the product end-to-end. Finally, bringing in fresh perspectives in the form of juniors can help to assess the product and processes.

Why Documentation Is the Key to Success

As a leader, one of the best ways to enable team members to become more productive is to document every step of the process. This will help new hires become familiar with the work culture and processes, and it will also increase transparency and collaboration. Documentation should be kept up to date, and it should be checked regularly for improvement, clarification, and simplification.

It's Time to Say 'No' to Manual Business Processes

This article discusses the importance of automating processes as a business scales, as manual processes can be error-prone and time-consuming. It outlines the steps taken to automate processes, such as continuous integration, code review, and automated tests, as well as communication with the support team. The article emphasizes the need to be confident in changes and to act quickly to improve efficiency.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

How to Hire and Build High-Value Teams

This article discusses the process of building a successful team, including the importance of hiring based on values, setting clear rules of engagement, and fostering trust between team members. It also emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to act as leaders and having consistent meetings to maintain productivity.

How Remote Product Teams Can Operate Successfully

Working with a remote team can be difficult, but there are ways to improve productivity and communication. Leaders should empower their team members to work autonomously, set expectations for communication, limit meetings, and improve touch points with junior team members. Executives and C-Suite Leaders should also be in alignment when it comes to setting expectations and priorities for the team.

Shortening the Feedback Loop to Improve Collaboration

This article discusses the difficulties of a long feedback loop in a company where the certification process was done externally to the team. To overcome this, the team proposed an idea where they had certification dates, which allowed them to focus on the certification with the external team during the last two or three days of the iteration. This shortened the feedback loop and increased collaboration between teams, allowing them to prioritize the most important items in the backlog.

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Leading Your Team in Stressful Situations

When a major performance issue with an app needed to be fixed in less than two days, the app team was faced with a stressful situation. The leader stepped in to pause the chaos, requested a room for the team to work together, and asked the CEO and other leaders to show their appreciation for the extra effort. The leader also took ownership of the situation and motivated the team in a genuine way. By the end of the day, the team was able to get the work done and the experience was remembered as one of the fondest memories. To manage stressful situations, it is important to step back, take ownership, and motivate the team in a genuine way.

Hiring the Right People: Looking Beyond Just Technical Skills

This article discusses the importance of having a holistic hiring process for developers. The author explains how their company initially had a 1-step technical hiring process, which led to many talented individuals who didn't fit into the company culture. To fix this, the author implemented a 3-step vetting process that focused on the candidates as a whole, not just their technical ability. The author also emphasizes the importance of finding people who are team players and who align with the company's goals, rather than just the smartest person for the job. Ultimately, this person-centric approach to hiring will reflect on the company's culture and affect their deliverables.

Why You Should Take Technology Risks in Product Development

ComunidadFeliz, a software for building management, had to innovate their way of working when their app user base started to rapidly grow. Despite the skepticism around serverless computing, they decided to try it and it solved their scaling and financial problems. The team communicated the risks and benefits of the change and customer satisfaction went through the roof. This story serves as an example of how taking risks on new technologies can have a high impact on the user.

Identifying Individuals for Career Growth Opportunities

As an engineering lead, it is important to identify high-performing team members in order to promote them. To do this, managers should look for consistency in delivering goals, going above expectations, ensuring the team delivers goals, and being detail-focused. Additionally, they should look for how well the team member interacts with technical and non-technical individuals, as well as their ability to complete tasks and projects under stress. When dealing with specific promotion situations, managers should engage their strengths and provide them with leadership materials. However, it is important to be honest with team members if they have reached their growth limit within a company.

How to Successfully Hire a Team in the Remote World

The transition to a remote working environment has made hiring more difficult, as companies must find ways to identify and assess technical skills from a wider range of potential employees. Companies can use external recruiters, agencies, or LinkedIn to find talent, and should set goals and incentives for the vendor they choose. The onboarding process should include a well-written problem statement, specific tasks, and a check-in system to ensure the new team member is growing.

The Challenges of Becoming a New Manager Among Old Peers

When obtaining a new management position with no prior experience, it is important to have confidence in yourself and to be intentional in building trust with your team. This can be done by having weekly 1-1s, listening to feedback, and understanding the perspective of your team. It is also important to accept the challenges that come with the position and to create an environment based on trust.

Combining User Research with Testing to Build a Successful Product

After joining a company, I was assigned to build a booking funnel for senior citizens to find caregivers. We tested our product with profiles for each caregiver, but users were apprehensive to book services. After team discussions, we decided to pivot and changed the model to where users reserved services based on their specifications. This gained initial traction and eventually success. It is essential to be flexible during discovery and to keep the key focus on the needs of the customers.

Implementing and Reviewing Roadmaps: Strategies for Transparency and Alignment

As Chief Technology Officer, it is essential to create structures and processes that help align engineering teams with their goals. This includes investing in the hiring process, creating roadmaps for success, and fostering diversity within teams. Additionally, it is important to review and refine processes to ensure they are relevant to the current moment in time, and to build a network to help stakeholders understand the roadmap.

The Necessary Structures of Time Management

Time management is an essential component of achieving success in any project. It is important to consider how much time is needed for each task, and to have a plan in place to manage multiple responsibilities. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to prioritize and organize tasks, and to reduce distractions. Structuring and organizing time and priorities will help increase productivity and achieve completion.

Fostering Emotional Safety as a Leader

This article discusses the importance of communication and support in times of distress for team members. It emphasizes the need for leaders to focus on how they make people feel, rather than what they say, and to create a culture where it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. It also encourages leaders to remind their team that their careers are not defined by one small thing, but by an accumulation of small things.

The Importance of Slow Rollouts in Product Development

This article discusses the importance of releasing features slowly and conducting user research before introducing a new feature. A slow rollout of 1-5% of users initially is recommended to get a manageable amount of feedback and reduce the risk of failure. Additionally, user feedback should be taken into account to avoid wrong assumptions and biases.

Navigating Your Role Change: From IC to Engineering Manager

This article provides advice for first-time managers, such as understanding job expectations, acquiring mentors, delegating tasks, giving actionable feedback, and making decisions with limited information. It also emphasizes the importance of aligning the team around a shared strategy and being transparent with leaders.

The Secret To Product Growth is Your People

When scaling a product team, it is important to consider both the product and the people. Hiring the right people is key, and it is important to find a balance between visionaries and realists. It is also important to structure the team correctly, and to empower people to work on the product end-to-end. Finally, bringing in fresh perspectives in the form of juniors can help to assess the product and processes.

Why Documentation Is the Key to Success

As a leader, one of the best ways to enable team members to become more productive is to document every step of the process. This will help new hires become familiar with the work culture and processes, and it will also increase transparency and collaboration. Documentation should be kept up to date, and it should be checked regularly for improvement, clarification, and simplification.

It's Time to Say 'No' to Manual Business Processes

This article discusses the importance of automating processes as a business scales, as manual processes can be error-prone and time-consuming. It outlines the steps taken to automate processes, such as continuous integration, code review, and automated tests, as well as communication with the support team. The article emphasizes the need to be confident in changes and to act quickly to improve efficiency.

Owning Your Career Growth

Owning your career growth is essential for success, and managers should have a clear career ladder to inspire their reports. Keeping a journal of tasks and achievements is a great way to document your progress and be prepared for reviews or career transitions.

How to Hire and Build High-Value Teams

This article discusses the process of building a successful team, including the importance of hiring based on values, setting clear rules of engagement, and fostering trust between team members. It also emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals to act as leaders and having consistent meetings to maintain productivity.

How Remote Product Teams Can Operate Successfully

Working with a remote team can be difficult, but there are ways to improve productivity and communication. Leaders should empower their team members to work autonomously, set expectations for communication, limit meetings, and improve touch points with junior team members. Executives and C-Suite Leaders should also be in alignment when it comes to setting expectations and priorities for the team.

Shortening the Feedback Loop to Improve Collaboration

This article discusses the difficulties of a long feedback loop in a company where the certification process was done externally to the team. To overcome this, the team proposed an idea where they had certification dates, which allowed them to focus on the certification with the external team during the last two or three days of the iteration. This shortened the feedback loop and increased collaboration between teams, allowing them to prioritize the most important items in the backlog.

Destressing the Software Delivery Cycle

When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.