Knowledge shared by our community

Developing Managers Internally

This article discusses the importance of investing in managers and how to do it correctly. It outlines the steps taken to identify potential managers, mentor and coach them, and invest in them through in-house training and book clubs. The article also highlights the importance of investing in managers to ensure the success of the team and company, as well as the lessons learned from the process.

How to Engage Offshore Engineers

This article discusses the challenges of hiring offshore engineers for an early stage startup with limited funding. The author suggests that by investing time into building the offshore team, and providing them with enough context to understand the product, it is possible to achieve the same quality of work as engineers based in the US.

Scaling Myself

The author recounts their experience of transitioning from a software engineering intern to a leader of multiple teams at Modernizing Medicine. They learned to delegate, inspire, and support their team, as well as become more strategic in their approach. The key lesson is to stay in a constant learning mindset, be open to new challenges, and focus on the team you build around you in order to scale.

Integrating a newly acquired startup into your company

When Salesforce acquired Rypple, a small startup based in Toronto, the two teams had difficulty integrating due to their different cultures. To resolve the conflict, Salesforce sent engineers to Toronto and Rypple's engineers to San Francisco, and they used Scrum teams to cross-pollinate and work remotely. The key lesson learned was that communication, setting expectations, and face-to-face time are essential for successful integration of two companies.

Structuring a Flat Team Effectively

When Signal Sciences grew from 5 to 15 engineers, the team structure had to be changed to maintain camaraderie and reduce silos. The manager created product teams, called "bands", which were independent and sovereign, allowing each engineer to have a sense of ownership and responsibility. When scaling a team, it is important to know the problem set and be willing to try different solutions, as team structure can be iterative.

Focus On Inputs to Reduce Burnout

An engineering team was struggling with burn out due to too many requests coming in at once. The engineering leader took action by talking to the product team and stakeholders, and putting a "work in progress" limit in place. This reduced context switching and stress, and had the added benefit of the company making better business decisions. The lesson learned was that engineering leaders have a responsibility to make their entire team successful.

Managing Engineers Egos During Change

My company recently implemented a formal code review process, but this created tension between a new, more senior engineer and a mid-level engineer who had been at the company for a while. To resolve this, I appointed an arbitrator to look over code reviews and work with the new engineer, and I had individual conversations with both engineers to understand the source of the tension. After having a face-to-face conversation, the code reviews have improved and the pipeline is no longer blocked. This experience taught me the importance of being supportive and communicating expectations when introducing new processes.

How To Effectively Hire And Manage Remote Teams

Signal Sciences faced the challenge of managing a predominantly remote engineering team. To address this, they implemented different communication channels, used Zoom video chat, and brought the whole team together for quarterly reviews and team building activities. They also focused on hiring people who were able to advocate for themselves and gave team members autonomy and ownership over their work. These measures helped ensure the success of their remote employees.

Managing a team of former peers

When transitioning from a peer to a manager, it is important to mark the transition with the people you are managing. Take time to understand their needs and to establish goals and expectations. Find a way to give and get constructive feedback early to build trust. Focus on being helpful and supporting your reports in finding their own solutions.

Increase accountability through commitments and follow-up

This article discusses the actions taken by a small start-up team to increase their productivity. They implemented weekly status meetings, split tasks into two buckets (pledges and goals), and agreed on a single task with the company's top priority each week. The lessons learned from this experience are to write out the plan, make tasks specific and accountable, and question how hard the team is working. This helps to ensure that the team is working together and that commitments are being met.

Convincing Engineers Not to Be Managers

This article discusses a strategy for convincing engineers to think twice before moving into a management role. The author suggests asking questions to ensure the engineer understands the different roles and responsibilities of management, and to assess their appetite for managerial work. In most cases, the engineer will decide that management is not for them and will discuss alternative ways to grow and develop. The author emphasizes that a team lead should be leading because of their ability to inspire people, not because of their position.

Delivering Bad News Clearly to Engineers

When VP of Engineering at Percolate had to make a difficult product decision, the manager of the affected team did not deliver the message in the right tone, resulting in the team panicking and two people leaving the company. The VP learned the importance of roleplaying with managers to assess how they would deliver a message and to ensure they can stand behind it.

How To Coach A Manager To Be More Empathetic

A manager was hired for a position, but his rational, cognitive approach to decision-making was not well-suited to the team he was given. The manager was coached on how to be more empathetic and an active listener, and to give his team autonomy. After months of coaching, the manager was successful in shifting his behavior and the team reported a positive change. This experience taught the recruiter to assess what they are and are not getting when recruiting, and to focus on the strengths a candidate brings to the table.

How to hire at scale when your organization matures

At Box, they have created a system of fixed "pods" consisting of a hiring manager, one recruiter, two sourcers, and one coordinator to efficiently fill roles at scale. Lessons learned include not assigning too many roles at once, experimenting with job descriptions, and having two distinct groups to define and execute the hiring philosophy.

The Pyramid of Needs of an Engineering Organisation

In order to address an engineering department attrition rate of 35-40%, a rubric was used to identify areas of focus. This rubric, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, identified the leadership team, org health, strategy, tools, systems, and processes, and product/results as the areas to focus on. This rubric helped to ensure that the team was aligned and focused on the right areas, rather than being distracted by things that don't drive the business forward.

My guidelines to successful one-on-ones.

When new to management, one-on-ones can be difficult to understand. However, they are essential for building trust and understanding what is going on in the team. To make one-on-ones successful, let the direct report set the agenda, have a weekly schedule, let people talk, and don't set a rigid framework. It is better to have a short meeting than to cancel, and remember that it takes time to build a trusting relationship.

Having better one-on-ones by tailoring them to your employees.

This article discusses how to get the most out of one-on-ones with direct reports. It suggests breaking the rules of one-on-ones by changing the setting of the meeting, such as going outside or getting coffee. It also suggests asking for feedback from direct reports and tailoring the one-on-ones to the individual employee. This helps to ensure better communication and more information is received.

Lessons From Leading Total Rewrite Projects

In 2014, Twitter wanted to rewrite its internal A/B testing system, but the two teams working on it created tension and a lack of clarity. To fix the problem, a new team was created with responsibility for A/B testing, staffed with both data scientists and engineers. This helped to align people behind one goal and build trust, while also incentivising the new system to be production-ready and stable. The team also learned that it is important to understand the old system and its failings in order to avoid repeating mistakes.

Managers shouldn’t be dictators

In this story, the author recounts their experience as an Air Force officer managing a team of software test engineers. The author learned that the military personnel and civilians had different motivations and strengths, and that it was important to factor these in and be flexible in how they structured their work. They also learned to get to know their employees as individuals, as it could go a long way in building trust. Lastly, they learned to start getting to know their team early on, as it would be more difficult to do so later.

Handling an average-performing employee who wants a promotion

A few years ago, a person was hired at a lower level than they wanted, with the expectation that they could advance. Despite giving them room for initiative and tasks linked to a leadership position, they were underperforming and not reaching out for help. When they asked for a promotion, they were shown a formalized engineer ladder and salary grid which showed them where they were and what they needed to improve. This didn't help and they ended up leaving. The key message is that having concrete explanations of why someone is not being promoted helps a lot. The engineer ladder and salary grid was published for everyone and triggered a lot of advancement. Inflating somebody's title or salary is not recommended as it gives employees an incentive to work harder and reduces their legitimacy if they are not at their proper position.

Developing Managers Internally

This article discusses the importance of investing in managers and how to do it correctly. It outlines the steps taken to identify potential managers, mentor and coach them, and invest in them through in-house training and book clubs. The article also highlights the importance of investing in managers to ensure the success of the team and company, as well as the lessons learned from the process.

How to Engage Offshore Engineers

This article discusses the challenges of hiring offshore engineers for an early stage startup with limited funding. The author suggests that by investing time into building the offshore team, and providing them with enough context to understand the product, it is possible to achieve the same quality of work as engineers based in the US.

Scaling Myself

The author recounts their experience of transitioning from a software engineering intern to a leader of multiple teams at Modernizing Medicine. They learned to delegate, inspire, and support their team, as well as become more strategic in their approach. The key lesson is to stay in a constant learning mindset, be open to new challenges, and focus on the team you build around you in order to scale.

Integrating a newly acquired startup into your company

When Salesforce acquired Rypple, a small startup based in Toronto, the two teams had difficulty integrating due to their different cultures. To resolve the conflict, Salesforce sent engineers to Toronto and Rypple's engineers to San Francisco, and they used Scrum teams to cross-pollinate and work remotely. The key lesson learned was that communication, setting expectations, and face-to-face time are essential for successful integration of two companies.

Structuring a Flat Team Effectively

When Signal Sciences grew from 5 to 15 engineers, the team structure had to be changed to maintain camaraderie and reduce silos. The manager created product teams, called "bands", which were independent and sovereign, allowing each engineer to have a sense of ownership and responsibility. When scaling a team, it is important to know the problem set and be willing to try different solutions, as team structure can be iterative.

Focus On Inputs to Reduce Burnout

An engineering team was struggling with burn out due to too many requests coming in at once. The engineering leader took action by talking to the product team and stakeholders, and putting a "work in progress" limit in place. This reduced context switching and stress, and had the added benefit of the company making better business decisions. The lesson learned was that engineering leaders have a responsibility to make their entire team successful.

Managing Engineers Egos During Change

My company recently implemented a formal code review process, but this created tension between a new, more senior engineer and a mid-level engineer who had been at the company for a while. To resolve this, I appointed an arbitrator to look over code reviews and work with the new engineer, and I had individual conversations with both engineers to understand the source of the tension. After having a face-to-face conversation, the code reviews have improved and the pipeline is no longer blocked. This experience taught me the importance of being supportive and communicating expectations when introducing new processes.

How To Effectively Hire And Manage Remote Teams

Signal Sciences faced the challenge of managing a predominantly remote engineering team. To address this, they implemented different communication channels, used Zoom video chat, and brought the whole team together for quarterly reviews and team building activities. They also focused on hiring people who were able to advocate for themselves and gave team members autonomy and ownership over their work. These measures helped ensure the success of their remote employees.

Managing a team of former peers

When transitioning from a peer to a manager, it is important to mark the transition with the people you are managing. Take time to understand their needs and to establish goals and expectations. Find a way to give and get constructive feedback early to build trust. Focus on being helpful and supporting your reports in finding their own solutions.

Increase accountability through commitments and follow-up

This article discusses the actions taken by a small start-up team to increase their productivity. They implemented weekly status meetings, split tasks into two buckets (pledges and goals), and agreed on a single task with the company's top priority each week. The lessons learned from this experience are to write out the plan, make tasks specific and accountable, and question how hard the team is working. This helps to ensure that the team is working together and that commitments are being met.

Convincing Engineers Not to Be Managers

This article discusses a strategy for convincing engineers to think twice before moving into a management role. The author suggests asking questions to ensure the engineer understands the different roles and responsibilities of management, and to assess their appetite for managerial work. In most cases, the engineer will decide that management is not for them and will discuss alternative ways to grow and develop. The author emphasizes that a team lead should be leading because of their ability to inspire people, not because of their position.

Delivering Bad News Clearly to Engineers

When VP of Engineering at Percolate had to make a difficult product decision, the manager of the affected team did not deliver the message in the right tone, resulting in the team panicking and two people leaving the company. The VP learned the importance of roleplaying with managers to assess how they would deliver a message and to ensure they can stand behind it.

How To Coach A Manager To Be More Empathetic

A manager was hired for a position, but his rational, cognitive approach to decision-making was not well-suited to the team he was given. The manager was coached on how to be more empathetic and an active listener, and to give his team autonomy. After months of coaching, the manager was successful in shifting his behavior and the team reported a positive change. This experience taught the recruiter to assess what they are and are not getting when recruiting, and to focus on the strengths a candidate brings to the table.

How to hire at scale when your organization matures

At Box, they have created a system of fixed "pods" consisting of a hiring manager, one recruiter, two sourcers, and one coordinator to efficiently fill roles at scale. Lessons learned include not assigning too many roles at once, experimenting with job descriptions, and having two distinct groups to define and execute the hiring philosophy.

The Pyramid of Needs of an Engineering Organisation

In order to address an engineering department attrition rate of 35-40%, a rubric was used to identify areas of focus. This rubric, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, identified the leadership team, org health, strategy, tools, systems, and processes, and product/results as the areas to focus on. This rubric helped to ensure that the team was aligned and focused on the right areas, rather than being distracted by things that don't drive the business forward.

My guidelines to successful one-on-ones.

When new to management, one-on-ones can be difficult to understand. However, they are essential for building trust and understanding what is going on in the team. To make one-on-ones successful, let the direct report set the agenda, have a weekly schedule, let people talk, and don't set a rigid framework. It is better to have a short meeting than to cancel, and remember that it takes time to build a trusting relationship.

Having better one-on-ones by tailoring them to your employees.

This article discusses how to get the most out of one-on-ones with direct reports. It suggests breaking the rules of one-on-ones by changing the setting of the meeting, such as going outside or getting coffee. It also suggests asking for feedback from direct reports and tailoring the one-on-ones to the individual employee. This helps to ensure better communication and more information is received.

Lessons From Leading Total Rewrite Projects

In 2014, Twitter wanted to rewrite its internal A/B testing system, but the two teams working on it created tension and a lack of clarity. To fix the problem, a new team was created with responsibility for A/B testing, staffed with both data scientists and engineers. This helped to align people behind one goal and build trust, while also incentivising the new system to be production-ready and stable. The team also learned that it is important to understand the old system and its failings in order to avoid repeating mistakes.

Managers shouldn’t be dictators

In this story, the author recounts their experience as an Air Force officer managing a team of software test engineers. The author learned that the military personnel and civilians had different motivations and strengths, and that it was important to factor these in and be flexible in how they structured their work. They also learned to get to know their employees as individuals, as it could go a long way in building trust. Lastly, they learned to start getting to know their team early on, as it would be more difficult to do so later.

Handling an average-performing employee who wants a promotion

A few years ago, a person was hired at a lower level than they wanted, with the expectation that they could advance. Despite giving them room for initiative and tasks linked to a leadership position, they were underperforming and not reaching out for help. When they asked for a promotion, they were shown a formalized engineer ladder and salary grid which showed them where they were and what they needed to improve. This didn't help and they ended up leaving. The key message is that having concrete explanations of why someone is not being promoted helps a lot. The engineer ladder and salary grid was published for everyone and triggered a lot of advancement. Inflating somebody's title or salary is not recommended as it gives employees an incentive to work harder and reduces their legitimacy if they are not at their proper position.

Developing Managers Internally

This article discusses the importance of investing in managers and how to do it correctly. It outlines the steps taken to identify potential managers, mentor and coach them, and invest in them through in-house training and book clubs. The article also highlights the importance of investing in managers to ensure the success of the team and company, as well as the lessons learned from the process.

How to Engage Offshore Engineers

This article discusses the challenges of hiring offshore engineers for an early stage startup with limited funding. The author suggests that by investing time into building the offshore team, and providing them with enough context to understand the product, it is possible to achieve the same quality of work as engineers based in the US.

Scaling Myself

The author recounts their experience of transitioning from a software engineering intern to a leader of multiple teams at Modernizing Medicine. They learned to delegate, inspire, and support their team, as well as become more strategic in their approach. The key lesson is to stay in a constant learning mindset, be open to new challenges, and focus on the team you build around you in order to scale.

Integrating a newly acquired startup into your company

When Salesforce acquired Rypple, a small startup based in Toronto, the two teams had difficulty integrating due to their different cultures. To resolve the conflict, Salesforce sent engineers to Toronto and Rypple's engineers to San Francisco, and they used Scrum teams to cross-pollinate and work remotely. The key lesson learned was that communication, setting expectations, and face-to-face time are essential for successful integration of two companies.

Structuring a Flat Team Effectively

When Signal Sciences grew from 5 to 15 engineers, the team structure had to be changed to maintain camaraderie and reduce silos. The manager created product teams, called "bands", which were independent and sovereign, allowing each engineer to have a sense of ownership and responsibility. When scaling a team, it is important to know the problem set and be willing to try different solutions, as team structure can be iterative.

Focus On Inputs to Reduce Burnout

An engineering team was struggling with burn out due to too many requests coming in at once. The engineering leader took action by talking to the product team and stakeholders, and putting a "work in progress" limit in place. This reduced context switching and stress, and had the added benefit of the company making better business decisions. The lesson learned was that engineering leaders have a responsibility to make their entire team successful.

Managing Engineers Egos During Change

My company recently implemented a formal code review process, but this created tension between a new, more senior engineer and a mid-level engineer who had been at the company for a while. To resolve this, I appointed an arbitrator to look over code reviews and work with the new engineer, and I had individual conversations with both engineers to understand the source of the tension. After having a face-to-face conversation, the code reviews have improved and the pipeline is no longer blocked. This experience taught me the importance of being supportive and communicating expectations when introducing new processes.

How To Effectively Hire And Manage Remote Teams

Signal Sciences faced the challenge of managing a predominantly remote engineering team. To address this, they implemented different communication channels, used Zoom video chat, and brought the whole team together for quarterly reviews and team building activities. They also focused on hiring people who were able to advocate for themselves and gave team members autonomy and ownership over their work. These measures helped ensure the success of their remote employees.

Managing a team of former peers

When transitioning from a peer to a manager, it is important to mark the transition with the people you are managing. Take time to understand their needs and to establish goals and expectations. Find a way to give and get constructive feedback early to build trust. Focus on being helpful and supporting your reports in finding their own solutions.

Increase accountability through commitments and follow-up

This article discusses the actions taken by a small start-up team to increase their productivity. They implemented weekly status meetings, split tasks into two buckets (pledges and goals), and agreed on a single task with the company's top priority each week. The lessons learned from this experience are to write out the plan, make tasks specific and accountable, and question how hard the team is working. This helps to ensure that the team is working together and that commitments are being met.

Convincing Engineers Not to Be Managers

This article discusses a strategy for convincing engineers to think twice before moving into a management role. The author suggests asking questions to ensure the engineer understands the different roles and responsibilities of management, and to assess their appetite for managerial work. In most cases, the engineer will decide that management is not for them and will discuss alternative ways to grow and develop. The author emphasizes that a team lead should be leading because of their ability to inspire people, not because of their position.

Delivering Bad News Clearly to Engineers

When VP of Engineering at Percolate had to make a difficult product decision, the manager of the affected team did not deliver the message in the right tone, resulting in the team panicking and two people leaving the company. The VP learned the importance of roleplaying with managers to assess how they would deliver a message and to ensure they can stand behind it.

How To Coach A Manager To Be More Empathetic

A manager was hired for a position, but his rational, cognitive approach to decision-making was not well-suited to the team he was given. The manager was coached on how to be more empathetic and an active listener, and to give his team autonomy. After months of coaching, the manager was successful in shifting his behavior and the team reported a positive change. This experience taught the recruiter to assess what they are and are not getting when recruiting, and to focus on the strengths a candidate brings to the table.

How to hire at scale when your organization matures

At Box, they have created a system of fixed "pods" consisting of a hiring manager, one recruiter, two sourcers, and one coordinator to efficiently fill roles at scale. Lessons learned include not assigning too many roles at once, experimenting with job descriptions, and having two distinct groups to define and execute the hiring philosophy.

The Pyramid of Needs of an Engineering Organisation

In order to address an engineering department attrition rate of 35-40%, a rubric was used to identify areas of focus. This rubric, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, identified the leadership team, org health, strategy, tools, systems, and processes, and product/results as the areas to focus on. This rubric helped to ensure that the team was aligned and focused on the right areas, rather than being distracted by things that don't drive the business forward.

My guidelines to successful one-on-ones.

When new to management, one-on-ones can be difficult to understand. However, they are essential for building trust and understanding what is going on in the team. To make one-on-ones successful, let the direct report set the agenda, have a weekly schedule, let people talk, and don't set a rigid framework. It is better to have a short meeting than to cancel, and remember that it takes time to build a trusting relationship.

Having better one-on-ones by tailoring them to your employees.

This article discusses how to get the most out of one-on-ones with direct reports. It suggests breaking the rules of one-on-ones by changing the setting of the meeting, such as going outside or getting coffee. It also suggests asking for feedback from direct reports and tailoring the one-on-ones to the individual employee. This helps to ensure better communication and more information is received.

Lessons From Leading Total Rewrite Projects

In 2014, Twitter wanted to rewrite its internal A/B testing system, but the two teams working on it created tension and a lack of clarity. To fix the problem, a new team was created with responsibility for A/B testing, staffed with both data scientists and engineers. This helped to align people behind one goal and build trust, while also incentivising the new system to be production-ready and stable. The team also learned that it is important to understand the old system and its failings in order to avoid repeating mistakes.

Managers shouldn’t be dictators

In this story, the author recounts their experience as an Air Force officer managing a team of software test engineers. The author learned that the military personnel and civilians had different motivations and strengths, and that it was important to factor these in and be flexible in how they structured their work. They also learned to get to know their employees as individuals, as it could go a long way in building trust. Lastly, they learned to start getting to know their team early on, as it would be more difficult to do so later.

Handling an average-performing employee who wants a promotion

A few years ago, a person was hired at a lower level than they wanted, with the expectation that they could advance. Despite giving them room for initiative and tasks linked to a leadership position, they were underperforming and not reaching out for help. When they asked for a promotion, they were shown a formalized engineer ladder and salary grid which showed them where they were and what they needed to improve. This didn't help and they ended up leaving. The key message is that having concrete explanations of why someone is not being promoted helps a lot. The engineer ladder and salary grid was published for everyone and triggered a lot of advancement. Inflating somebody's title or salary is not recommended as it gives employees an incentive to work harder and reduces their legitimacy if they are not at their proper position.

Developing Managers Internally

This article discusses the importance of investing in managers and how to do it correctly. It outlines the steps taken to identify potential managers, mentor and coach them, and invest in them through in-house training and book clubs. The article also highlights the importance of investing in managers to ensure the success of the team and company, as well as the lessons learned from the process.

How to Engage Offshore Engineers

This article discusses the challenges of hiring offshore engineers for an early stage startup with limited funding. The author suggests that by investing time into building the offshore team, and providing them with enough context to understand the product, it is possible to achieve the same quality of work as engineers based in the US.

Scaling Myself

The author recounts their experience of transitioning from a software engineering intern to a leader of multiple teams at Modernizing Medicine. They learned to delegate, inspire, and support their team, as well as become more strategic in their approach. The key lesson is to stay in a constant learning mindset, be open to new challenges, and focus on the team you build around you in order to scale.

Integrating a newly acquired startup into your company

When Salesforce acquired Rypple, a small startup based in Toronto, the two teams had difficulty integrating due to their different cultures. To resolve the conflict, Salesforce sent engineers to Toronto and Rypple's engineers to San Francisco, and they used Scrum teams to cross-pollinate and work remotely. The key lesson learned was that communication, setting expectations, and face-to-face time are essential for successful integration of two companies.

Structuring a Flat Team Effectively

When Signal Sciences grew from 5 to 15 engineers, the team structure had to be changed to maintain camaraderie and reduce silos. The manager created product teams, called "bands", which were independent and sovereign, allowing each engineer to have a sense of ownership and responsibility. When scaling a team, it is important to know the problem set and be willing to try different solutions, as team structure can be iterative.

Focus On Inputs to Reduce Burnout

An engineering team was struggling with burn out due to too many requests coming in at once. The engineering leader took action by talking to the product team and stakeholders, and putting a "work in progress" limit in place. This reduced context switching and stress, and had the added benefit of the company making better business decisions. The lesson learned was that engineering leaders have a responsibility to make their entire team successful.

Managing Engineers Egos During Change

My company recently implemented a formal code review process, but this created tension between a new, more senior engineer and a mid-level engineer who had been at the company for a while. To resolve this, I appointed an arbitrator to look over code reviews and work with the new engineer, and I had individual conversations with both engineers to understand the source of the tension. After having a face-to-face conversation, the code reviews have improved and the pipeline is no longer blocked. This experience taught me the importance of being supportive and communicating expectations when introducing new processes.

How To Effectively Hire And Manage Remote Teams

Signal Sciences faced the challenge of managing a predominantly remote engineering team. To address this, they implemented different communication channels, used Zoom video chat, and brought the whole team together for quarterly reviews and team building activities. They also focused on hiring people who were able to advocate for themselves and gave team members autonomy and ownership over their work. These measures helped ensure the success of their remote employees.

Managing a team of former peers

When transitioning from a peer to a manager, it is important to mark the transition with the people you are managing. Take time to understand their needs and to establish goals and expectations. Find a way to give and get constructive feedback early to build trust. Focus on being helpful and supporting your reports in finding their own solutions.

Increase accountability through commitments and follow-up

This article discusses the actions taken by a small start-up team to increase their productivity. They implemented weekly status meetings, split tasks into two buckets (pledges and goals), and agreed on a single task with the company's top priority each week. The lessons learned from this experience are to write out the plan, make tasks specific and accountable, and question how hard the team is working. This helps to ensure that the team is working together and that commitments are being met.

Convincing Engineers Not to Be Managers

This article discusses a strategy for convincing engineers to think twice before moving into a management role. The author suggests asking questions to ensure the engineer understands the different roles and responsibilities of management, and to assess their appetite for managerial work. In most cases, the engineer will decide that management is not for them and will discuss alternative ways to grow and develop. The author emphasizes that a team lead should be leading because of their ability to inspire people, not because of their position.

Delivering Bad News Clearly to Engineers

When VP of Engineering at Percolate had to make a difficult product decision, the manager of the affected team did not deliver the message in the right tone, resulting in the team panicking and two people leaving the company. The VP learned the importance of roleplaying with managers to assess how they would deliver a message and to ensure they can stand behind it.

How To Coach A Manager To Be More Empathetic

A manager was hired for a position, but his rational, cognitive approach to decision-making was not well-suited to the team he was given. The manager was coached on how to be more empathetic and an active listener, and to give his team autonomy. After months of coaching, the manager was successful in shifting his behavior and the team reported a positive change. This experience taught the recruiter to assess what they are and are not getting when recruiting, and to focus on the strengths a candidate brings to the table.

How to hire at scale when your organization matures

At Box, they have created a system of fixed "pods" consisting of a hiring manager, one recruiter, two sourcers, and one coordinator to efficiently fill roles at scale. Lessons learned include not assigning too many roles at once, experimenting with job descriptions, and having two distinct groups to define and execute the hiring philosophy.

The Pyramid of Needs of an Engineering Organisation

In order to address an engineering department attrition rate of 35-40%, a rubric was used to identify areas of focus. This rubric, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, identified the leadership team, org health, strategy, tools, systems, and processes, and product/results as the areas to focus on. This rubric helped to ensure that the team was aligned and focused on the right areas, rather than being distracted by things that don't drive the business forward.

My guidelines to successful one-on-ones.

When new to management, one-on-ones can be difficult to understand. However, they are essential for building trust and understanding what is going on in the team. To make one-on-ones successful, let the direct report set the agenda, have a weekly schedule, let people talk, and don't set a rigid framework. It is better to have a short meeting than to cancel, and remember that it takes time to build a trusting relationship.

Having better one-on-ones by tailoring them to your employees.

This article discusses how to get the most out of one-on-ones with direct reports. It suggests breaking the rules of one-on-ones by changing the setting of the meeting, such as going outside or getting coffee. It also suggests asking for feedback from direct reports and tailoring the one-on-ones to the individual employee. This helps to ensure better communication and more information is received.

Lessons From Leading Total Rewrite Projects

In 2014, Twitter wanted to rewrite its internal A/B testing system, but the two teams working on it created tension and a lack of clarity. To fix the problem, a new team was created with responsibility for A/B testing, staffed with both data scientists and engineers. This helped to align people behind one goal and build trust, while also incentivising the new system to be production-ready and stable. The team also learned that it is important to understand the old system and its failings in order to avoid repeating mistakes.

Managers shouldn’t be dictators

In this story, the author recounts their experience as an Air Force officer managing a team of software test engineers. The author learned that the military personnel and civilians had different motivations and strengths, and that it was important to factor these in and be flexible in how they structured their work. They also learned to get to know their employees as individuals, as it could go a long way in building trust. Lastly, they learned to start getting to know their team early on, as it would be more difficult to do so later.

Handling an average-performing employee who wants a promotion

A few years ago, a person was hired at a lower level than they wanted, with the expectation that they could advance. Despite giving them room for initiative and tasks linked to a leadership position, they were underperforming and not reaching out for help. When they asked for a promotion, they were shown a formalized engineer ladder and salary grid which showed them where they were and what they needed to improve. This didn't help and they ended up leaving. The key message is that having concrete explanations of why someone is not being promoted helps a lot. The engineer ladder and salary grid was published for everyone and triggered a lot of advancement. Inflating somebody's title or salary is not recommended as it gives employees an incentive to work harder and reduces their legitimacy if they are not at their proper position.

Developing Managers Internally

This article discusses the importance of investing in managers and how to do it correctly. It outlines the steps taken to identify potential managers, mentor and coach them, and invest in them through in-house training and book clubs. The article also highlights the importance of investing in managers to ensure the success of the team and company, as well as the lessons learned from the process.

How to Engage Offshore Engineers

This article discusses the challenges of hiring offshore engineers for an early stage startup with limited funding. The author suggests that by investing time into building the offshore team, and providing them with enough context to understand the product, it is possible to achieve the same quality of work as engineers based in the US.

Scaling Myself

The author recounts their experience of transitioning from a software engineering intern to a leader of multiple teams at Modernizing Medicine. They learned to delegate, inspire, and support their team, as well as become more strategic in their approach. The key lesson is to stay in a constant learning mindset, be open to new challenges, and focus on the team you build around you in order to scale.

Integrating a newly acquired startup into your company

When Salesforce acquired Rypple, a small startup based in Toronto, the two teams had difficulty integrating due to their different cultures. To resolve the conflict, Salesforce sent engineers to Toronto and Rypple's engineers to San Francisco, and they used Scrum teams to cross-pollinate and work remotely. The key lesson learned was that communication, setting expectations, and face-to-face time are essential for successful integration of two companies.

Structuring a Flat Team Effectively

When Signal Sciences grew from 5 to 15 engineers, the team structure had to be changed to maintain camaraderie and reduce silos. The manager created product teams, called "bands", which were independent and sovereign, allowing each engineer to have a sense of ownership and responsibility. When scaling a team, it is important to know the problem set and be willing to try different solutions, as team structure can be iterative.

Focus On Inputs to Reduce Burnout

An engineering team was struggling with burn out due to too many requests coming in at once. The engineering leader took action by talking to the product team and stakeholders, and putting a "work in progress" limit in place. This reduced context switching and stress, and had the added benefit of the company making better business decisions. The lesson learned was that engineering leaders have a responsibility to make their entire team successful.

Managing Engineers Egos During Change

My company recently implemented a formal code review process, but this created tension between a new, more senior engineer and a mid-level engineer who had been at the company for a while. To resolve this, I appointed an arbitrator to look over code reviews and work with the new engineer, and I had individual conversations with both engineers to understand the source of the tension. After having a face-to-face conversation, the code reviews have improved and the pipeline is no longer blocked. This experience taught me the importance of being supportive and communicating expectations when introducing new processes.

How To Effectively Hire And Manage Remote Teams

Signal Sciences faced the challenge of managing a predominantly remote engineering team. To address this, they implemented different communication channels, used Zoom video chat, and brought the whole team together for quarterly reviews and team building activities. They also focused on hiring people who were able to advocate for themselves and gave team members autonomy and ownership over their work. These measures helped ensure the success of their remote employees.

Managing a team of former peers

When transitioning from a peer to a manager, it is important to mark the transition with the people you are managing. Take time to understand their needs and to establish goals and expectations. Find a way to give and get constructive feedback early to build trust. Focus on being helpful and supporting your reports in finding their own solutions.

Increase accountability through commitments and follow-up

This article discusses the actions taken by a small start-up team to increase their productivity. They implemented weekly status meetings, split tasks into two buckets (pledges and goals), and agreed on a single task with the company's top priority each week. The lessons learned from this experience are to write out the plan, make tasks specific and accountable, and question how hard the team is working. This helps to ensure that the team is working together and that commitments are being met.

Convincing Engineers Not to Be Managers

This article discusses a strategy for convincing engineers to think twice before moving into a management role. The author suggests asking questions to ensure the engineer understands the different roles and responsibilities of management, and to assess their appetite for managerial work. In most cases, the engineer will decide that management is not for them and will discuss alternative ways to grow and develop. The author emphasizes that a team lead should be leading because of their ability to inspire people, not because of their position.

Delivering Bad News Clearly to Engineers

When VP of Engineering at Percolate had to make a difficult product decision, the manager of the affected team did not deliver the message in the right tone, resulting in the team panicking and two people leaving the company. The VP learned the importance of roleplaying with managers to assess how they would deliver a message and to ensure they can stand behind it.

How To Coach A Manager To Be More Empathetic

A manager was hired for a position, but his rational, cognitive approach to decision-making was not well-suited to the team he was given. The manager was coached on how to be more empathetic and an active listener, and to give his team autonomy. After months of coaching, the manager was successful in shifting his behavior and the team reported a positive change. This experience taught the recruiter to assess what they are and are not getting when recruiting, and to focus on the strengths a candidate brings to the table.

How to hire at scale when your organization matures

At Box, they have created a system of fixed "pods" consisting of a hiring manager, one recruiter, two sourcers, and one coordinator to efficiently fill roles at scale. Lessons learned include not assigning too many roles at once, experimenting with job descriptions, and having two distinct groups to define and execute the hiring philosophy.

The Pyramid of Needs of an Engineering Organisation

In order to address an engineering department attrition rate of 35-40%, a rubric was used to identify areas of focus. This rubric, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, identified the leadership team, org health, strategy, tools, systems, and processes, and product/results as the areas to focus on. This rubric helped to ensure that the team was aligned and focused on the right areas, rather than being distracted by things that don't drive the business forward.

My guidelines to successful one-on-ones.

When new to management, one-on-ones can be difficult to understand. However, they are essential for building trust and understanding what is going on in the team. To make one-on-ones successful, let the direct report set the agenda, have a weekly schedule, let people talk, and don't set a rigid framework. It is better to have a short meeting than to cancel, and remember that it takes time to build a trusting relationship.

Having better one-on-ones by tailoring them to your employees.

This article discusses how to get the most out of one-on-ones with direct reports. It suggests breaking the rules of one-on-ones by changing the setting of the meeting, such as going outside or getting coffee. It also suggests asking for feedback from direct reports and tailoring the one-on-ones to the individual employee. This helps to ensure better communication and more information is received.

Lessons From Leading Total Rewrite Projects

In 2014, Twitter wanted to rewrite its internal A/B testing system, but the two teams working on it created tension and a lack of clarity. To fix the problem, a new team was created with responsibility for A/B testing, staffed with both data scientists and engineers. This helped to align people behind one goal and build trust, while also incentivising the new system to be production-ready and stable. The team also learned that it is important to understand the old system and its failings in order to avoid repeating mistakes.

Managers shouldn’t be dictators

In this story, the author recounts their experience as an Air Force officer managing a team of software test engineers. The author learned that the military personnel and civilians had different motivations and strengths, and that it was important to factor these in and be flexible in how they structured their work. They also learned to get to know their employees as individuals, as it could go a long way in building trust. Lastly, they learned to start getting to know their team early on, as it would be more difficult to do so later.

Handling an average-performing employee who wants a promotion

A few years ago, a person was hired at a lower level than they wanted, with the expectation that they could advance. Despite giving them room for initiative and tasks linked to a leadership position, they were underperforming and not reaching out for help. When they asked for a promotion, they were shown a formalized engineer ladder and salary grid which showed them where they were and what they needed to improve. This didn't help and they ended up leaving. The key message is that having concrete explanations of why someone is not being promoted helps a lot. The engineer ladder and salary grid was published for everyone and triggered a lot of advancement. Inflating somebody's title or salary is not recommended as it gives employees an incentive to work harder and reduces their legitimacy if they are not at their proper position.

Developing Managers Internally

This article discusses the importance of investing in managers and how to do it correctly. It outlines the steps taken to identify potential managers, mentor and coach them, and invest in them through in-house training and book clubs. The article also highlights the importance of investing in managers to ensure the success of the team and company, as well as the lessons learned from the process.

How to Engage Offshore Engineers

This article discusses the challenges of hiring offshore engineers for an early stage startup with limited funding. The author suggests that by investing time into building the offshore team, and providing them with enough context to understand the product, it is possible to achieve the same quality of work as engineers based in the US.

Scaling Myself

The author recounts their experience of transitioning from a software engineering intern to a leader of multiple teams at Modernizing Medicine. They learned to delegate, inspire, and support their team, as well as become more strategic in their approach. The key lesson is to stay in a constant learning mindset, be open to new challenges, and focus on the team you build around you in order to scale.

Integrating a newly acquired startup into your company

When Salesforce acquired Rypple, a small startup based in Toronto, the two teams had difficulty integrating due to their different cultures. To resolve the conflict, Salesforce sent engineers to Toronto and Rypple's engineers to San Francisco, and they used Scrum teams to cross-pollinate and work remotely. The key lesson learned was that communication, setting expectations, and face-to-face time are essential for successful integration of two companies.

Structuring a Flat Team Effectively

When Signal Sciences grew from 5 to 15 engineers, the team structure had to be changed to maintain camaraderie and reduce silos. The manager created product teams, called "bands", which were independent and sovereign, allowing each engineer to have a sense of ownership and responsibility. When scaling a team, it is important to know the problem set and be willing to try different solutions, as team structure can be iterative.

Focus On Inputs to Reduce Burnout

An engineering team was struggling with burn out due to too many requests coming in at once. The engineering leader took action by talking to the product team and stakeholders, and putting a "work in progress" limit in place. This reduced context switching and stress, and had the added benefit of the company making better business decisions. The lesson learned was that engineering leaders have a responsibility to make their entire team successful.

Managing Engineers Egos During Change

My company recently implemented a formal code review process, but this created tension between a new, more senior engineer and a mid-level engineer who had been at the company for a while. To resolve this, I appointed an arbitrator to look over code reviews and work with the new engineer, and I had individual conversations with both engineers to understand the source of the tension. After having a face-to-face conversation, the code reviews have improved and the pipeline is no longer blocked. This experience taught me the importance of being supportive and communicating expectations when introducing new processes.

How To Effectively Hire And Manage Remote Teams

Signal Sciences faced the challenge of managing a predominantly remote engineering team. To address this, they implemented different communication channels, used Zoom video chat, and brought the whole team together for quarterly reviews and team building activities. They also focused on hiring people who were able to advocate for themselves and gave team members autonomy and ownership over their work. These measures helped ensure the success of their remote employees.

Managing a team of former peers

When transitioning from a peer to a manager, it is important to mark the transition with the people you are managing. Take time to understand their needs and to establish goals and expectations. Find a way to give and get constructive feedback early to build trust. Focus on being helpful and supporting your reports in finding their own solutions.

Increase accountability through commitments and follow-up

This article discusses the actions taken by a small start-up team to increase their productivity. They implemented weekly status meetings, split tasks into two buckets (pledges and goals), and agreed on a single task with the company's top priority each week. The lessons learned from this experience are to write out the plan, make tasks specific and accountable, and question how hard the team is working. This helps to ensure that the team is working together and that commitments are being met.

Convincing Engineers Not to Be Managers

This article discusses a strategy for convincing engineers to think twice before moving into a management role. The author suggests asking questions to ensure the engineer understands the different roles and responsibilities of management, and to assess their appetite for managerial work. In most cases, the engineer will decide that management is not for them and will discuss alternative ways to grow and develop. The author emphasizes that a team lead should be leading because of their ability to inspire people, not because of their position.

Delivering Bad News Clearly to Engineers

When VP of Engineering at Percolate had to make a difficult product decision, the manager of the affected team did not deliver the message in the right tone, resulting in the team panicking and two people leaving the company. The VP learned the importance of roleplaying with managers to assess how they would deliver a message and to ensure they can stand behind it.

How To Coach A Manager To Be More Empathetic

A manager was hired for a position, but his rational, cognitive approach to decision-making was not well-suited to the team he was given. The manager was coached on how to be more empathetic and an active listener, and to give his team autonomy. After months of coaching, the manager was successful in shifting his behavior and the team reported a positive change. This experience taught the recruiter to assess what they are and are not getting when recruiting, and to focus on the strengths a candidate brings to the table.

How to hire at scale when your organization matures

At Box, they have created a system of fixed "pods" consisting of a hiring manager, one recruiter, two sourcers, and one coordinator to efficiently fill roles at scale. Lessons learned include not assigning too many roles at once, experimenting with job descriptions, and having two distinct groups to define and execute the hiring philosophy.

The Pyramid of Needs of an Engineering Organisation

In order to address an engineering department attrition rate of 35-40%, a rubric was used to identify areas of focus. This rubric, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, identified the leadership team, org health, strategy, tools, systems, and processes, and product/results as the areas to focus on. This rubric helped to ensure that the team was aligned and focused on the right areas, rather than being distracted by things that don't drive the business forward.

My guidelines to successful one-on-ones.

When new to management, one-on-ones can be difficult to understand. However, they are essential for building trust and understanding what is going on in the team. To make one-on-ones successful, let the direct report set the agenda, have a weekly schedule, let people talk, and don't set a rigid framework. It is better to have a short meeting than to cancel, and remember that it takes time to build a trusting relationship.

Having better one-on-ones by tailoring them to your employees.

This article discusses how to get the most out of one-on-ones with direct reports. It suggests breaking the rules of one-on-ones by changing the setting of the meeting, such as going outside or getting coffee. It also suggests asking for feedback from direct reports and tailoring the one-on-ones to the individual employee. This helps to ensure better communication and more information is received.

Lessons From Leading Total Rewrite Projects

In 2014, Twitter wanted to rewrite its internal A/B testing system, but the two teams working on it created tension and a lack of clarity. To fix the problem, a new team was created with responsibility for A/B testing, staffed with both data scientists and engineers. This helped to align people behind one goal and build trust, while also incentivising the new system to be production-ready and stable. The team also learned that it is important to understand the old system and its failings in order to avoid repeating mistakes.

Managers shouldn’t be dictators

In this story, the author recounts their experience as an Air Force officer managing a team of software test engineers. The author learned that the military personnel and civilians had different motivations and strengths, and that it was important to factor these in and be flexible in how they structured their work. They also learned to get to know their employees as individuals, as it could go a long way in building trust. Lastly, they learned to start getting to know their team early on, as it would be more difficult to do so later.

Handling an average-performing employee who wants a promotion

A few years ago, a person was hired at a lower level than they wanted, with the expectation that they could advance. Despite giving them room for initiative and tasks linked to a leadership position, they were underperforming and not reaching out for help. When they asked for a promotion, they were shown a formalized engineer ladder and salary grid which showed them where they were and what they needed to improve. This didn't help and they ended up leaving. The key message is that having concrete explanations of why someone is not being promoted helps a lot. The engineer ladder and salary grid was published for everyone and triggered a lot of advancement. Inflating somebody's title or salary is not recommended as it gives employees an incentive to work harder and reduces their legitimacy if they are not at their proper position.