Knowledge shared by our community

Hiring For Your Product Team

When tasked with expanding the Product Team for an enterprise project at iQMetrix in Vancouver, a Senior Business Analyst found a whiteboard test to be an effective way to challenge candidates and gauge their ability to break down abstract ideas into smaller chunks. This process proved successful and five people were hired.

When Your Team Constantly Misses Deadlines

The product manager at MediaValet faced a problem of missing deadlines and delivering work late. To solve this, they moved to a lean approach and sliced the overall scope into smaller pieces of work. They also decoupled pushing code into a production environment from public releases and decoupled feature launches from marketing launches. The product manager learned the importance of having a good relationship with the engineering manager and the importance of separating concerns.

Following Your Career Passions

This individual took a non-traditional career path, founding two software companies and then working as a Project Manager, System Architect, Technical Consultant, Mobile Tech Lead, and Mobile Development Manager. Through self-learning and personal projects, they gained the skills necessary to become a Technology Lead - AI/Cloud and then Director of Analytics, focusing on their true passion of data analytics, ML, and AI. The lesson learned is that if you have a passion, you can accomplish anything with the right objectives and dedication to learning.

Dealing with Reorganizations

Our company was growing and needed to reorganize its structure to better align teams. To reduce anxiety, clear communication was provided to explain the changes and their impacts. Additionally, individual conversations were had with new teams to gain their trust. So far, the reorganization has been successful and has improved cross team collaboration. Key lessons learned include the importance of multiple lines of communication and a gradual approach to integrating new teams.

Prioritizing Complex Products For Your Team

When I joined the company, I inherited a team with a large backlog of work and difficulty with prioritizing tasks. To solve this problem, I took the time to understand the team's strengths, the current landscape, and the requirements of other stakeholders. I then prioritized feature and service development based on urgency, business priority, effort, and impact. This improved relationships with stakeholders, gave the team a roadmap with proper priorities, and improved team morale, velocity, and perceived effectiveness. I learned that engineering leadership is not just about building great technology, but also about fostering strong relationships across teams and departments.

Keeping The Bar High When Hiring

Managers should not lower their bar when hiring to fill vacancies quickly. Instead, they should have a methodical approach to selecting candidates, looking at resumes and conducting technical interviews. Reference interviews and back-channel references can also be useful. If any gaps are identified, there should be a remediation to address the risk. Following these best practices will help to identify and hire high-quality candidates, improving the caliber of the team.

Trying To Hire Too Rapidly

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a Senior Director at Paypal, where they were asked to rapidly hire 50 people per quarter. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to hire 15-20 people per quarter due to a lack of candidates, the location they were hiring in, and an inadequate interview process. The author learned that it takes time, luck, and a great process to hire good candidates, and that they would never let themselves get talked into this type of situation again.

Be Upfront About Product Delivery Constraints

The CTO of Paypal Credit was under pressure to scale a successful proof of concept product, but needed to replatform, restructure and rewrite it first. He had a one-on-one with the business owner to explain the situation and then went to the President of the business unit to get permission to spend nine months on the replatforming. Despite engineers not liking the fixed timeframe, the product launch was successful and the business leader was very complimentary. The CTO learned to start conversations with business leaders earlier to avoid difficult conversations.

How To Establish Team Trust And Cohesion

The manager of a team wanted to foster a sense of team togetherness and trust, so they adopted the Quarterly Business Reviews process used by the sales team. Each team member prepared a thirty-minute presentation with four slides, focusing on what they did well and what they could do better, what they will do in the next quarter, what help they need from the team, and a fun question. Through this process, team members were able to give each other feedback and support each other. As a manager, it is important to be open and vulnerable in order to get the best results.

Interview Processes For Scaling Teams

In order to scale their technical interviewing process, the author delegated the task to a junior engineer and provided guidance on how to assess candidates. The author also conducted interviews with the engineer to calibrate and ensure quality, and eventually trusted the engineer to conduct interviews by herself. The author learned that having a clear owner and a consistent process is important for successful interviewing.

Improving Communication Between Remote Teams

When SugarCRM's remote and onsite teams were having communication and trust issues, the team lead took action to bridge the gap. He held weekly team meetings, encouraged more travel between the two main offices, and encouraged constructive venting. This allowed the teams to work together better and to understand what was happening in the company. He also encouraged discussions and a consensus-based approach to management.

Mentoring Through Challenges

As a leader, it is important to find a balance between giving your team the space to learn and grow, and taking control when necessary. Mentoring requires understanding the underlying motivators of your team and providing them with challenges and growth opportunities. Regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports can help to understand what motivates them and how to grow and develop them. Ultimately, it is important to understand the business needs and constraints, while also supporting, growing, and developing the team.

Gradual, Transparent Scaling Of Teams

When faced with splitting a team of 12 developers into two separate teams, the manager decided to have early discussions with the team to provide transparency about the upcoming organizational change. Through one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and soliciting feedback, the manager was able to successfully split the team and hire a new manager. This process demonstrated that when it comes to change management and scaling a team, the sooner you start discussing the future with your team, the better they will respond.

The Problem With Not Giving Negative Feedback

A new manager inherited a team with one member who had performance issues. The manager initially ignored the problems, but when the feedback became more frequent, they got HR involved and put the team member on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The manager provided objective feedback and the team member was able to change their behavior and communicate better. Eventually, the team member was taken off the plan and their peers reported a dramatic improvement in their behavior. The lesson learned is to provide feedback regularly and objectively to give direct reports the best chance to grow and improve.

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

Organizational Scalability

When a company grows to the point where multiple teams are needed, it is important to ensure that each team has a clear vision and scope, and that there is minimal friction between teams. This can be done by breaking the company up into teams of six to ten people, setting up two levels of management, and preventing duplication of efforts or fights. This type of organizational scalability is key to a company's success.

Ensuring Technical Scalability

Engineering managers must be aware of technical debt and scalability issues in order to prevent them from overtaking the organization and preventing the team from delivering new features and code. It is important to get ahead of these issues in order to ensure the business is able to deliver new features and solve customer issues.

Handling Prematurely Promoted Employees

When inheriting a team, managers may find employees who have been given promotions they are not qualified for. It is important to be upfront with the employee and explain expectations and why it is a problem. Providing context and an opportunity to improve is key, and in some cases, discussing a demotion may be necessary.

Upfront With Underperformance

A manager in Canada was faced with a junior employee who was not meeting expectations after a couple of months. The manager took the opportunity to explain the situation and gave the employee a chance to improve within the 90-day probation period. The employee took the feedback to heart and was able to turn the situation around. The lesson learned was to be respectful and upfront with feedback, rather than waiting until the last minute.

How To Fire An Underperforming Employee

When an employee was failing to deliver on their work and attempts to correct the situation failed, HR and the manager worked together to create a four-week performance improvement plan. Despite the employee's failure to meet expectations, they were treated with respect and the transition was handled properly to avoid any potential legal issues. It is important to partner with HR early and be upfront with employees when they are not performing, while also treating them with respect.

Hiring For Your Product Team

When tasked with expanding the Product Team for an enterprise project at iQMetrix in Vancouver, a Senior Business Analyst found a whiteboard test to be an effective way to challenge candidates and gauge their ability to break down abstract ideas into smaller chunks. This process proved successful and five people were hired.

When Your Team Constantly Misses Deadlines

The product manager at MediaValet faced a problem of missing deadlines and delivering work late. To solve this, they moved to a lean approach and sliced the overall scope into smaller pieces of work. They also decoupled pushing code into a production environment from public releases and decoupled feature launches from marketing launches. The product manager learned the importance of having a good relationship with the engineering manager and the importance of separating concerns.

Following Your Career Passions

This individual took a non-traditional career path, founding two software companies and then working as a Project Manager, System Architect, Technical Consultant, Mobile Tech Lead, and Mobile Development Manager. Through self-learning and personal projects, they gained the skills necessary to become a Technology Lead - AI/Cloud and then Director of Analytics, focusing on their true passion of data analytics, ML, and AI. The lesson learned is that if you have a passion, you can accomplish anything with the right objectives and dedication to learning.

Dealing with Reorganizations

Our company was growing and needed to reorganize its structure to better align teams. To reduce anxiety, clear communication was provided to explain the changes and their impacts. Additionally, individual conversations were had with new teams to gain their trust. So far, the reorganization has been successful and has improved cross team collaboration. Key lessons learned include the importance of multiple lines of communication and a gradual approach to integrating new teams.

Prioritizing Complex Products For Your Team

When I joined the company, I inherited a team with a large backlog of work and difficulty with prioritizing tasks. To solve this problem, I took the time to understand the team's strengths, the current landscape, and the requirements of other stakeholders. I then prioritized feature and service development based on urgency, business priority, effort, and impact. This improved relationships with stakeholders, gave the team a roadmap with proper priorities, and improved team morale, velocity, and perceived effectiveness. I learned that engineering leadership is not just about building great technology, but also about fostering strong relationships across teams and departments.

Keeping The Bar High When Hiring

Managers should not lower their bar when hiring to fill vacancies quickly. Instead, they should have a methodical approach to selecting candidates, looking at resumes and conducting technical interviews. Reference interviews and back-channel references can also be useful. If any gaps are identified, there should be a remediation to address the risk. Following these best practices will help to identify and hire high-quality candidates, improving the caliber of the team.

Trying To Hire Too Rapidly

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a Senior Director at Paypal, where they were asked to rapidly hire 50 people per quarter. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to hire 15-20 people per quarter due to a lack of candidates, the location they were hiring in, and an inadequate interview process. The author learned that it takes time, luck, and a great process to hire good candidates, and that they would never let themselves get talked into this type of situation again.

Be Upfront About Product Delivery Constraints

The CTO of Paypal Credit was under pressure to scale a successful proof of concept product, but needed to replatform, restructure and rewrite it first. He had a one-on-one with the business owner to explain the situation and then went to the President of the business unit to get permission to spend nine months on the replatforming. Despite engineers not liking the fixed timeframe, the product launch was successful and the business leader was very complimentary. The CTO learned to start conversations with business leaders earlier to avoid difficult conversations.

How To Establish Team Trust And Cohesion

The manager of a team wanted to foster a sense of team togetherness and trust, so they adopted the Quarterly Business Reviews process used by the sales team. Each team member prepared a thirty-minute presentation with four slides, focusing on what they did well and what they could do better, what they will do in the next quarter, what help they need from the team, and a fun question. Through this process, team members were able to give each other feedback and support each other. As a manager, it is important to be open and vulnerable in order to get the best results.

Interview Processes For Scaling Teams

In order to scale their technical interviewing process, the author delegated the task to a junior engineer and provided guidance on how to assess candidates. The author also conducted interviews with the engineer to calibrate and ensure quality, and eventually trusted the engineer to conduct interviews by herself. The author learned that having a clear owner and a consistent process is important for successful interviewing.

Improving Communication Between Remote Teams

When SugarCRM's remote and onsite teams were having communication and trust issues, the team lead took action to bridge the gap. He held weekly team meetings, encouraged more travel between the two main offices, and encouraged constructive venting. This allowed the teams to work together better and to understand what was happening in the company. He also encouraged discussions and a consensus-based approach to management.

Mentoring Through Challenges

As a leader, it is important to find a balance between giving your team the space to learn and grow, and taking control when necessary. Mentoring requires understanding the underlying motivators of your team and providing them with challenges and growth opportunities. Regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports can help to understand what motivates them and how to grow and develop them. Ultimately, it is important to understand the business needs and constraints, while also supporting, growing, and developing the team.

Gradual, Transparent Scaling Of Teams

When faced with splitting a team of 12 developers into two separate teams, the manager decided to have early discussions with the team to provide transparency about the upcoming organizational change. Through one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and soliciting feedback, the manager was able to successfully split the team and hire a new manager. This process demonstrated that when it comes to change management and scaling a team, the sooner you start discussing the future with your team, the better they will respond.

The Problem With Not Giving Negative Feedback

A new manager inherited a team with one member who had performance issues. The manager initially ignored the problems, but when the feedback became more frequent, they got HR involved and put the team member on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The manager provided objective feedback and the team member was able to change their behavior and communicate better. Eventually, the team member was taken off the plan and their peers reported a dramatic improvement in their behavior. The lesson learned is to provide feedback regularly and objectively to give direct reports the best chance to grow and improve.

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

Organizational Scalability

When a company grows to the point where multiple teams are needed, it is important to ensure that each team has a clear vision and scope, and that there is minimal friction between teams. This can be done by breaking the company up into teams of six to ten people, setting up two levels of management, and preventing duplication of efforts or fights. This type of organizational scalability is key to a company's success.

Ensuring Technical Scalability

Engineering managers must be aware of technical debt and scalability issues in order to prevent them from overtaking the organization and preventing the team from delivering new features and code. It is important to get ahead of these issues in order to ensure the business is able to deliver new features and solve customer issues.

Handling Prematurely Promoted Employees

When inheriting a team, managers may find employees who have been given promotions they are not qualified for. It is important to be upfront with the employee and explain expectations and why it is a problem. Providing context and an opportunity to improve is key, and in some cases, discussing a demotion may be necessary.

Upfront With Underperformance

A manager in Canada was faced with a junior employee who was not meeting expectations after a couple of months. The manager took the opportunity to explain the situation and gave the employee a chance to improve within the 90-day probation period. The employee took the feedback to heart and was able to turn the situation around. The lesson learned was to be respectful and upfront with feedback, rather than waiting until the last minute.

How To Fire An Underperforming Employee

When an employee was failing to deliver on their work and attempts to correct the situation failed, HR and the manager worked together to create a four-week performance improvement plan. Despite the employee's failure to meet expectations, they were treated with respect and the transition was handled properly to avoid any potential legal issues. It is important to partner with HR early and be upfront with employees when they are not performing, while also treating them with respect.

Hiring For Your Product Team

When tasked with expanding the Product Team for an enterprise project at iQMetrix in Vancouver, a Senior Business Analyst found a whiteboard test to be an effective way to challenge candidates and gauge their ability to break down abstract ideas into smaller chunks. This process proved successful and five people were hired.

When Your Team Constantly Misses Deadlines

The product manager at MediaValet faced a problem of missing deadlines and delivering work late. To solve this, they moved to a lean approach and sliced the overall scope into smaller pieces of work. They also decoupled pushing code into a production environment from public releases and decoupled feature launches from marketing launches. The product manager learned the importance of having a good relationship with the engineering manager and the importance of separating concerns.

Following Your Career Passions

This individual took a non-traditional career path, founding two software companies and then working as a Project Manager, System Architect, Technical Consultant, Mobile Tech Lead, and Mobile Development Manager. Through self-learning and personal projects, they gained the skills necessary to become a Technology Lead - AI/Cloud and then Director of Analytics, focusing on their true passion of data analytics, ML, and AI. The lesson learned is that if you have a passion, you can accomplish anything with the right objectives and dedication to learning.

Dealing with Reorganizations

Our company was growing and needed to reorganize its structure to better align teams. To reduce anxiety, clear communication was provided to explain the changes and their impacts. Additionally, individual conversations were had with new teams to gain their trust. So far, the reorganization has been successful and has improved cross team collaboration. Key lessons learned include the importance of multiple lines of communication and a gradual approach to integrating new teams.

Prioritizing Complex Products For Your Team

When I joined the company, I inherited a team with a large backlog of work and difficulty with prioritizing tasks. To solve this problem, I took the time to understand the team's strengths, the current landscape, and the requirements of other stakeholders. I then prioritized feature and service development based on urgency, business priority, effort, and impact. This improved relationships with stakeholders, gave the team a roadmap with proper priorities, and improved team morale, velocity, and perceived effectiveness. I learned that engineering leadership is not just about building great technology, but also about fostering strong relationships across teams and departments.

Keeping The Bar High When Hiring

Managers should not lower their bar when hiring to fill vacancies quickly. Instead, they should have a methodical approach to selecting candidates, looking at resumes and conducting technical interviews. Reference interviews and back-channel references can also be useful. If any gaps are identified, there should be a remediation to address the risk. Following these best practices will help to identify and hire high-quality candidates, improving the caliber of the team.

Trying To Hire Too Rapidly

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a Senior Director at Paypal, where they were asked to rapidly hire 50 people per quarter. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to hire 15-20 people per quarter due to a lack of candidates, the location they were hiring in, and an inadequate interview process. The author learned that it takes time, luck, and a great process to hire good candidates, and that they would never let themselves get talked into this type of situation again.

Be Upfront About Product Delivery Constraints

The CTO of Paypal Credit was under pressure to scale a successful proof of concept product, but needed to replatform, restructure and rewrite it first. He had a one-on-one with the business owner to explain the situation and then went to the President of the business unit to get permission to spend nine months on the replatforming. Despite engineers not liking the fixed timeframe, the product launch was successful and the business leader was very complimentary. The CTO learned to start conversations with business leaders earlier to avoid difficult conversations.

How To Establish Team Trust And Cohesion

The manager of a team wanted to foster a sense of team togetherness and trust, so they adopted the Quarterly Business Reviews process used by the sales team. Each team member prepared a thirty-minute presentation with four slides, focusing on what they did well and what they could do better, what they will do in the next quarter, what help they need from the team, and a fun question. Through this process, team members were able to give each other feedback and support each other. As a manager, it is important to be open and vulnerable in order to get the best results.

Interview Processes For Scaling Teams

In order to scale their technical interviewing process, the author delegated the task to a junior engineer and provided guidance on how to assess candidates. The author also conducted interviews with the engineer to calibrate and ensure quality, and eventually trusted the engineer to conduct interviews by herself. The author learned that having a clear owner and a consistent process is important for successful interviewing.

Improving Communication Between Remote Teams

When SugarCRM's remote and onsite teams were having communication and trust issues, the team lead took action to bridge the gap. He held weekly team meetings, encouraged more travel between the two main offices, and encouraged constructive venting. This allowed the teams to work together better and to understand what was happening in the company. He also encouraged discussions and a consensus-based approach to management.

Mentoring Through Challenges

As a leader, it is important to find a balance between giving your team the space to learn and grow, and taking control when necessary. Mentoring requires understanding the underlying motivators of your team and providing them with challenges and growth opportunities. Regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports can help to understand what motivates them and how to grow and develop them. Ultimately, it is important to understand the business needs and constraints, while also supporting, growing, and developing the team.

Gradual, Transparent Scaling Of Teams

When faced with splitting a team of 12 developers into two separate teams, the manager decided to have early discussions with the team to provide transparency about the upcoming organizational change. Through one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and soliciting feedback, the manager was able to successfully split the team and hire a new manager. This process demonstrated that when it comes to change management and scaling a team, the sooner you start discussing the future with your team, the better they will respond.

The Problem With Not Giving Negative Feedback

A new manager inherited a team with one member who had performance issues. The manager initially ignored the problems, but when the feedback became more frequent, they got HR involved and put the team member on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The manager provided objective feedback and the team member was able to change their behavior and communicate better. Eventually, the team member was taken off the plan and their peers reported a dramatic improvement in their behavior. The lesson learned is to provide feedback regularly and objectively to give direct reports the best chance to grow and improve.

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

Organizational Scalability

When a company grows to the point where multiple teams are needed, it is important to ensure that each team has a clear vision and scope, and that there is minimal friction between teams. This can be done by breaking the company up into teams of six to ten people, setting up two levels of management, and preventing duplication of efforts or fights. This type of organizational scalability is key to a company's success.

Ensuring Technical Scalability

Engineering managers must be aware of technical debt and scalability issues in order to prevent them from overtaking the organization and preventing the team from delivering new features and code. It is important to get ahead of these issues in order to ensure the business is able to deliver new features and solve customer issues.

Handling Prematurely Promoted Employees

When inheriting a team, managers may find employees who have been given promotions they are not qualified for. It is important to be upfront with the employee and explain expectations and why it is a problem. Providing context and an opportunity to improve is key, and in some cases, discussing a demotion may be necessary.

Upfront With Underperformance

A manager in Canada was faced with a junior employee who was not meeting expectations after a couple of months. The manager took the opportunity to explain the situation and gave the employee a chance to improve within the 90-day probation period. The employee took the feedback to heart and was able to turn the situation around. The lesson learned was to be respectful and upfront with feedback, rather than waiting until the last minute.

How To Fire An Underperforming Employee

When an employee was failing to deliver on their work and attempts to correct the situation failed, HR and the manager worked together to create a four-week performance improvement plan. Despite the employee's failure to meet expectations, they were treated with respect and the transition was handled properly to avoid any potential legal issues. It is important to partner with HR early and be upfront with employees when they are not performing, while also treating them with respect.

Hiring For Your Product Team

When tasked with expanding the Product Team for an enterprise project at iQMetrix in Vancouver, a Senior Business Analyst found a whiteboard test to be an effective way to challenge candidates and gauge their ability to break down abstract ideas into smaller chunks. This process proved successful and five people were hired.

When Your Team Constantly Misses Deadlines

The product manager at MediaValet faced a problem of missing deadlines and delivering work late. To solve this, they moved to a lean approach and sliced the overall scope into smaller pieces of work. They also decoupled pushing code into a production environment from public releases and decoupled feature launches from marketing launches. The product manager learned the importance of having a good relationship with the engineering manager and the importance of separating concerns.

Following Your Career Passions

This individual took a non-traditional career path, founding two software companies and then working as a Project Manager, System Architect, Technical Consultant, Mobile Tech Lead, and Mobile Development Manager. Through self-learning and personal projects, they gained the skills necessary to become a Technology Lead - AI/Cloud and then Director of Analytics, focusing on their true passion of data analytics, ML, and AI. The lesson learned is that if you have a passion, you can accomplish anything with the right objectives and dedication to learning.

Dealing with Reorganizations

Our company was growing and needed to reorganize its structure to better align teams. To reduce anxiety, clear communication was provided to explain the changes and their impacts. Additionally, individual conversations were had with new teams to gain their trust. So far, the reorganization has been successful and has improved cross team collaboration. Key lessons learned include the importance of multiple lines of communication and a gradual approach to integrating new teams.

Prioritizing Complex Products For Your Team

When I joined the company, I inherited a team with a large backlog of work and difficulty with prioritizing tasks. To solve this problem, I took the time to understand the team's strengths, the current landscape, and the requirements of other stakeholders. I then prioritized feature and service development based on urgency, business priority, effort, and impact. This improved relationships with stakeholders, gave the team a roadmap with proper priorities, and improved team morale, velocity, and perceived effectiveness. I learned that engineering leadership is not just about building great technology, but also about fostering strong relationships across teams and departments.

Keeping The Bar High When Hiring

Managers should not lower their bar when hiring to fill vacancies quickly. Instead, they should have a methodical approach to selecting candidates, looking at resumes and conducting technical interviews. Reference interviews and back-channel references can also be useful. If any gaps are identified, there should be a remediation to address the risk. Following these best practices will help to identify and hire high-quality candidates, improving the caliber of the team.

Trying To Hire Too Rapidly

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a Senior Director at Paypal, where they were asked to rapidly hire 50 people per quarter. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to hire 15-20 people per quarter due to a lack of candidates, the location they were hiring in, and an inadequate interview process. The author learned that it takes time, luck, and a great process to hire good candidates, and that they would never let themselves get talked into this type of situation again.

Be Upfront About Product Delivery Constraints

The CTO of Paypal Credit was under pressure to scale a successful proof of concept product, but needed to replatform, restructure and rewrite it first. He had a one-on-one with the business owner to explain the situation and then went to the President of the business unit to get permission to spend nine months on the replatforming. Despite engineers not liking the fixed timeframe, the product launch was successful and the business leader was very complimentary. The CTO learned to start conversations with business leaders earlier to avoid difficult conversations.

How To Establish Team Trust And Cohesion

The manager of a team wanted to foster a sense of team togetherness and trust, so they adopted the Quarterly Business Reviews process used by the sales team. Each team member prepared a thirty-minute presentation with four slides, focusing on what they did well and what they could do better, what they will do in the next quarter, what help they need from the team, and a fun question. Through this process, team members were able to give each other feedback and support each other. As a manager, it is important to be open and vulnerable in order to get the best results.

Interview Processes For Scaling Teams

In order to scale their technical interviewing process, the author delegated the task to a junior engineer and provided guidance on how to assess candidates. The author also conducted interviews with the engineer to calibrate and ensure quality, and eventually trusted the engineer to conduct interviews by herself. The author learned that having a clear owner and a consistent process is important for successful interviewing.

Improving Communication Between Remote Teams

When SugarCRM's remote and onsite teams were having communication and trust issues, the team lead took action to bridge the gap. He held weekly team meetings, encouraged more travel between the two main offices, and encouraged constructive venting. This allowed the teams to work together better and to understand what was happening in the company. He also encouraged discussions and a consensus-based approach to management.

Mentoring Through Challenges

As a leader, it is important to find a balance between giving your team the space to learn and grow, and taking control when necessary. Mentoring requires understanding the underlying motivators of your team and providing them with challenges and growth opportunities. Regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports can help to understand what motivates them and how to grow and develop them. Ultimately, it is important to understand the business needs and constraints, while also supporting, growing, and developing the team.

Gradual, Transparent Scaling Of Teams

When faced with splitting a team of 12 developers into two separate teams, the manager decided to have early discussions with the team to provide transparency about the upcoming organizational change. Through one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and soliciting feedback, the manager was able to successfully split the team and hire a new manager. This process demonstrated that when it comes to change management and scaling a team, the sooner you start discussing the future with your team, the better they will respond.

The Problem With Not Giving Negative Feedback

A new manager inherited a team with one member who had performance issues. The manager initially ignored the problems, but when the feedback became more frequent, they got HR involved and put the team member on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The manager provided objective feedback and the team member was able to change their behavior and communicate better. Eventually, the team member was taken off the plan and their peers reported a dramatic improvement in their behavior. The lesson learned is to provide feedback regularly and objectively to give direct reports the best chance to grow and improve.

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

Organizational Scalability

When a company grows to the point where multiple teams are needed, it is important to ensure that each team has a clear vision and scope, and that there is minimal friction between teams. This can be done by breaking the company up into teams of six to ten people, setting up two levels of management, and preventing duplication of efforts or fights. This type of organizational scalability is key to a company's success.

Ensuring Technical Scalability

Engineering managers must be aware of technical debt and scalability issues in order to prevent them from overtaking the organization and preventing the team from delivering new features and code. It is important to get ahead of these issues in order to ensure the business is able to deliver new features and solve customer issues.

Handling Prematurely Promoted Employees

When inheriting a team, managers may find employees who have been given promotions they are not qualified for. It is important to be upfront with the employee and explain expectations and why it is a problem. Providing context and an opportunity to improve is key, and in some cases, discussing a demotion may be necessary.

Upfront With Underperformance

A manager in Canada was faced with a junior employee who was not meeting expectations after a couple of months. The manager took the opportunity to explain the situation and gave the employee a chance to improve within the 90-day probation period. The employee took the feedback to heart and was able to turn the situation around. The lesson learned was to be respectful and upfront with feedback, rather than waiting until the last minute.

How To Fire An Underperforming Employee

When an employee was failing to deliver on their work and attempts to correct the situation failed, HR and the manager worked together to create a four-week performance improvement plan. Despite the employee's failure to meet expectations, they were treated with respect and the transition was handled properly to avoid any potential legal issues. It is important to partner with HR early and be upfront with employees when they are not performing, while also treating them with respect.

Hiring For Your Product Team

When tasked with expanding the Product Team for an enterprise project at iQMetrix in Vancouver, a Senior Business Analyst found a whiteboard test to be an effective way to challenge candidates and gauge their ability to break down abstract ideas into smaller chunks. This process proved successful and five people were hired.

When Your Team Constantly Misses Deadlines

The product manager at MediaValet faced a problem of missing deadlines and delivering work late. To solve this, they moved to a lean approach and sliced the overall scope into smaller pieces of work. They also decoupled pushing code into a production environment from public releases and decoupled feature launches from marketing launches. The product manager learned the importance of having a good relationship with the engineering manager and the importance of separating concerns.

Following Your Career Passions

This individual took a non-traditional career path, founding two software companies and then working as a Project Manager, System Architect, Technical Consultant, Mobile Tech Lead, and Mobile Development Manager. Through self-learning and personal projects, they gained the skills necessary to become a Technology Lead - AI/Cloud and then Director of Analytics, focusing on their true passion of data analytics, ML, and AI. The lesson learned is that if you have a passion, you can accomplish anything with the right objectives and dedication to learning.

Dealing with Reorganizations

Our company was growing and needed to reorganize its structure to better align teams. To reduce anxiety, clear communication was provided to explain the changes and their impacts. Additionally, individual conversations were had with new teams to gain their trust. So far, the reorganization has been successful and has improved cross team collaboration. Key lessons learned include the importance of multiple lines of communication and a gradual approach to integrating new teams.

Prioritizing Complex Products For Your Team

When I joined the company, I inherited a team with a large backlog of work and difficulty with prioritizing tasks. To solve this problem, I took the time to understand the team's strengths, the current landscape, and the requirements of other stakeholders. I then prioritized feature and service development based on urgency, business priority, effort, and impact. This improved relationships with stakeholders, gave the team a roadmap with proper priorities, and improved team morale, velocity, and perceived effectiveness. I learned that engineering leadership is not just about building great technology, but also about fostering strong relationships across teams and departments.

Keeping The Bar High When Hiring

Managers should not lower their bar when hiring to fill vacancies quickly. Instead, they should have a methodical approach to selecting candidates, looking at resumes and conducting technical interviews. Reference interviews and back-channel references can also be useful. If any gaps are identified, there should be a remediation to address the risk. Following these best practices will help to identify and hire high-quality candidates, improving the caliber of the team.

Trying To Hire Too Rapidly

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a Senior Director at Paypal, where they were asked to rapidly hire 50 people per quarter. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to hire 15-20 people per quarter due to a lack of candidates, the location they were hiring in, and an inadequate interview process. The author learned that it takes time, luck, and a great process to hire good candidates, and that they would never let themselves get talked into this type of situation again.

Be Upfront About Product Delivery Constraints

The CTO of Paypal Credit was under pressure to scale a successful proof of concept product, but needed to replatform, restructure and rewrite it first. He had a one-on-one with the business owner to explain the situation and then went to the President of the business unit to get permission to spend nine months on the replatforming. Despite engineers not liking the fixed timeframe, the product launch was successful and the business leader was very complimentary. The CTO learned to start conversations with business leaders earlier to avoid difficult conversations.

How To Establish Team Trust And Cohesion

The manager of a team wanted to foster a sense of team togetherness and trust, so they adopted the Quarterly Business Reviews process used by the sales team. Each team member prepared a thirty-minute presentation with four slides, focusing on what they did well and what they could do better, what they will do in the next quarter, what help they need from the team, and a fun question. Through this process, team members were able to give each other feedback and support each other. As a manager, it is important to be open and vulnerable in order to get the best results.

Interview Processes For Scaling Teams

In order to scale their technical interviewing process, the author delegated the task to a junior engineer and provided guidance on how to assess candidates. The author also conducted interviews with the engineer to calibrate and ensure quality, and eventually trusted the engineer to conduct interviews by herself. The author learned that having a clear owner and a consistent process is important for successful interviewing.

Improving Communication Between Remote Teams

When SugarCRM's remote and onsite teams were having communication and trust issues, the team lead took action to bridge the gap. He held weekly team meetings, encouraged more travel between the two main offices, and encouraged constructive venting. This allowed the teams to work together better and to understand what was happening in the company. He also encouraged discussions and a consensus-based approach to management.

Mentoring Through Challenges

As a leader, it is important to find a balance between giving your team the space to learn and grow, and taking control when necessary. Mentoring requires understanding the underlying motivators of your team and providing them with challenges and growth opportunities. Regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports can help to understand what motivates them and how to grow and develop them. Ultimately, it is important to understand the business needs and constraints, while also supporting, growing, and developing the team.

Gradual, Transparent Scaling Of Teams

When faced with splitting a team of 12 developers into two separate teams, the manager decided to have early discussions with the team to provide transparency about the upcoming organizational change. Through one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and soliciting feedback, the manager was able to successfully split the team and hire a new manager. This process demonstrated that when it comes to change management and scaling a team, the sooner you start discussing the future with your team, the better they will respond.

The Problem With Not Giving Negative Feedback

A new manager inherited a team with one member who had performance issues. The manager initially ignored the problems, but when the feedback became more frequent, they got HR involved and put the team member on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The manager provided objective feedback and the team member was able to change their behavior and communicate better. Eventually, the team member was taken off the plan and their peers reported a dramatic improvement in their behavior. The lesson learned is to provide feedback regularly and objectively to give direct reports the best chance to grow and improve.

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

Organizational Scalability

When a company grows to the point where multiple teams are needed, it is important to ensure that each team has a clear vision and scope, and that there is minimal friction between teams. This can be done by breaking the company up into teams of six to ten people, setting up two levels of management, and preventing duplication of efforts or fights. This type of organizational scalability is key to a company's success.

Ensuring Technical Scalability

Engineering managers must be aware of technical debt and scalability issues in order to prevent them from overtaking the organization and preventing the team from delivering new features and code. It is important to get ahead of these issues in order to ensure the business is able to deliver new features and solve customer issues.

Handling Prematurely Promoted Employees

When inheriting a team, managers may find employees who have been given promotions they are not qualified for. It is important to be upfront with the employee and explain expectations and why it is a problem. Providing context and an opportunity to improve is key, and in some cases, discussing a demotion may be necessary.

Upfront With Underperformance

A manager in Canada was faced with a junior employee who was not meeting expectations after a couple of months. The manager took the opportunity to explain the situation and gave the employee a chance to improve within the 90-day probation period. The employee took the feedback to heart and was able to turn the situation around. The lesson learned was to be respectful and upfront with feedback, rather than waiting until the last minute.

How To Fire An Underperforming Employee

When an employee was failing to deliver on their work and attempts to correct the situation failed, HR and the manager worked together to create a four-week performance improvement plan. Despite the employee's failure to meet expectations, they were treated with respect and the transition was handled properly to avoid any potential legal issues. It is important to partner with HR early and be upfront with employees when they are not performing, while also treating them with respect.

Hiring For Your Product Team

When tasked with expanding the Product Team for an enterprise project at iQMetrix in Vancouver, a Senior Business Analyst found a whiteboard test to be an effective way to challenge candidates and gauge their ability to break down abstract ideas into smaller chunks. This process proved successful and five people were hired.

When Your Team Constantly Misses Deadlines

The product manager at MediaValet faced a problem of missing deadlines and delivering work late. To solve this, they moved to a lean approach and sliced the overall scope into smaller pieces of work. They also decoupled pushing code into a production environment from public releases and decoupled feature launches from marketing launches. The product manager learned the importance of having a good relationship with the engineering manager and the importance of separating concerns.

Following Your Career Passions

This individual took a non-traditional career path, founding two software companies and then working as a Project Manager, System Architect, Technical Consultant, Mobile Tech Lead, and Mobile Development Manager. Through self-learning and personal projects, they gained the skills necessary to become a Technology Lead - AI/Cloud and then Director of Analytics, focusing on their true passion of data analytics, ML, and AI. The lesson learned is that if you have a passion, you can accomplish anything with the right objectives and dedication to learning.

Dealing with Reorganizations

Our company was growing and needed to reorganize its structure to better align teams. To reduce anxiety, clear communication was provided to explain the changes and their impacts. Additionally, individual conversations were had with new teams to gain their trust. So far, the reorganization has been successful and has improved cross team collaboration. Key lessons learned include the importance of multiple lines of communication and a gradual approach to integrating new teams.

Prioritizing Complex Products For Your Team

When I joined the company, I inherited a team with a large backlog of work and difficulty with prioritizing tasks. To solve this problem, I took the time to understand the team's strengths, the current landscape, and the requirements of other stakeholders. I then prioritized feature and service development based on urgency, business priority, effort, and impact. This improved relationships with stakeholders, gave the team a roadmap with proper priorities, and improved team morale, velocity, and perceived effectiveness. I learned that engineering leadership is not just about building great technology, but also about fostering strong relationships across teams and departments.

Keeping The Bar High When Hiring

Managers should not lower their bar when hiring to fill vacancies quickly. Instead, they should have a methodical approach to selecting candidates, looking at resumes and conducting technical interviews. Reference interviews and back-channel references can also be useful. If any gaps are identified, there should be a remediation to address the risk. Following these best practices will help to identify and hire high-quality candidates, improving the caliber of the team.

Trying To Hire Too Rapidly

In this article, the author reflects on their experience as a Senior Director at Paypal, where they were asked to rapidly hire 50 people per quarter. Despite their best efforts, they were only able to hire 15-20 people per quarter due to a lack of candidates, the location they were hiring in, and an inadequate interview process. The author learned that it takes time, luck, and a great process to hire good candidates, and that they would never let themselves get talked into this type of situation again.

Be Upfront About Product Delivery Constraints

The CTO of Paypal Credit was under pressure to scale a successful proof of concept product, but needed to replatform, restructure and rewrite it first. He had a one-on-one with the business owner to explain the situation and then went to the President of the business unit to get permission to spend nine months on the replatforming. Despite engineers not liking the fixed timeframe, the product launch was successful and the business leader was very complimentary. The CTO learned to start conversations with business leaders earlier to avoid difficult conversations.

How To Establish Team Trust And Cohesion

The manager of a team wanted to foster a sense of team togetherness and trust, so they adopted the Quarterly Business Reviews process used by the sales team. Each team member prepared a thirty-minute presentation with four slides, focusing on what they did well and what they could do better, what they will do in the next quarter, what help they need from the team, and a fun question. Through this process, team members were able to give each other feedback and support each other. As a manager, it is important to be open and vulnerable in order to get the best results.

Interview Processes For Scaling Teams

In order to scale their technical interviewing process, the author delegated the task to a junior engineer and provided guidance on how to assess candidates. The author also conducted interviews with the engineer to calibrate and ensure quality, and eventually trusted the engineer to conduct interviews by herself. The author learned that having a clear owner and a consistent process is important for successful interviewing.

Improving Communication Between Remote Teams

When SugarCRM's remote and onsite teams were having communication and trust issues, the team lead took action to bridge the gap. He held weekly team meetings, encouraged more travel between the two main offices, and encouraged constructive venting. This allowed the teams to work together better and to understand what was happening in the company. He also encouraged discussions and a consensus-based approach to management.

Mentoring Through Challenges

As a leader, it is important to find a balance between giving your team the space to learn and grow, and taking control when necessary. Mentoring requires understanding the underlying motivators of your team and providing them with challenges and growth opportunities. Regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports can help to understand what motivates them and how to grow and develop them. Ultimately, it is important to understand the business needs and constraints, while also supporting, growing, and developing the team.

Gradual, Transparent Scaling Of Teams

When faced with splitting a team of 12 developers into two separate teams, the manager decided to have early discussions with the team to provide transparency about the upcoming organizational change. Through one-on-one meetings, group discussions, and soliciting feedback, the manager was able to successfully split the team and hire a new manager. This process demonstrated that when it comes to change management and scaling a team, the sooner you start discussing the future with your team, the better they will respond.

The Problem With Not Giving Negative Feedback

A new manager inherited a team with one member who had performance issues. The manager initially ignored the problems, but when the feedback became more frequent, they got HR involved and put the team member on a 30-day performance improvement plan. The manager provided objective feedback and the team member was able to change their behavior and communicate better. Eventually, the team member was taken off the plan and their peers reported a dramatic improvement in their behavior. The lesson learned is to provide feedback regularly and objectively to give direct reports the best chance to grow and improve.

Fixing A Team That Management Doesn’t Like

This article discusses a problem-solving approach to fixing teams. The author suggests that the first step is to listen to the team and the company to understand the dynamics of the problem. After listening, the author then takes action to address the issues, such as talking to an executive who was forgetting team members' names. The article emphasizes the importance of understanding both the management and the team's perspectives in order to effectively solve the problem.

Organizational Scalability

When a company grows to the point where multiple teams are needed, it is important to ensure that each team has a clear vision and scope, and that there is minimal friction between teams. This can be done by breaking the company up into teams of six to ten people, setting up two levels of management, and preventing duplication of efforts or fights. This type of organizational scalability is key to a company's success.

Ensuring Technical Scalability

Engineering managers must be aware of technical debt and scalability issues in order to prevent them from overtaking the organization and preventing the team from delivering new features and code. It is important to get ahead of these issues in order to ensure the business is able to deliver new features and solve customer issues.

Handling Prematurely Promoted Employees

When inheriting a team, managers may find employees who have been given promotions they are not qualified for. It is important to be upfront with the employee and explain expectations and why it is a problem. Providing context and an opportunity to improve is key, and in some cases, discussing a demotion may be necessary.

Upfront With Underperformance

A manager in Canada was faced with a junior employee who was not meeting expectations after a couple of months. The manager took the opportunity to explain the situation and gave the employee a chance to improve within the 90-day probation period. The employee took the feedback to heart and was able to turn the situation around. The lesson learned was to be respectful and upfront with feedback, rather than waiting until the last minute.

How To Fire An Underperforming Employee

When an employee was failing to deliver on their work and attempts to correct the situation failed, HR and the manager worked together to create a four-week performance improvement plan. Despite the employee's failure to meet expectations, they were treated with respect and the transition was handled properly to avoid any potential legal issues. It is important to partner with HR early and be upfront with employees when they are not performing, while also treating them with respect.