Knowledge shared by our community

When Agile Isn’t Agile

The company had switched to Agile processes, but without understanding it, it resulted in a huge mess. The product manager switched back to cascade processes, and worked hard to get back on track. After the team had shown it could fulfill working releases, the product manager gradually introduced more agility and flexibility, and eventually reached a much more Agile method of working.

Reversing A Team’s Culture Of Fear

When joining a software company, the manager asked the new employee to work on an old product first. The employee quickly identified a culture of blame and fear within the company, so decided to take action. He requested to work on the old product and told his team that he would be the only one to blame for any mistakes. This approach was successful and the team was able to collaborate and learn without fear.

Stepping Back To Develop Your Engineers

The Director of Engineering at the Rubicon Project wanted to be involved in a machine learning project, but realized it would be a great opportunity for the most senior engineer on the team to show their skills. Despite challenges, the project was successful and the stakeholders were enthusiastic. The Director learned an important lesson in trusting their team and giving them the opportunity to grow.

Bringing A Team Together

The manager of a small engineering team at the Rubicon Project implemented weekly team meetings to encourage collaboration and open discussion. This allowed the engineers to become informed together and discuss concerns as a group. The team meetings also included interesting topics and articles to discuss, which helped the engineers come out of their shells and engage with the rest of the team. As a result, the team has grown to nine engineers and the team has become more comfortable with presenting ideas to each other.

When Engineers Struggle To Adapt To Rapid Changes

Chartboost, a tech company, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past 7 years. This has caused some engineers to struggle to adapt to the changing demands of the company. As a result, the company has become more conscious of hiring people who can adapt to change and are comfortable with the company's vision. The manager has also taken steps to ensure they have a good sense of what is coming up in the future.

When More Engineers Means Decreased Productivity

Chartboost went from a team of two to a team of six, but it took six months to get to a point where their team of six was as productive as the two-person team. It's important to add structure and ensure that everyone has a full picture of what is going on. As the team grows, it's important to adjust and reenvision the structure to ensure efficiency.

Trusting Engineering Teams With Product Management

The CTO of an engineering team split the team into two smaller squads in order to fix communication issues. To scale his role, he delegated tasks to the squads and allowed them to self-organize. This led to the team using user story mapping and hiring more well-rounded candidates based on trust.

When Communication Problems Are Symptoms Of A Bigger Issue

The CTO of Badger Maps experienced communication and productivity issues due to the large size of their team. To address this, they split the team into two smaller Scrum teams and implemented the concept of "Scrum of Scrums" and guilds. This resulted in improved communication and productivity. The lesson learned is to address issues quickly when they arise, as it can be difficult to get the engine moving again if the issue is ignored.

A Framework For Your Team’s Career Growth

At Atlassian, the team was not used to having conversations about growth due to their previous manager. To help them progress, the manager implemented growth profiles and had one-on-ones to assess their capabilities and skills. They then chose goals to work on for six months, using the Golden Circle framework to understand why they wanted to do something. The manager also did monthly check-ins to track progress. This framework was successful in motivating the team.

Dealing With Complainers

When managing a team of four people, I encountered an engineer who was in his probation period and was complaining a lot. I gave him regular feedback and asked him to come up with solutions for himself. I also gave him ownership over problems and encouraged him to use innovation weeks and hackathons to find solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it through his probation period, but I learned that when dealing with complainers, it is important to give them more accountability and allow them to change what they are complaining about.

How To Be A Successful Mentee

This article outlines the importance of valuing time in a mentoring relationship and provides tips on how to prepare for a mentoring session. It suggests providing a quick introduction about yourself and your background, preparing for the session for at least half an hour, and sending a follow-up email after the meeting. The author also shares the lessons they learned from their first mentor, which was to discuss the challenges faced and the learnings had.

Getting Team Buy-in To Improve

When starting as a new manager of an existing team, it is important to take a step back and observe the team from both the inside and outside. After collecting feedback, involve the team in decision making and brainstorming solutions. This approach was successful for the new manager at Atlassian, who was able to reorganize the team's planning process and create a healthy team environment.

Delve Into Issues To Find Solutions

The staff engineer at Betterment identified that the DevOps team was overworked and unable to keep up with the engineering organization's growth. After talking with the team, the engineer realized that the team was not set up for success and needed to be restructured. The engineer then spent the last year reinventing the team and building software to enable the rest of the engineering team to do their own building, testing, and deploying. Through this process, the engineer learned that having empathetic conversations with the team and exploring the issue was the best way to solve the problem.

When Pure People Management Isn’t The Right Fit

The author was asked to take on a managerial role at Betterment, but eventually realized that it was not the right fit for them. After engaging with their manager and other managers in the organization, they created a new role that balanced individual contribution and people management. This experience taught them that organizations should provide mixed career paths for those wishing to learn and grow.

The Search For True Motivations

A direct report wanted to switch teams due to a lack of ownership and mastery in their current job. After discussing their motivations, a plan was created to give them more ownership and mastery in their job. This showed that what appears to be a lack of motivation can often be attributed to a lack of ownership or purpose.

How I Used Email Updates For Team Transparency

In order to bridge the gap between the work of his team and the mission of the company, the manager of a recently expanded team of sixteen direct reports began sending out weekly emails. The emails included project updates, appreciation for work done, and musings on topics such as trust and code reviews. The emails have been well-received and have led to conversations about the team's culture and values.

Managing The Unexpected Doubling Of Your Team’s Size

The author was faced with the challenge of taking on double the amount of direct reports in a day when their peer manager decided to transition from a manager to an individual contributor. The author took a few approaches to ensure their team's well-being and success, such as structuring their week around "themes" of the ways they spend their time, scheduling one-on-ones with their team, and enabling the ICs in the team to take more of a leadership role. The author learned that it is important to take a step back and allow other people to stretch themselves, and that management is all about people and relationships.

How I Moved Away From A Flat Organizational Structure

When the CTO of Narrative Science took over, the company was flat-structured with 14 engineers and 40 employees in total. To prepare for growth, the CTO implemented a QA and DevOps team, created a career ladder with five levels, and set up a program to hire recent graduates. He also had to explain the reasoning behind the changes to the existing organization and train people in having difficult conversations. He learned that it is important to make sure the requirements for each level are clear and that he should deliver on any promises made to employees.

Providing Vision To Keep Projects On Track

This company had a mission to make data accessible for human beings through natural language generation. To do this, they needed to develop a software package. However, due to a lack of clarity on what the product was going to do, they were continually missing the mark. To fix this, the executive team had to take a step back and define a vision for the product in three to five years time. They then determined the five steps needed to push towards that goal and communicated it to the product owners and engineers. This helped reduce conflict and improve their prioritization. Going forward, they need to communicate their vision and steps more often to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Firing A Popular But Underperforming Manager

A manager had been working at an organization for four years and was well-liked, but had received feedback that he avoided delivering bad news and having tough conversations. When a more senior person applied for a job, it became clear that the manager was underperforming. The CTO had to make the difficult decision to let him go, and had to explain the decision to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be the right decision, and the CTO learned the importance of having trust and accountability among peers.

When Agile Isn’t Agile

The company had switched to Agile processes, but without understanding it, it resulted in a huge mess. The product manager switched back to cascade processes, and worked hard to get back on track. After the team had shown it could fulfill working releases, the product manager gradually introduced more agility and flexibility, and eventually reached a much more Agile method of working.

Reversing A Team’s Culture Of Fear

When joining a software company, the manager asked the new employee to work on an old product first. The employee quickly identified a culture of blame and fear within the company, so decided to take action. He requested to work on the old product and told his team that he would be the only one to blame for any mistakes. This approach was successful and the team was able to collaborate and learn without fear.

Stepping Back To Develop Your Engineers

The Director of Engineering at the Rubicon Project wanted to be involved in a machine learning project, but realized it would be a great opportunity for the most senior engineer on the team to show their skills. Despite challenges, the project was successful and the stakeholders were enthusiastic. The Director learned an important lesson in trusting their team and giving them the opportunity to grow.

Bringing A Team Together

The manager of a small engineering team at the Rubicon Project implemented weekly team meetings to encourage collaboration and open discussion. This allowed the engineers to become informed together and discuss concerns as a group. The team meetings also included interesting topics and articles to discuss, which helped the engineers come out of their shells and engage with the rest of the team. As a result, the team has grown to nine engineers and the team has become more comfortable with presenting ideas to each other.

When Engineers Struggle To Adapt To Rapid Changes

Chartboost, a tech company, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past 7 years. This has caused some engineers to struggle to adapt to the changing demands of the company. As a result, the company has become more conscious of hiring people who can adapt to change and are comfortable with the company's vision. The manager has also taken steps to ensure they have a good sense of what is coming up in the future.

When More Engineers Means Decreased Productivity

Chartboost went from a team of two to a team of six, but it took six months to get to a point where their team of six was as productive as the two-person team. It's important to add structure and ensure that everyone has a full picture of what is going on. As the team grows, it's important to adjust and reenvision the structure to ensure efficiency.

Trusting Engineering Teams With Product Management

The CTO of an engineering team split the team into two smaller squads in order to fix communication issues. To scale his role, he delegated tasks to the squads and allowed them to self-organize. This led to the team using user story mapping and hiring more well-rounded candidates based on trust.

When Communication Problems Are Symptoms Of A Bigger Issue

The CTO of Badger Maps experienced communication and productivity issues due to the large size of their team. To address this, they split the team into two smaller Scrum teams and implemented the concept of "Scrum of Scrums" and guilds. This resulted in improved communication and productivity. The lesson learned is to address issues quickly when they arise, as it can be difficult to get the engine moving again if the issue is ignored.

A Framework For Your Team’s Career Growth

At Atlassian, the team was not used to having conversations about growth due to their previous manager. To help them progress, the manager implemented growth profiles and had one-on-ones to assess their capabilities and skills. They then chose goals to work on for six months, using the Golden Circle framework to understand why they wanted to do something. The manager also did monthly check-ins to track progress. This framework was successful in motivating the team.

Dealing With Complainers

When managing a team of four people, I encountered an engineer who was in his probation period and was complaining a lot. I gave him regular feedback and asked him to come up with solutions for himself. I also gave him ownership over problems and encouraged him to use innovation weeks and hackathons to find solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it through his probation period, but I learned that when dealing with complainers, it is important to give them more accountability and allow them to change what they are complaining about.

How To Be A Successful Mentee

This article outlines the importance of valuing time in a mentoring relationship and provides tips on how to prepare for a mentoring session. It suggests providing a quick introduction about yourself and your background, preparing for the session for at least half an hour, and sending a follow-up email after the meeting. The author also shares the lessons they learned from their first mentor, which was to discuss the challenges faced and the learnings had.

Getting Team Buy-in To Improve

When starting as a new manager of an existing team, it is important to take a step back and observe the team from both the inside and outside. After collecting feedback, involve the team in decision making and brainstorming solutions. This approach was successful for the new manager at Atlassian, who was able to reorganize the team's planning process and create a healthy team environment.

Delve Into Issues To Find Solutions

The staff engineer at Betterment identified that the DevOps team was overworked and unable to keep up with the engineering organization's growth. After talking with the team, the engineer realized that the team was not set up for success and needed to be restructured. The engineer then spent the last year reinventing the team and building software to enable the rest of the engineering team to do their own building, testing, and deploying. Through this process, the engineer learned that having empathetic conversations with the team and exploring the issue was the best way to solve the problem.

When Pure People Management Isn’t The Right Fit

The author was asked to take on a managerial role at Betterment, but eventually realized that it was not the right fit for them. After engaging with their manager and other managers in the organization, they created a new role that balanced individual contribution and people management. This experience taught them that organizations should provide mixed career paths for those wishing to learn and grow.

The Search For True Motivations

A direct report wanted to switch teams due to a lack of ownership and mastery in their current job. After discussing their motivations, a plan was created to give them more ownership and mastery in their job. This showed that what appears to be a lack of motivation can often be attributed to a lack of ownership or purpose.

How I Used Email Updates For Team Transparency

In order to bridge the gap between the work of his team and the mission of the company, the manager of a recently expanded team of sixteen direct reports began sending out weekly emails. The emails included project updates, appreciation for work done, and musings on topics such as trust and code reviews. The emails have been well-received and have led to conversations about the team's culture and values.

Managing The Unexpected Doubling Of Your Team’s Size

The author was faced with the challenge of taking on double the amount of direct reports in a day when their peer manager decided to transition from a manager to an individual contributor. The author took a few approaches to ensure their team's well-being and success, such as structuring their week around "themes" of the ways they spend their time, scheduling one-on-ones with their team, and enabling the ICs in the team to take more of a leadership role. The author learned that it is important to take a step back and allow other people to stretch themselves, and that management is all about people and relationships.

How I Moved Away From A Flat Organizational Structure

When the CTO of Narrative Science took over, the company was flat-structured with 14 engineers and 40 employees in total. To prepare for growth, the CTO implemented a QA and DevOps team, created a career ladder with five levels, and set up a program to hire recent graduates. He also had to explain the reasoning behind the changes to the existing organization and train people in having difficult conversations. He learned that it is important to make sure the requirements for each level are clear and that he should deliver on any promises made to employees.

Providing Vision To Keep Projects On Track

This company had a mission to make data accessible for human beings through natural language generation. To do this, they needed to develop a software package. However, due to a lack of clarity on what the product was going to do, they were continually missing the mark. To fix this, the executive team had to take a step back and define a vision for the product in three to five years time. They then determined the five steps needed to push towards that goal and communicated it to the product owners and engineers. This helped reduce conflict and improve their prioritization. Going forward, they need to communicate their vision and steps more often to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Firing A Popular But Underperforming Manager

A manager had been working at an organization for four years and was well-liked, but had received feedback that he avoided delivering bad news and having tough conversations. When a more senior person applied for a job, it became clear that the manager was underperforming. The CTO had to make the difficult decision to let him go, and had to explain the decision to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be the right decision, and the CTO learned the importance of having trust and accountability among peers.

When Agile Isn’t Agile

The company had switched to Agile processes, but without understanding it, it resulted in a huge mess. The product manager switched back to cascade processes, and worked hard to get back on track. After the team had shown it could fulfill working releases, the product manager gradually introduced more agility and flexibility, and eventually reached a much more Agile method of working.

Reversing A Team’s Culture Of Fear

When joining a software company, the manager asked the new employee to work on an old product first. The employee quickly identified a culture of blame and fear within the company, so decided to take action. He requested to work on the old product and told his team that he would be the only one to blame for any mistakes. This approach was successful and the team was able to collaborate and learn without fear.

Stepping Back To Develop Your Engineers

The Director of Engineering at the Rubicon Project wanted to be involved in a machine learning project, but realized it would be a great opportunity for the most senior engineer on the team to show their skills. Despite challenges, the project was successful and the stakeholders were enthusiastic. The Director learned an important lesson in trusting their team and giving them the opportunity to grow.

Bringing A Team Together

The manager of a small engineering team at the Rubicon Project implemented weekly team meetings to encourage collaboration and open discussion. This allowed the engineers to become informed together and discuss concerns as a group. The team meetings also included interesting topics and articles to discuss, which helped the engineers come out of their shells and engage with the rest of the team. As a result, the team has grown to nine engineers and the team has become more comfortable with presenting ideas to each other.

When Engineers Struggle To Adapt To Rapid Changes

Chartboost, a tech company, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past 7 years. This has caused some engineers to struggle to adapt to the changing demands of the company. As a result, the company has become more conscious of hiring people who can adapt to change and are comfortable with the company's vision. The manager has also taken steps to ensure they have a good sense of what is coming up in the future.

When More Engineers Means Decreased Productivity

Chartboost went from a team of two to a team of six, but it took six months to get to a point where their team of six was as productive as the two-person team. It's important to add structure and ensure that everyone has a full picture of what is going on. As the team grows, it's important to adjust and reenvision the structure to ensure efficiency.

Trusting Engineering Teams With Product Management

The CTO of an engineering team split the team into two smaller squads in order to fix communication issues. To scale his role, he delegated tasks to the squads and allowed them to self-organize. This led to the team using user story mapping and hiring more well-rounded candidates based on trust.

When Communication Problems Are Symptoms Of A Bigger Issue

The CTO of Badger Maps experienced communication and productivity issues due to the large size of their team. To address this, they split the team into two smaller Scrum teams and implemented the concept of "Scrum of Scrums" and guilds. This resulted in improved communication and productivity. The lesson learned is to address issues quickly when they arise, as it can be difficult to get the engine moving again if the issue is ignored.

A Framework For Your Team’s Career Growth

At Atlassian, the team was not used to having conversations about growth due to their previous manager. To help them progress, the manager implemented growth profiles and had one-on-ones to assess their capabilities and skills. They then chose goals to work on for six months, using the Golden Circle framework to understand why they wanted to do something. The manager also did monthly check-ins to track progress. This framework was successful in motivating the team.

Dealing With Complainers

When managing a team of four people, I encountered an engineer who was in his probation period and was complaining a lot. I gave him regular feedback and asked him to come up with solutions for himself. I also gave him ownership over problems and encouraged him to use innovation weeks and hackathons to find solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it through his probation period, but I learned that when dealing with complainers, it is important to give them more accountability and allow them to change what they are complaining about.

How To Be A Successful Mentee

This article outlines the importance of valuing time in a mentoring relationship and provides tips on how to prepare for a mentoring session. It suggests providing a quick introduction about yourself and your background, preparing for the session for at least half an hour, and sending a follow-up email after the meeting. The author also shares the lessons they learned from their first mentor, which was to discuss the challenges faced and the learnings had.

Getting Team Buy-in To Improve

When starting as a new manager of an existing team, it is important to take a step back and observe the team from both the inside and outside. After collecting feedback, involve the team in decision making and brainstorming solutions. This approach was successful for the new manager at Atlassian, who was able to reorganize the team's planning process and create a healthy team environment.

Delve Into Issues To Find Solutions

The staff engineer at Betterment identified that the DevOps team was overworked and unable to keep up with the engineering organization's growth. After talking with the team, the engineer realized that the team was not set up for success and needed to be restructured. The engineer then spent the last year reinventing the team and building software to enable the rest of the engineering team to do their own building, testing, and deploying. Through this process, the engineer learned that having empathetic conversations with the team and exploring the issue was the best way to solve the problem.

When Pure People Management Isn’t The Right Fit

The author was asked to take on a managerial role at Betterment, but eventually realized that it was not the right fit for them. After engaging with their manager and other managers in the organization, they created a new role that balanced individual contribution and people management. This experience taught them that organizations should provide mixed career paths for those wishing to learn and grow.

The Search For True Motivations

A direct report wanted to switch teams due to a lack of ownership and mastery in their current job. After discussing their motivations, a plan was created to give them more ownership and mastery in their job. This showed that what appears to be a lack of motivation can often be attributed to a lack of ownership or purpose.

How I Used Email Updates For Team Transparency

In order to bridge the gap between the work of his team and the mission of the company, the manager of a recently expanded team of sixteen direct reports began sending out weekly emails. The emails included project updates, appreciation for work done, and musings on topics such as trust and code reviews. The emails have been well-received and have led to conversations about the team's culture and values.

Managing The Unexpected Doubling Of Your Team’s Size

The author was faced with the challenge of taking on double the amount of direct reports in a day when their peer manager decided to transition from a manager to an individual contributor. The author took a few approaches to ensure their team's well-being and success, such as structuring their week around "themes" of the ways they spend their time, scheduling one-on-ones with their team, and enabling the ICs in the team to take more of a leadership role. The author learned that it is important to take a step back and allow other people to stretch themselves, and that management is all about people and relationships.

How I Moved Away From A Flat Organizational Structure

When the CTO of Narrative Science took over, the company was flat-structured with 14 engineers and 40 employees in total. To prepare for growth, the CTO implemented a QA and DevOps team, created a career ladder with five levels, and set up a program to hire recent graduates. He also had to explain the reasoning behind the changes to the existing organization and train people in having difficult conversations. He learned that it is important to make sure the requirements for each level are clear and that he should deliver on any promises made to employees.

Providing Vision To Keep Projects On Track

This company had a mission to make data accessible for human beings through natural language generation. To do this, they needed to develop a software package. However, due to a lack of clarity on what the product was going to do, they were continually missing the mark. To fix this, the executive team had to take a step back and define a vision for the product in three to five years time. They then determined the five steps needed to push towards that goal and communicated it to the product owners and engineers. This helped reduce conflict and improve their prioritization. Going forward, they need to communicate their vision and steps more often to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Firing A Popular But Underperforming Manager

A manager had been working at an organization for four years and was well-liked, but had received feedback that he avoided delivering bad news and having tough conversations. When a more senior person applied for a job, it became clear that the manager was underperforming. The CTO had to make the difficult decision to let him go, and had to explain the decision to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be the right decision, and the CTO learned the importance of having trust and accountability among peers.

When Agile Isn’t Agile

The company had switched to Agile processes, but without understanding it, it resulted in a huge mess. The product manager switched back to cascade processes, and worked hard to get back on track. After the team had shown it could fulfill working releases, the product manager gradually introduced more agility and flexibility, and eventually reached a much more Agile method of working.

Reversing A Team’s Culture Of Fear

When joining a software company, the manager asked the new employee to work on an old product first. The employee quickly identified a culture of blame and fear within the company, so decided to take action. He requested to work on the old product and told his team that he would be the only one to blame for any mistakes. This approach was successful and the team was able to collaborate and learn without fear.

Stepping Back To Develop Your Engineers

The Director of Engineering at the Rubicon Project wanted to be involved in a machine learning project, but realized it would be a great opportunity for the most senior engineer on the team to show their skills. Despite challenges, the project was successful and the stakeholders were enthusiastic. The Director learned an important lesson in trusting their team and giving them the opportunity to grow.

Bringing A Team Together

The manager of a small engineering team at the Rubicon Project implemented weekly team meetings to encourage collaboration and open discussion. This allowed the engineers to become informed together and discuss concerns as a group. The team meetings also included interesting topics and articles to discuss, which helped the engineers come out of their shells and engage with the rest of the team. As a result, the team has grown to nine engineers and the team has become more comfortable with presenting ideas to each other.

When Engineers Struggle To Adapt To Rapid Changes

Chartboost, a tech company, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past 7 years. This has caused some engineers to struggle to adapt to the changing demands of the company. As a result, the company has become more conscious of hiring people who can adapt to change and are comfortable with the company's vision. The manager has also taken steps to ensure they have a good sense of what is coming up in the future.

When More Engineers Means Decreased Productivity

Chartboost went from a team of two to a team of six, but it took six months to get to a point where their team of six was as productive as the two-person team. It's important to add structure and ensure that everyone has a full picture of what is going on. As the team grows, it's important to adjust and reenvision the structure to ensure efficiency.

Trusting Engineering Teams With Product Management

The CTO of an engineering team split the team into two smaller squads in order to fix communication issues. To scale his role, he delegated tasks to the squads and allowed them to self-organize. This led to the team using user story mapping and hiring more well-rounded candidates based on trust.

When Communication Problems Are Symptoms Of A Bigger Issue

The CTO of Badger Maps experienced communication and productivity issues due to the large size of their team. To address this, they split the team into two smaller Scrum teams and implemented the concept of "Scrum of Scrums" and guilds. This resulted in improved communication and productivity. The lesson learned is to address issues quickly when they arise, as it can be difficult to get the engine moving again if the issue is ignored.

A Framework For Your Team’s Career Growth

At Atlassian, the team was not used to having conversations about growth due to their previous manager. To help them progress, the manager implemented growth profiles and had one-on-ones to assess their capabilities and skills. They then chose goals to work on for six months, using the Golden Circle framework to understand why they wanted to do something. The manager also did monthly check-ins to track progress. This framework was successful in motivating the team.

Dealing With Complainers

When managing a team of four people, I encountered an engineer who was in his probation period and was complaining a lot. I gave him regular feedback and asked him to come up with solutions for himself. I also gave him ownership over problems and encouraged him to use innovation weeks and hackathons to find solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it through his probation period, but I learned that when dealing with complainers, it is important to give them more accountability and allow them to change what they are complaining about.

How To Be A Successful Mentee

This article outlines the importance of valuing time in a mentoring relationship and provides tips on how to prepare for a mentoring session. It suggests providing a quick introduction about yourself and your background, preparing for the session for at least half an hour, and sending a follow-up email after the meeting. The author also shares the lessons they learned from their first mentor, which was to discuss the challenges faced and the learnings had.

Getting Team Buy-in To Improve

When starting as a new manager of an existing team, it is important to take a step back and observe the team from both the inside and outside. After collecting feedback, involve the team in decision making and brainstorming solutions. This approach was successful for the new manager at Atlassian, who was able to reorganize the team's planning process and create a healthy team environment.

Delve Into Issues To Find Solutions

The staff engineer at Betterment identified that the DevOps team was overworked and unable to keep up with the engineering organization's growth. After talking with the team, the engineer realized that the team was not set up for success and needed to be restructured. The engineer then spent the last year reinventing the team and building software to enable the rest of the engineering team to do their own building, testing, and deploying. Through this process, the engineer learned that having empathetic conversations with the team and exploring the issue was the best way to solve the problem.

When Pure People Management Isn’t The Right Fit

The author was asked to take on a managerial role at Betterment, but eventually realized that it was not the right fit for them. After engaging with their manager and other managers in the organization, they created a new role that balanced individual contribution and people management. This experience taught them that organizations should provide mixed career paths for those wishing to learn and grow.

The Search For True Motivations

A direct report wanted to switch teams due to a lack of ownership and mastery in their current job. After discussing their motivations, a plan was created to give them more ownership and mastery in their job. This showed that what appears to be a lack of motivation can often be attributed to a lack of ownership or purpose.

How I Used Email Updates For Team Transparency

In order to bridge the gap between the work of his team and the mission of the company, the manager of a recently expanded team of sixteen direct reports began sending out weekly emails. The emails included project updates, appreciation for work done, and musings on topics such as trust and code reviews. The emails have been well-received and have led to conversations about the team's culture and values.

Managing The Unexpected Doubling Of Your Team’s Size

The author was faced with the challenge of taking on double the amount of direct reports in a day when their peer manager decided to transition from a manager to an individual contributor. The author took a few approaches to ensure their team's well-being and success, such as structuring their week around "themes" of the ways they spend their time, scheduling one-on-ones with their team, and enabling the ICs in the team to take more of a leadership role. The author learned that it is important to take a step back and allow other people to stretch themselves, and that management is all about people and relationships.

How I Moved Away From A Flat Organizational Structure

When the CTO of Narrative Science took over, the company was flat-structured with 14 engineers and 40 employees in total. To prepare for growth, the CTO implemented a QA and DevOps team, created a career ladder with five levels, and set up a program to hire recent graduates. He also had to explain the reasoning behind the changes to the existing organization and train people in having difficult conversations. He learned that it is important to make sure the requirements for each level are clear and that he should deliver on any promises made to employees.

Providing Vision To Keep Projects On Track

This company had a mission to make data accessible for human beings through natural language generation. To do this, they needed to develop a software package. However, due to a lack of clarity on what the product was going to do, they were continually missing the mark. To fix this, the executive team had to take a step back and define a vision for the product in three to five years time. They then determined the five steps needed to push towards that goal and communicated it to the product owners and engineers. This helped reduce conflict and improve their prioritization. Going forward, they need to communicate their vision and steps more often to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Firing A Popular But Underperforming Manager

A manager had been working at an organization for four years and was well-liked, but had received feedback that he avoided delivering bad news and having tough conversations. When a more senior person applied for a job, it became clear that the manager was underperforming. The CTO had to make the difficult decision to let him go, and had to explain the decision to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be the right decision, and the CTO learned the importance of having trust and accountability among peers.

When Agile Isn’t Agile

The company had switched to Agile processes, but without understanding it, it resulted in a huge mess. The product manager switched back to cascade processes, and worked hard to get back on track. After the team had shown it could fulfill working releases, the product manager gradually introduced more agility and flexibility, and eventually reached a much more Agile method of working.

Reversing A Team’s Culture Of Fear

When joining a software company, the manager asked the new employee to work on an old product first. The employee quickly identified a culture of blame and fear within the company, so decided to take action. He requested to work on the old product and told his team that he would be the only one to blame for any mistakes. This approach was successful and the team was able to collaborate and learn without fear.

Stepping Back To Develop Your Engineers

The Director of Engineering at the Rubicon Project wanted to be involved in a machine learning project, but realized it would be a great opportunity for the most senior engineer on the team to show their skills. Despite challenges, the project was successful and the stakeholders were enthusiastic. The Director learned an important lesson in trusting their team and giving them the opportunity to grow.

Bringing A Team Together

The manager of a small engineering team at the Rubicon Project implemented weekly team meetings to encourage collaboration and open discussion. This allowed the engineers to become informed together and discuss concerns as a group. The team meetings also included interesting topics and articles to discuss, which helped the engineers come out of their shells and engage with the rest of the team. As a result, the team has grown to nine engineers and the team has become more comfortable with presenting ideas to each other.

When Engineers Struggle To Adapt To Rapid Changes

Chartboost, a tech company, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past 7 years. This has caused some engineers to struggle to adapt to the changing demands of the company. As a result, the company has become more conscious of hiring people who can adapt to change and are comfortable with the company's vision. The manager has also taken steps to ensure they have a good sense of what is coming up in the future.

When More Engineers Means Decreased Productivity

Chartboost went from a team of two to a team of six, but it took six months to get to a point where their team of six was as productive as the two-person team. It's important to add structure and ensure that everyone has a full picture of what is going on. As the team grows, it's important to adjust and reenvision the structure to ensure efficiency.

Trusting Engineering Teams With Product Management

The CTO of an engineering team split the team into two smaller squads in order to fix communication issues. To scale his role, he delegated tasks to the squads and allowed them to self-organize. This led to the team using user story mapping and hiring more well-rounded candidates based on trust.

When Communication Problems Are Symptoms Of A Bigger Issue

The CTO of Badger Maps experienced communication and productivity issues due to the large size of their team. To address this, they split the team into two smaller Scrum teams and implemented the concept of "Scrum of Scrums" and guilds. This resulted in improved communication and productivity. The lesson learned is to address issues quickly when they arise, as it can be difficult to get the engine moving again if the issue is ignored.

A Framework For Your Team’s Career Growth

At Atlassian, the team was not used to having conversations about growth due to their previous manager. To help them progress, the manager implemented growth profiles and had one-on-ones to assess their capabilities and skills. They then chose goals to work on for six months, using the Golden Circle framework to understand why they wanted to do something. The manager also did monthly check-ins to track progress. This framework was successful in motivating the team.

Dealing With Complainers

When managing a team of four people, I encountered an engineer who was in his probation period and was complaining a lot. I gave him regular feedback and asked him to come up with solutions for himself. I also gave him ownership over problems and encouraged him to use innovation weeks and hackathons to find solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it through his probation period, but I learned that when dealing with complainers, it is important to give them more accountability and allow them to change what they are complaining about.

How To Be A Successful Mentee

This article outlines the importance of valuing time in a mentoring relationship and provides tips on how to prepare for a mentoring session. It suggests providing a quick introduction about yourself and your background, preparing for the session for at least half an hour, and sending a follow-up email after the meeting. The author also shares the lessons they learned from their first mentor, which was to discuss the challenges faced and the learnings had.

Getting Team Buy-in To Improve

When starting as a new manager of an existing team, it is important to take a step back and observe the team from both the inside and outside. After collecting feedback, involve the team in decision making and brainstorming solutions. This approach was successful for the new manager at Atlassian, who was able to reorganize the team's planning process and create a healthy team environment.

Delve Into Issues To Find Solutions

The staff engineer at Betterment identified that the DevOps team was overworked and unable to keep up with the engineering organization's growth. After talking with the team, the engineer realized that the team was not set up for success and needed to be restructured. The engineer then spent the last year reinventing the team and building software to enable the rest of the engineering team to do their own building, testing, and deploying. Through this process, the engineer learned that having empathetic conversations with the team and exploring the issue was the best way to solve the problem.

When Pure People Management Isn’t The Right Fit

The author was asked to take on a managerial role at Betterment, but eventually realized that it was not the right fit for them. After engaging with their manager and other managers in the organization, they created a new role that balanced individual contribution and people management. This experience taught them that organizations should provide mixed career paths for those wishing to learn and grow.

The Search For True Motivations

A direct report wanted to switch teams due to a lack of ownership and mastery in their current job. After discussing their motivations, a plan was created to give them more ownership and mastery in their job. This showed that what appears to be a lack of motivation can often be attributed to a lack of ownership or purpose.

How I Used Email Updates For Team Transparency

In order to bridge the gap between the work of his team and the mission of the company, the manager of a recently expanded team of sixteen direct reports began sending out weekly emails. The emails included project updates, appreciation for work done, and musings on topics such as trust and code reviews. The emails have been well-received and have led to conversations about the team's culture and values.

Managing The Unexpected Doubling Of Your Team’s Size

The author was faced with the challenge of taking on double the amount of direct reports in a day when their peer manager decided to transition from a manager to an individual contributor. The author took a few approaches to ensure their team's well-being and success, such as structuring their week around "themes" of the ways they spend their time, scheduling one-on-ones with their team, and enabling the ICs in the team to take more of a leadership role. The author learned that it is important to take a step back and allow other people to stretch themselves, and that management is all about people and relationships.

How I Moved Away From A Flat Organizational Structure

When the CTO of Narrative Science took over, the company was flat-structured with 14 engineers and 40 employees in total. To prepare for growth, the CTO implemented a QA and DevOps team, created a career ladder with five levels, and set up a program to hire recent graduates. He also had to explain the reasoning behind the changes to the existing organization and train people in having difficult conversations. He learned that it is important to make sure the requirements for each level are clear and that he should deliver on any promises made to employees.

Providing Vision To Keep Projects On Track

This company had a mission to make data accessible for human beings through natural language generation. To do this, they needed to develop a software package. However, due to a lack of clarity on what the product was going to do, they were continually missing the mark. To fix this, the executive team had to take a step back and define a vision for the product in three to five years time. They then determined the five steps needed to push towards that goal and communicated it to the product owners and engineers. This helped reduce conflict and improve their prioritization. Going forward, they need to communicate their vision and steps more often to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Firing A Popular But Underperforming Manager

A manager had been working at an organization for four years and was well-liked, but had received feedback that he avoided delivering bad news and having tough conversations. When a more senior person applied for a job, it became clear that the manager was underperforming. The CTO had to make the difficult decision to let him go, and had to explain the decision to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be the right decision, and the CTO learned the importance of having trust and accountability among peers.

When Agile Isn’t Agile

The company had switched to Agile processes, but without understanding it, it resulted in a huge mess. The product manager switched back to cascade processes, and worked hard to get back on track. After the team had shown it could fulfill working releases, the product manager gradually introduced more agility and flexibility, and eventually reached a much more Agile method of working.

Reversing A Team’s Culture Of Fear

When joining a software company, the manager asked the new employee to work on an old product first. The employee quickly identified a culture of blame and fear within the company, so decided to take action. He requested to work on the old product and told his team that he would be the only one to blame for any mistakes. This approach was successful and the team was able to collaborate and learn without fear.

Stepping Back To Develop Your Engineers

The Director of Engineering at the Rubicon Project wanted to be involved in a machine learning project, but realized it would be a great opportunity for the most senior engineer on the team to show their skills. Despite challenges, the project was successful and the stakeholders were enthusiastic. The Director learned an important lesson in trusting their team and giving them the opportunity to grow.

Bringing A Team Together

The manager of a small engineering team at the Rubicon Project implemented weekly team meetings to encourage collaboration and open discussion. This allowed the engineers to become informed together and discuss concerns as a group. The team meetings also included interesting topics and articles to discuss, which helped the engineers come out of their shells and engage with the rest of the team. As a result, the team has grown to nine engineers and the team has become more comfortable with presenting ideas to each other.

When Engineers Struggle To Adapt To Rapid Changes

Chartboost, a tech company, has experienced rapid growth and change over the past 7 years. This has caused some engineers to struggle to adapt to the changing demands of the company. As a result, the company has become more conscious of hiring people who can adapt to change and are comfortable with the company's vision. The manager has also taken steps to ensure they have a good sense of what is coming up in the future.

When More Engineers Means Decreased Productivity

Chartboost went from a team of two to a team of six, but it took six months to get to a point where their team of six was as productive as the two-person team. It's important to add structure and ensure that everyone has a full picture of what is going on. As the team grows, it's important to adjust and reenvision the structure to ensure efficiency.

Trusting Engineering Teams With Product Management

The CTO of an engineering team split the team into two smaller squads in order to fix communication issues. To scale his role, he delegated tasks to the squads and allowed them to self-organize. This led to the team using user story mapping and hiring more well-rounded candidates based on trust.

When Communication Problems Are Symptoms Of A Bigger Issue

The CTO of Badger Maps experienced communication and productivity issues due to the large size of their team. To address this, they split the team into two smaller Scrum teams and implemented the concept of "Scrum of Scrums" and guilds. This resulted in improved communication and productivity. The lesson learned is to address issues quickly when they arise, as it can be difficult to get the engine moving again if the issue is ignored.

A Framework For Your Team’s Career Growth

At Atlassian, the team was not used to having conversations about growth due to their previous manager. To help them progress, the manager implemented growth profiles and had one-on-ones to assess their capabilities and skills. They then chose goals to work on for six months, using the Golden Circle framework to understand why they wanted to do something. The manager also did monthly check-ins to track progress. This framework was successful in motivating the team.

Dealing With Complainers

When managing a team of four people, I encountered an engineer who was in his probation period and was complaining a lot. I gave him regular feedback and asked him to come up with solutions for himself. I also gave him ownership over problems and encouraged him to use innovation weeks and hackathons to find solutions. Unfortunately, he didn't make it through his probation period, but I learned that when dealing with complainers, it is important to give them more accountability and allow them to change what they are complaining about.

How To Be A Successful Mentee

This article outlines the importance of valuing time in a mentoring relationship and provides tips on how to prepare for a mentoring session. It suggests providing a quick introduction about yourself and your background, preparing for the session for at least half an hour, and sending a follow-up email after the meeting. The author also shares the lessons they learned from their first mentor, which was to discuss the challenges faced and the learnings had.

Getting Team Buy-in To Improve

When starting as a new manager of an existing team, it is important to take a step back and observe the team from both the inside and outside. After collecting feedback, involve the team in decision making and brainstorming solutions. This approach was successful for the new manager at Atlassian, who was able to reorganize the team's planning process and create a healthy team environment.

Delve Into Issues To Find Solutions

The staff engineer at Betterment identified that the DevOps team was overworked and unable to keep up with the engineering organization's growth. After talking with the team, the engineer realized that the team was not set up for success and needed to be restructured. The engineer then spent the last year reinventing the team and building software to enable the rest of the engineering team to do their own building, testing, and deploying. Through this process, the engineer learned that having empathetic conversations with the team and exploring the issue was the best way to solve the problem.

When Pure People Management Isn’t The Right Fit

The author was asked to take on a managerial role at Betterment, but eventually realized that it was not the right fit for them. After engaging with their manager and other managers in the organization, they created a new role that balanced individual contribution and people management. This experience taught them that organizations should provide mixed career paths for those wishing to learn and grow.

The Search For True Motivations

A direct report wanted to switch teams due to a lack of ownership and mastery in their current job. After discussing their motivations, a plan was created to give them more ownership and mastery in their job. This showed that what appears to be a lack of motivation can often be attributed to a lack of ownership or purpose.

How I Used Email Updates For Team Transparency

In order to bridge the gap between the work of his team and the mission of the company, the manager of a recently expanded team of sixteen direct reports began sending out weekly emails. The emails included project updates, appreciation for work done, and musings on topics such as trust and code reviews. The emails have been well-received and have led to conversations about the team's culture and values.

Managing The Unexpected Doubling Of Your Team’s Size

The author was faced with the challenge of taking on double the amount of direct reports in a day when their peer manager decided to transition from a manager to an individual contributor. The author took a few approaches to ensure their team's well-being and success, such as structuring their week around "themes" of the ways they spend their time, scheduling one-on-ones with their team, and enabling the ICs in the team to take more of a leadership role. The author learned that it is important to take a step back and allow other people to stretch themselves, and that management is all about people and relationships.

How I Moved Away From A Flat Organizational Structure

When the CTO of Narrative Science took over, the company was flat-structured with 14 engineers and 40 employees in total. To prepare for growth, the CTO implemented a QA and DevOps team, created a career ladder with five levels, and set up a program to hire recent graduates. He also had to explain the reasoning behind the changes to the existing organization and train people in having difficult conversations. He learned that it is important to make sure the requirements for each level are clear and that he should deliver on any promises made to employees.

Providing Vision To Keep Projects On Track

This company had a mission to make data accessible for human beings through natural language generation. To do this, they needed to develop a software package. However, due to a lack of clarity on what the product was going to do, they were continually missing the mark. To fix this, the executive team had to take a step back and define a vision for the product in three to five years time. They then determined the five steps needed to push towards that goal and communicated it to the product owners and engineers. This helped reduce conflict and improve their prioritization. Going forward, they need to communicate their vision and steps more often to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Firing A Popular But Underperforming Manager

A manager had been working at an organization for four years and was well-liked, but had received feedback that he avoided delivering bad news and having tough conversations. When a more senior person applied for a job, it became clear that the manager was underperforming. The CTO had to make the difficult decision to let him go, and had to explain the decision to the rest of the organization. It turned out to be the right decision, and the CTO learned the importance of having trust and accountability among peers.