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A high performing employee threatened by a new hire of his caliber

A Director of Engineering at Twitter had a high performing direct report, Lee, who felt threatened by a new hire. The Director took a step back and asked Lee what his aspirations were and how he wanted to be seen. He wanted to be an architect and in charge of larger systems. The Director then helped Lee to see the new hire as an asset and a succession plan to help him grow in his career. This showed that threats can be turned into opportunities.

Improving your working relationship with your product team

When the Engineering, Product, Operations and Sales teams at a company were not working together well, the Director of Engineering took steps to improve the situation. He wrote down the current process, roles, and responsibilities and discussed it with the Product team, then wrote a document outlining the team's vision, objectives, and roles and responsibilities. This document became an essential tool for getting the teams to work together as one, and the lesson learned was that a team-first approach is necessary for successful products, and that clear goals and regular reviews and updates should be established.

Every employee has different drivers

A manager noticed that one of their high performing engineers lacked motivation. After having a conversation with the engineer, it was revealed that the engineer was primarily motivated by money. The manager then created a plan with specific objectives and financial incentives to help motivate the engineer, which resulted in the engineer's promotion. This experience taught the manager that it is important to understand the motivations of their employees, as they can vary from person to person.

A simple trick to ensure sane and quality remote interactions

This article discusses the challenges of managing remote employees and provides advice on how to maintain the same level of interaction with them. The author suggests making a list of all interactions with local and remote employees, paying extra attention to one-on-ones and team meetings, and making an effort to have informal conversations with remote employees.

Becoming a manager is not a promotion

A direct report asked for a promotion to a managerial position, but the manager had doubts about whether the employee would be happy in that role. Through one-on-one conversations, the manager discovered that the employee was not interested in company politics and would not be satisfied in a managerial role. This experience taught the manager that it is important to provide engineers with growth opportunities beyond a linear path leading to management.

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Helping engineer to set priorities

A junior engineer was overconfident in his technical skills and took on a big feature that turned out to be bigger than anticipated, leading to delays. The manager had a conversation with him to help him understand his priorities and to encourage him to communicate when he was facing issues. Through regular check-ins, the engineer's collaboration skills improved over time. The manager learned that one of their main roles is to help the team understand their priorities and to monitor their day-to-day work.

Clear expectation setting and onboarding process to maximize new hire success

This article discusses the importance of setting up a new engineering hire for success. It outlines a process that includes providing access to private GitHub repos, assigning an onboarding buddy, setting expectations for the first two weeks, and checking in frequently with the hire to ensure they are on track. This process has been successful in increasing the confidence of engineers and reducing the time it takes them to begin producing value.

Finding the right balance for meetings

A senior engineer was unable to meet his project's deadline due to too many meetings. After discussing the issue with other senior engineers, a few golden rules were established to make meetings more efficient. Additionally, "No meeting days" were implemented to allow engineers to focus on their work. The manager learned that it is important to take team members' feedback into account when organizing work and to ensure that meetings are necessary and run efficiently.

Hiring a new team is not a part time job

When the engineering manager of Netflix joined, he faced the challenge of having to rebuild a team from scratch. He dedicated 60% of his time to the hiring process and was very selective in the profiles he was looking for. The hiring process took a significant amount of time, but the manager's boss now acknowledges that it was the right thing to do. The lesson learned is that when building a team, it is important to take the time to hire the right person and to make sure the company's management understands it is a priority.

Do the Job before Claiming the Title

When considering a role change, the author learned that instead of asking for a title change first, it is better to try to do the work first. In this case, the author was considering a move into management and was given the opportunity to prove his capabilities by taking ownership of a project and expanding its scope. After successfully doing this, the author was given the confidence to move into a management role.

I had to let go of an employee that I had personally advised the company to hire

When a small start-up hired a QA engineer from a larger company, the engineer was unable to adapt to the new context and the team started to complain about his standard of quality checking. After trying to support him, the engineer had to be let go. The lesson learned was to not underestimate the cultural difference between companies and to take action as soon as a problem is detected. The engineer was given a reference for a job better suited to his skills, where he is now thriving.

Tech lead versus team lead

A team lead was struggling to manage a growing team and his leadership quality was decreasing. To address this, the team lead was asked to list out the parts of his leadership role he was not interested in and those responsibilities were transitioned to someone else in the team. This lesson learned was that the most technically advanced employee may not be the best team lead and it is important to consider having a separate "team lead" and "tech lead" within a team.

Embracing timeboxing to better allocate your time

Timeboxing is a method of allocating time more efficiently by identifying areas of focus and blocking off "boxes" in the calendar for each category. It requires data gathering and analysis of current time allocation, and setting parameters such as office hours and quiet times. Once done, it should be shared with those working with the manager so they know when they can come to them for requests and questions.

Going beneath the surface to have effective one-on-ones

One-on-ones should be treated as a case-by-case system, as everyone has different goals and different things they want to get out of these meetings. Managers should push personal limits and ask hard-hitting questions, while also encouraging team members to bring their questions and thoughts to their one-on-ones. This encourages open and transparent communication and allows managers to get beneath the surface to get the most out of the meetings.

How to hire the best senior engineers?

This engineering manager learned that having a balanced team in terms of profiles and years of experience is not enough to ensure a team's effectiveness. After analyzing both teams, it was found that the less productive team lacked guidance from their senior engineer, who was more focused on his own productivity than helping and coaching his peers. This experience taught the manager that senior engineers should not only perform their duties, but also help improve their team's productivity by helping others, reviewing their work, and giving advice. Now, when hiring senior engineers, the manager looks for candidates who can bring productivity to the team, not just to themselves.

How To Hire Remotely

This article outlines a thorough process for hiring remote workers that is fair and transparent to both sides. It includes posting an advert, prescreening candidates, sending a sheet explaining the interview process, a technical phone screen, and a hack hour. If the interviewee is successful, they are offered a contract role for a hack week, and if that goes well, a full-time role. This process has reduced the drop-off rate of the company and has saved time for both the company and the interviewees.

Perceived bad quality due to bad internal communication

The lead dev in a telecom company discovered that customer support teams were not following the proper installation procedures and not using the troubleshooting tools, leading to customer dissatisfaction. To solve the problem, the lead dev took responsibility and asked the support team to have someone from his team take part during installation and someone from their team during the testing phase. This improved communication and facilitated the installation process, teaching the lesson that taking responsibility and being proactive towards a solution is key to solving problems.

Navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager

Transitioning from individual contributor to manager was difficult for the author, who stopped feeling the same gratification from coding. After seeking help from managers and colleagues, the author learned to look at themselves as an "agent of change" and focus on the positive changes they could make each day. The author's lesson is to ask for help when having a problem and to think of positive changes to make each day to stay motivated.

How to convince a direct report to reconsider his decisions

A tech lead on a team had chosen to use the Derby database for their product, but as the product grew and customers began storing more data, they encountered issues with long running maintenance jobs. The manager had to convince the tech lead to reconsider his decision without making him feel defensive. Through asking questions and inspiring him to find the solution himself, the tech lead became proactive in researching and implementing a new database. This taught the manager the lesson to always keep direct reports engaged when trying to convince them to reconsider their decisions.

A high performing employee threatened by a new hire of his caliber

A Director of Engineering at Twitter had a high performing direct report, Lee, who felt threatened by a new hire. The Director took a step back and asked Lee what his aspirations were and how he wanted to be seen. He wanted to be an architect and in charge of larger systems. The Director then helped Lee to see the new hire as an asset and a succession plan to help him grow in his career. This showed that threats can be turned into opportunities.

Improving your working relationship with your product team

When the Engineering, Product, Operations and Sales teams at a company were not working together well, the Director of Engineering took steps to improve the situation. He wrote down the current process, roles, and responsibilities and discussed it with the Product team, then wrote a document outlining the team's vision, objectives, and roles and responsibilities. This document became an essential tool for getting the teams to work together as one, and the lesson learned was that a team-first approach is necessary for successful products, and that clear goals and regular reviews and updates should be established.

Every employee has different drivers

A manager noticed that one of their high performing engineers lacked motivation. After having a conversation with the engineer, it was revealed that the engineer was primarily motivated by money. The manager then created a plan with specific objectives and financial incentives to help motivate the engineer, which resulted in the engineer's promotion. This experience taught the manager that it is important to understand the motivations of their employees, as they can vary from person to person.

A simple trick to ensure sane and quality remote interactions

This article discusses the challenges of managing remote employees and provides advice on how to maintain the same level of interaction with them. The author suggests making a list of all interactions with local and remote employees, paying extra attention to one-on-ones and team meetings, and making an effort to have informal conversations with remote employees.

Becoming a manager is not a promotion

A direct report asked for a promotion to a managerial position, but the manager had doubts about whether the employee would be happy in that role. Through one-on-one conversations, the manager discovered that the employee was not interested in company politics and would not be satisfied in a managerial role. This experience taught the manager that it is important to provide engineers with growth opportunities beyond a linear path leading to management.

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Helping engineer to set priorities

A junior engineer was overconfident in his technical skills and took on a big feature that turned out to be bigger than anticipated, leading to delays. The manager had a conversation with him to help him understand his priorities and to encourage him to communicate when he was facing issues. Through regular check-ins, the engineer's collaboration skills improved over time. The manager learned that one of their main roles is to help the team understand their priorities and to monitor their day-to-day work.

Clear expectation setting and onboarding process to maximize new hire success

This article discusses the importance of setting up a new engineering hire for success. It outlines a process that includes providing access to private GitHub repos, assigning an onboarding buddy, setting expectations for the first two weeks, and checking in frequently with the hire to ensure they are on track. This process has been successful in increasing the confidence of engineers and reducing the time it takes them to begin producing value.

Finding the right balance for meetings

A senior engineer was unable to meet his project's deadline due to too many meetings. After discussing the issue with other senior engineers, a few golden rules were established to make meetings more efficient. Additionally, "No meeting days" were implemented to allow engineers to focus on their work. The manager learned that it is important to take team members' feedback into account when organizing work and to ensure that meetings are necessary and run efficiently.

Hiring a new team is not a part time job

When the engineering manager of Netflix joined, he faced the challenge of having to rebuild a team from scratch. He dedicated 60% of his time to the hiring process and was very selective in the profiles he was looking for. The hiring process took a significant amount of time, but the manager's boss now acknowledges that it was the right thing to do. The lesson learned is that when building a team, it is important to take the time to hire the right person and to make sure the company's management understands it is a priority.

Do the Job before Claiming the Title

When considering a role change, the author learned that instead of asking for a title change first, it is better to try to do the work first. In this case, the author was considering a move into management and was given the opportunity to prove his capabilities by taking ownership of a project and expanding its scope. After successfully doing this, the author was given the confidence to move into a management role.

I had to let go of an employee that I had personally advised the company to hire

When a small start-up hired a QA engineer from a larger company, the engineer was unable to adapt to the new context and the team started to complain about his standard of quality checking. After trying to support him, the engineer had to be let go. The lesson learned was to not underestimate the cultural difference between companies and to take action as soon as a problem is detected. The engineer was given a reference for a job better suited to his skills, where he is now thriving.

Tech lead versus team lead

A team lead was struggling to manage a growing team and his leadership quality was decreasing. To address this, the team lead was asked to list out the parts of his leadership role he was not interested in and those responsibilities were transitioned to someone else in the team. This lesson learned was that the most technically advanced employee may not be the best team lead and it is important to consider having a separate "team lead" and "tech lead" within a team.

Embracing timeboxing to better allocate your time

Timeboxing is a method of allocating time more efficiently by identifying areas of focus and blocking off "boxes" in the calendar for each category. It requires data gathering and analysis of current time allocation, and setting parameters such as office hours and quiet times. Once done, it should be shared with those working with the manager so they know when they can come to them for requests and questions.

Going beneath the surface to have effective one-on-ones

One-on-ones should be treated as a case-by-case system, as everyone has different goals and different things they want to get out of these meetings. Managers should push personal limits and ask hard-hitting questions, while also encouraging team members to bring their questions and thoughts to their one-on-ones. This encourages open and transparent communication and allows managers to get beneath the surface to get the most out of the meetings.

How to hire the best senior engineers?

This engineering manager learned that having a balanced team in terms of profiles and years of experience is not enough to ensure a team's effectiveness. After analyzing both teams, it was found that the less productive team lacked guidance from their senior engineer, who was more focused on his own productivity than helping and coaching his peers. This experience taught the manager that senior engineers should not only perform their duties, but also help improve their team's productivity by helping others, reviewing their work, and giving advice. Now, when hiring senior engineers, the manager looks for candidates who can bring productivity to the team, not just to themselves.

How To Hire Remotely

This article outlines a thorough process for hiring remote workers that is fair and transparent to both sides. It includes posting an advert, prescreening candidates, sending a sheet explaining the interview process, a technical phone screen, and a hack hour. If the interviewee is successful, they are offered a contract role for a hack week, and if that goes well, a full-time role. This process has reduced the drop-off rate of the company and has saved time for both the company and the interviewees.

Perceived bad quality due to bad internal communication

The lead dev in a telecom company discovered that customer support teams were not following the proper installation procedures and not using the troubleshooting tools, leading to customer dissatisfaction. To solve the problem, the lead dev took responsibility and asked the support team to have someone from his team take part during installation and someone from their team during the testing phase. This improved communication and facilitated the installation process, teaching the lesson that taking responsibility and being proactive towards a solution is key to solving problems.

Navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager

Transitioning from individual contributor to manager was difficult for the author, who stopped feeling the same gratification from coding. After seeking help from managers and colleagues, the author learned to look at themselves as an "agent of change" and focus on the positive changes they could make each day. The author's lesson is to ask for help when having a problem and to think of positive changes to make each day to stay motivated.

How to convince a direct report to reconsider his decisions

A tech lead on a team had chosen to use the Derby database for their product, but as the product grew and customers began storing more data, they encountered issues with long running maintenance jobs. The manager had to convince the tech lead to reconsider his decision without making him feel defensive. Through asking questions and inspiring him to find the solution himself, the tech lead became proactive in researching and implementing a new database. This taught the manager the lesson to always keep direct reports engaged when trying to convince them to reconsider their decisions.

A high performing employee threatened by a new hire of his caliber

A Director of Engineering at Twitter had a high performing direct report, Lee, who felt threatened by a new hire. The Director took a step back and asked Lee what his aspirations were and how he wanted to be seen. He wanted to be an architect and in charge of larger systems. The Director then helped Lee to see the new hire as an asset and a succession plan to help him grow in his career. This showed that threats can be turned into opportunities.

Improving your working relationship with your product team

When the Engineering, Product, Operations and Sales teams at a company were not working together well, the Director of Engineering took steps to improve the situation. He wrote down the current process, roles, and responsibilities and discussed it with the Product team, then wrote a document outlining the team's vision, objectives, and roles and responsibilities. This document became an essential tool for getting the teams to work together as one, and the lesson learned was that a team-first approach is necessary for successful products, and that clear goals and regular reviews and updates should be established.

Every employee has different drivers

A manager noticed that one of their high performing engineers lacked motivation. After having a conversation with the engineer, it was revealed that the engineer was primarily motivated by money. The manager then created a plan with specific objectives and financial incentives to help motivate the engineer, which resulted in the engineer's promotion. This experience taught the manager that it is important to understand the motivations of their employees, as they can vary from person to person.

A simple trick to ensure sane and quality remote interactions

This article discusses the challenges of managing remote employees and provides advice on how to maintain the same level of interaction with them. The author suggests making a list of all interactions with local and remote employees, paying extra attention to one-on-ones and team meetings, and making an effort to have informal conversations with remote employees.

Becoming a manager is not a promotion

A direct report asked for a promotion to a managerial position, but the manager had doubts about whether the employee would be happy in that role. Through one-on-one conversations, the manager discovered that the employee was not interested in company politics and would not be satisfied in a managerial role. This experience taught the manager that it is important to provide engineers with growth opportunities beyond a linear path leading to management.

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Helping engineer to set priorities

A junior engineer was overconfident in his technical skills and took on a big feature that turned out to be bigger than anticipated, leading to delays. The manager had a conversation with him to help him understand his priorities and to encourage him to communicate when he was facing issues. Through regular check-ins, the engineer's collaboration skills improved over time. The manager learned that one of their main roles is to help the team understand their priorities and to monitor their day-to-day work.

Clear expectation setting and onboarding process to maximize new hire success

This article discusses the importance of setting up a new engineering hire for success. It outlines a process that includes providing access to private GitHub repos, assigning an onboarding buddy, setting expectations for the first two weeks, and checking in frequently with the hire to ensure they are on track. This process has been successful in increasing the confidence of engineers and reducing the time it takes them to begin producing value.

Finding the right balance for meetings

A senior engineer was unable to meet his project's deadline due to too many meetings. After discussing the issue with other senior engineers, a few golden rules were established to make meetings more efficient. Additionally, "No meeting days" were implemented to allow engineers to focus on their work. The manager learned that it is important to take team members' feedback into account when organizing work and to ensure that meetings are necessary and run efficiently.

Hiring a new team is not a part time job

When the engineering manager of Netflix joined, he faced the challenge of having to rebuild a team from scratch. He dedicated 60% of his time to the hiring process and was very selective in the profiles he was looking for. The hiring process took a significant amount of time, but the manager's boss now acknowledges that it was the right thing to do. The lesson learned is that when building a team, it is important to take the time to hire the right person and to make sure the company's management understands it is a priority.

Do the Job before Claiming the Title

When considering a role change, the author learned that instead of asking for a title change first, it is better to try to do the work first. In this case, the author was considering a move into management and was given the opportunity to prove his capabilities by taking ownership of a project and expanding its scope. After successfully doing this, the author was given the confidence to move into a management role.

I had to let go of an employee that I had personally advised the company to hire

When a small start-up hired a QA engineer from a larger company, the engineer was unable to adapt to the new context and the team started to complain about his standard of quality checking. After trying to support him, the engineer had to be let go. The lesson learned was to not underestimate the cultural difference between companies and to take action as soon as a problem is detected. The engineer was given a reference for a job better suited to his skills, where he is now thriving.

Tech lead versus team lead

A team lead was struggling to manage a growing team and his leadership quality was decreasing. To address this, the team lead was asked to list out the parts of his leadership role he was not interested in and those responsibilities were transitioned to someone else in the team. This lesson learned was that the most technically advanced employee may not be the best team lead and it is important to consider having a separate "team lead" and "tech lead" within a team.

Embracing timeboxing to better allocate your time

Timeboxing is a method of allocating time more efficiently by identifying areas of focus and blocking off "boxes" in the calendar for each category. It requires data gathering and analysis of current time allocation, and setting parameters such as office hours and quiet times. Once done, it should be shared with those working with the manager so they know when they can come to them for requests and questions.

Going beneath the surface to have effective one-on-ones

One-on-ones should be treated as a case-by-case system, as everyone has different goals and different things they want to get out of these meetings. Managers should push personal limits and ask hard-hitting questions, while also encouraging team members to bring their questions and thoughts to their one-on-ones. This encourages open and transparent communication and allows managers to get beneath the surface to get the most out of the meetings.

How to hire the best senior engineers?

This engineering manager learned that having a balanced team in terms of profiles and years of experience is not enough to ensure a team's effectiveness. After analyzing both teams, it was found that the less productive team lacked guidance from their senior engineer, who was more focused on his own productivity than helping and coaching his peers. This experience taught the manager that senior engineers should not only perform their duties, but also help improve their team's productivity by helping others, reviewing their work, and giving advice. Now, when hiring senior engineers, the manager looks for candidates who can bring productivity to the team, not just to themselves.

How To Hire Remotely

This article outlines a thorough process for hiring remote workers that is fair and transparent to both sides. It includes posting an advert, prescreening candidates, sending a sheet explaining the interview process, a technical phone screen, and a hack hour. If the interviewee is successful, they are offered a contract role for a hack week, and if that goes well, a full-time role. This process has reduced the drop-off rate of the company and has saved time for both the company and the interviewees.

Perceived bad quality due to bad internal communication

The lead dev in a telecom company discovered that customer support teams were not following the proper installation procedures and not using the troubleshooting tools, leading to customer dissatisfaction. To solve the problem, the lead dev took responsibility and asked the support team to have someone from his team take part during installation and someone from their team during the testing phase. This improved communication and facilitated the installation process, teaching the lesson that taking responsibility and being proactive towards a solution is key to solving problems.

Navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager

Transitioning from individual contributor to manager was difficult for the author, who stopped feeling the same gratification from coding. After seeking help from managers and colleagues, the author learned to look at themselves as an "agent of change" and focus on the positive changes they could make each day. The author's lesson is to ask for help when having a problem and to think of positive changes to make each day to stay motivated.

How to convince a direct report to reconsider his decisions

A tech lead on a team had chosen to use the Derby database for their product, but as the product grew and customers began storing more data, they encountered issues with long running maintenance jobs. The manager had to convince the tech lead to reconsider his decision without making him feel defensive. Through asking questions and inspiring him to find the solution himself, the tech lead became proactive in researching and implementing a new database. This taught the manager the lesson to always keep direct reports engaged when trying to convince them to reconsider their decisions.

A high performing employee threatened by a new hire of his caliber

A Director of Engineering at Twitter had a high performing direct report, Lee, who felt threatened by a new hire. The Director took a step back and asked Lee what his aspirations were and how he wanted to be seen. He wanted to be an architect and in charge of larger systems. The Director then helped Lee to see the new hire as an asset and a succession plan to help him grow in his career. This showed that threats can be turned into opportunities.

Improving your working relationship with your product team

When the Engineering, Product, Operations and Sales teams at a company were not working together well, the Director of Engineering took steps to improve the situation. He wrote down the current process, roles, and responsibilities and discussed it with the Product team, then wrote a document outlining the team's vision, objectives, and roles and responsibilities. This document became an essential tool for getting the teams to work together as one, and the lesson learned was that a team-first approach is necessary for successful products, and that clear goals and regular reviews and updates should be established.

Every employee has different drivers

A manager noticed that one of their high performing engineers lacked motivation. After having a conversation with the engineer, it was revealed that the engineer was primarily motivated by money. The manager then created a plan with specific objectives and financial incentives to help motivate the engineer, which resulted in the engineer's promotion. This experience taught the manager that it is important to understand the motivations of their employees, as they can vary from person to person.

A simple trick to ensure sane and quality remote interactions

This article discusses the challenges of managing remote employees and provides advice on how to maintain the same level of interaction with them. The author suggests making a list of all interactions with local and remote employees, paying extra attention to one-on-ones and team meetings, and making an effort to have informal conversations with remote employees.

Becoming a manager is not a promotion

A direct report asked for a promotion to a managerial position, but the manager had doubts about whether the employee would be happy in that role. Through one-on-one conversations, the manager discovered that the employee was not interested in company politics and would not be satisfied in a managerial role. This experience taught the manager that it is important to provide engineers with growth opportunities beyond a linear path leading to management.

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Helping engineer to set priorities

A junior engineer was overconfident in his technical skills and took on a big feature that turned out to be bigger than anticipated, leading to delays. The manager had a conversation with him to help him understand his priorities and to encourage him to communicate when he was facing issues. Through regular check-ins, the engineer's collaboration skills improved over time. The manager learned that one of their main roles is to help the team understand their priorities and to monitor their day-to-day work.

Clear expectation setting and onboarding process to maximize new hire success

This article discusses the importance of setting up a new engineering hire for success. It outlines a process that includes providing access to private GitHub repos, assigning an onboarding buddy, setting expectations for the first two weeks, and checking in frequently with the hire to ensure they are on track. This process has been successful in increasing the confidence of engineers and reducing the time it takes them to begin producing value.

Finding the right balance for meetings

A senior engineer was unable to meet his project's deadline due to too many meetings. After discussing the issue with other senior engineers, a few golden rules were established to make meetings more efficient. Additionally, "No meeting days" were implemented to allow engineers to focus on their work. The manager learned that it is important to take team members' feedback into account when organizing work and to ensure that meetings are necessary and run efficiently.

Hiring a new team is not a part time job

When the engineering manager of Netflix joined, he faced the challenge of having to rebuild a team from scratch. He dedicated 60% of his time to the hiring process and was very selective in the profiles he was looking for. The hiring process took a significant amount of time, but the manager's boss now acknowledges that it was the right thing to do. The lesson learned is that when building a team, it is important to take the time to hire the right person and to make sure the company's management understands it is a priority.

Do the Job before Claiming the Title

When considering a role change, the author learned that instead of asking for a title change first, it is better to try to do the work first. In this case, the author was considering a move into management and was given the opportunity to prove his capabilities by taking ownership of a project and expanding its scope. After successfully doing this, the author was given the confidence to move into a management role.

I had to let go of an employee that I had personally advised the company to hire

When a small start-up hired a QA engineer from a larger company, the engineer was unable to adapt to the new context and the team started to complain about his standard of quality checking. After trying to support him, the engineer had to be let go. The lesson learned was to not underestimate the cultural difference between companies and to take action as soon as a problem is detected. The engineer was given a reference for a job better suited to his skills, where he is now thriving.

Tech lead versus team lead

A team lead was struggling to manage a growing team and his leadership quality was decreasing. To address this, the team lead was asked to list out the parts of his leadership role he was not interested in and those responsibilities were transitioned to someone else in the team. This lesson learned was that the most technically advanced employee may not be the best team lead and it is important to consider having a separate "team lead" and "tech lead" within a team.

Embracing timeboxing to better allocate your time

Timeboxing is a method of allocating time more efficiently by identifying areas of focus and blocking off "boxes" in the calendar for each category. It requires data gathering and analysis of current time allocation, and setting parameters such as office hours and quiet times. Once done, it should be shared with those working with the manager so they know when they can come to them for requests and questions.

Going beneath the surface to have effective one-on-ones

One-on-ones should be treated as a case-by-case system, as everyone has different goals and different things they want to get out of these meetings. Managers should push personal limits and ask hard-hitting questions, while also encouraging team members to bring their questions and thoughts to their one-on-ones. This encourages open and transparent communication and allows managers to get beneath the surface to get the most out of the meetings.

How to hire the best senior engineers?

This engineering manager learned that having a balanced team in terms of profiles and years of experience is not enough to ensure a team's effectiveness. After analyzing both teams, it was found that the less productive team lacked guidance from their senior engineer, who was more focused on his own productivity than helping and coaching his peers. This experience taught the manager that senior engineers should not only perform their duties, but also help improve their team's productivity by helping others, reviewing their work, and giving advice. Now, when hiring senior engineers, the manager looks for candidates who can bring productivity to the team, not just to themselves.

How To Hire Remotely

This article outlines a thorough process for hiring remote workers that is fair and transparent to both sides. It includes posting an advert, prescreening candidates, sending a sheet explaining the interview process, a technical phone screen, and a hack hour. If the interviewee is successful, they are offered a contract role for a hack week, and if that goes well, a full-time role. This process has reduced the drop-off rate of the company and has saved time for both the company and the interviewees.

Perceived bad quality due to bad internal communication

The lead dev in a telecom company discovered that customer support teams were not following the proper installation procedures and not using the troubleshooting tools, leading to customer dissatisfaction. To solve the problem, the lead dev took responsibility and asked the support team to have someone from his team take part during installation and someone from their team during the testing phase. This improved communication and facilitated the installation process, teaching the lesson that taking responsibility and being proactive towards a solution is key to solving problems.

Navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager

Transitioning from individual contributor to manager was difficult for the author, who stopped feeling the same gratification from coding. After seeking help from managers and colleagues, the author learned to look at themselves as an "agent of change" and focus on the positive changes they could make each day. The author's lesson is to ask for help when having a problem and to think of positive changes to make each day to stay motivated.

How to convince a direct report to reconsider his decisions

A tech lead on a team had chosen to use the Derby database for their product, but as the product grew and customers began storing more data, they encountered issues with long running maintenance jobs. The manager had to convince the tech lead to reconsider his decision without making him feel defensive. Through asking questions and inspiring him to find the solution himself, the tech lead became proactive in researching and implementing a new database. This taught the manager the lesson to always keep direct reports engaged when trying to convince them to reconsider their decisions.

A high performing employee threatened by a new hire of his caliber

A Director of Engineering at Twitter had a high performing direct report, Lee, who felt threatened by a new hire. The Director took a step back and asked Lee what his aspirations were and how he wanted to be seen. He wanted to be an architect and in charge of larger systems. The Director then helped Lee to see the new hire as an asset and a succession plan to help him grow in his career. This showed that threats can be turned into opportunities.

Improving your working relationship with your product team

When the Engineering, Product, Operations and Sales teams at a company were not working together well, the Director of Engineering took steps to improve the situation. He wrote down the current process, roles, and responsibilities and discussed it with the Product team, then wrote a document outlining the team's vision, objectives, and roles and responsibilities. This document became an essential tool for getting the teams to work together as one, and the lesson learned was that a team-first approach is necessary for successful products, and that clear goals and regular reviews and updates should be established.

Every employee has different drivers

A manager noticed that one of their high performing engineers lacked motivation. After having a conversation with the engineer, it was revealed that the engineer was primarily motivated by money. The manager then created a plan with specific objectives and financial incentives to help motivate the engineer, which resulted in the engineer's promotion. This experience taught the manager that it is important to understand the motivations of their employees, as they can vary from person to person.

A simple trick to ensure sane and quality remote interactions

This article discusses the challenges of managing remote employees and provides advice on how to maintain the same level of interaction with them. The author suggests making a list of all interactions with local and remote employees, paying extra attention to one-on-ones and team meetings, and making an effort to have informal conversations with remote employees.

Becoming a manager is not a promotion

A direct report asked for a promotion to a managerial position, but the manager had doubts about whether the employee would be happy in that role. Through one-on-one conversations, the manager discovered that the employee was not interested in company politics and would not be satisfied in a managerial role. This experience taught the manager that it is important to provide engineers with growth opportunities beyond a linear path leading to management.

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Helping engineer to set priorities

A junior engineer was overconfident in his technical skills and took on a big feature that turned out to be bigger than anticipated, leading to delays. The manager had a conversation with him to help him understand his priorities and to encourage him to communicate when he was facing issues. Through regular check-ins, the engineer's collaboration skills improved over time. The manager learned that one of their main roles is to help the team understand their priorities and to monitor their day-to-day work.

Clear expectation setting and onboarding process to maximize new hire success

This article discusses the importance of setting up a new engineering hire for success. It outlines a process that includes providing access to private GitHub repos, assigning an onboarding buddy, setting expectations for the first two weeks, and checking in frequently with the hire to ensure they are on track. This process has been successful in increasing the confidence of engineers and reducing the time it takes them to begin producing value.

Finding the right balance for meetings

A senior engineer was unable to meet his project's deadline due to too many meetings. After discussing the issue with other senior engineers, a few golden rules were established to make meetings more efficient. Additionally, "No meeting days" were implemented to allow engineers to focus on their work. The manager learned that it is important to take team members' feedback into account when organizing work and to ensure that meetings are necessary and run efficiently.

Hiring a new team is not a part time job

When the engineering manager of Netflix joined, he faced the challenge of having to rebuild a team from scratch. He dedicated 60% of his time to the hiring process and was very selective in the profiles he was looking for. The hiring process took a significant amount of time, but the manager's boss now acknowledges that it was the right thing to do. The lesson learned is that when building a team, it is important to take the time to hire the right person and to make sure the company's management understands it is a priority.

Do the Job before Claiming the Title

When considering a role change, the author learned that instead of asking for a title change first, it is better to try to do the work first. In this case, the author was considering a move into management and was given the opportunity to prove his capabilities by taking ownership of a project and expanding its scope. After successfully doing this, the author was given the confidence to move into a management role.

I had to let go of an employee that I had personally advised the company to hire

When a small start-up hired a QA engineer from a larger company, the engineer was unable to adapt to the new context and the team started to complain about his standard of quality checking. After trying to support him, the engineer had to be let go. The lesson learned was to not underestimate the cultural difference between companies and to take action as soon as a problem is detected. The engineer was given a reference for a job better suited to his skills, where he is now thriving.

Tech lead versus team lead

A team lead was struggling to manage a growing team and his leadership quality was decreasing. To address this, the team lead was asked to list out the parts of his leadership role he was not interested in and those responsibilities were transitioned to someone else in the team. This lesson learned was that the most technically advanced employee may not be the best team lead and it is important to consider having a separate "team lead" and "tech lead" within a team.

Embracing timeboxing to better allocate your time

Timeboxing is a method of allocating time more efficiently by identifying areas of focus and blocking off "boxes" in the calendar for each category. It requires data gathering and analysis of current time allocation, and setting parameters such as office hours and quiet times. Once done, it should be shared with those working with the manager so they know when they can come to them for requests and questions.

Going beneath the surface to have effective one-on-ones

One-on-ones should be treated as a case-by-case system, as everyone has different goals and different things they want to get out of these meetings. Managers should push personal limits and ask hard-hitting questions, while also encouraging team members to bring their questions and thoughts to their one-on-ones. This encourages open and transparent communication and allows managers to get beneath the surface to get the most out of the meetings.

How to hire the best senior engineers?

This engineering manager learned that having a balanced team in terms of profiles and years of experience is not enough to ensure a team's effectiveness. After analyzing both teams, it was found that the less productive team lacked guidance from their senior engineer, who was more focused on his own productivity than helping and coaching his peers. This experience taught the manager that senior engineers should not only perform their duties, but also help improve their team's productivity by helping others, reviewing their work, and giving advice. Now, when hiring senior engineers, the manager looks for candidates who can bring productivity to the team, not just to themselves.

How To Hire Remotely

This article outlines a thorough process for hiring remote workers that is fair and transparent to both sides. It includes posting an advert, prescreening candidates, sending a sheet explaining the interview process, a technical phone screen, and a hack hour. If the interviewee is successful, they are offered a contract role for a hack week, and if that goes well, a full-time role. This process has reduced the drop-off rate of the company and has saved time for both the company and the interviewees.

Perceived bad quality due to bad internal communication

The lead dev in a telecom company discovered that customer support teams were not following the proper installation procedures and not using the troubleshooting tools, leading to customer dissatisfaction. To solve the problem, the lead dev took responsibility and asked the support team to have someone from his team take part during installation and someone from their team during the testing phase. This improved communication and facilitated the installation process, teaching the lesson that taking responsibility and being proactive towards a solution is key to solving problems.

Navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager

Transitioning from individual contributor to manager was difficult for the author, who stopped feeling the same gratification from coding. After seeking help from managers and colleagues, the author learned to look at themselves as an "agent of change" and focus on the positive changes they could make each day. The author's lesson is to ask for help when having a problem and to think of positive changes to make each day to stay motivated.

How to convince a direct report to reconsider his decisions

A tech lead on a team had chosen to use the Derby database for their product, but as the product grew and customers began storing more data, they encountered issues with long running maintenance jobs. The manager had to convince the tech lead to reconsider his decision without making him feel defensive. Through asking questions and inspiring him to find the solution himself, the tech lead became proactive in researching and implementing a new database. This taught the manager the lesson to always keep direct reports engaged when trying to convince them to reconsider their decisions.

A high performing employee threatened by a new hire of his caliber

A Director of Engineering at Twitter had a high performing direct report, Lee, who felt threatened by a new hire. The Director took a step back and asked Lee what his aspirations were and how he wanted to be seen. He wanted to be an architect and in charge of larger systems. The Director then helped Lee to see the new hire as an asset and a succession plan to help him grow in his career. This showed that threats can be turned into opportunities.

Improving your working relationship with your product team

When the Engineering, Product, Operations and Sales teams at a company were not working together well, the Director of Engineering took steps to improve the situation. He wrote down the current process, roles, and responsibilities and discussed it with the Product team, then wrote a document outlining the team's vision, objectives, and roles and responsibilities. This document became an essential tool for getting the teams to work together as one, and the lesson learned was that a team-first approach is necessary for successful products, and that clear goals and regular reviews and updates should be established.

Every employee has different drivers

A manager noticed that one of their high performing engineers lacked motivation. After having a conversation with the engineer, it was revealed that the engineer was primarily motivated by money. The manager then created a plan with specific objectives and financial incentives to help motivate the engineer, which resulted in the engineer's promotion. This experience taught the manager that it is important to understand the motivations of their employees, as they can vary from person to person.

A simple trick to ensure sane and quality remote interactions

This article discusses the challenges of managing remote employees and provides advice on how to maintain the same level of interaction with them. The author suggests making a list of all interactions with local and remote employees, paying extra attention to one-on-ones and team meetings, and making an effort to have informal conversations with remote employees.

Becoming a manager is not a promotion

A direct report asked for a promotion to a managerial position, but the manager had doubts about whether the employee would be happy in that role. Through one-on-one conversations, the manager discovered that the employee was not interested in company politics and would not be satisfied in a managerial role. This experience taught the manager that it is important to provide engineers with growth opportunities beyond a linear path leading to management.

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Helping engineer to set priorities

A junior engineer was overconfident in his technical skills and took on a big feature that turned out to be bigger than anticipated, leading to delays. The manager had a conversation with him to help him understand his priorities and to encourage him to communicate when he was facing issues. Through regular check-ins, the engineer's collaboration skills improved over time. The manager learned that one of their main roles is to help the team understand their priorities and to monitor their day-to-day work.

Clear expectation setting and onboarding process to maximize new hire success

This article discusses the importance of setting up a new engineering hire for success. It outlines a process that includes providing access to private GitHub repos, assigning an onboarding buddy, setting expectations for the first two weeks, and checking in frequently with the hire to ensure they are on track. This process has been successful in increasing the confidence of engineers and reducing the time it takes them to begin producing value.

Finding the right balance for meetings

A senior engineer was unable to meet his project's deadline due to too many meetings. After discussing the issue with other senior engineers, a few golden rules were established to make meetings more efficient. Additionally, "No meeting days" were implemented to allow engineers to focus on their work. The manager learned that it is important to take team members' feedback into account when organizing work and to ensure that meetings are necessary and run efficiently.

Hiring a new team is not a part time job

When the engineering manager of Netflix joined, he faced the challenge of having to rebuild a team from scratch. He dedicated 60% of his time to the hiring process and was very selective in the profiles he was looking for. The hiring process took a significant amount of time, but the manager's boss now acknowledges that it was the right thing to do. The lesson learned is that when building a team, it is important to take the time to hire the right person and to make sure the company's management understands it is a priority.

Do the Job before Claiming the Title

When considering a role change, the author learned that instead of asking for a title change first, it is better to try to do the work first. In this case, the author was considering a move into management and was given the opportunity to prove his capabilities by taking ownership of a project and expanding its scope. After successfully doing this, the author was given the confidence to move into a management role.

I had to let go of an employee that I had personally advised the company to hire

When a small start-up hired a QA engineer from a larger company, the engineer was unable to adapt to the new context and the team started to complain about his standard of quality checking. After trying to support him, the engineer had to be let go. The lesson learned was to not underestimate the cultural difference between companies and to take action as soon as a problem is detected. The engineer was given a reference for a job better suited to his skills, where he is now thriving.

Tech lead versus team lead

A team lead was struggling to manage a growing team and his leadership quality was decreasing. To address this, the team lead was asked to list out the parts of his leadership role he was not interested in and those responsibilities were transitioned to someone else in the team. This lesson learned was that the most technically advanced employee may not be the best team lead and it is important to consider having a separate "team lead" and "tech lead" within a team.

Embracing timeboxing to better allocate your time

Timeboxing is a method of allocating time more efficiently by identifying areas of focus and blocking off "boxes" in the calendar for each category. It requires data gathering and analysis of current time allocation, and setting parameters such as office hours and quiet times. Once done, it should be shared with those working with the manager so they know when they can come to them for requests and questions.

Going beneath the surface to have effective one-on-ones

One-on-ones should be treated as a case-by-case system, as everyone has different goals and different things they want to get out of these meetings. Managers should push personal limits and ask hard-hitting questions, while also encouraging team members to bring their questions and thoughts to their one-on-ones. This encourages open and transparent communication and allows managers to get beneath the surface to get the most out of the meetings.

How to hire the best senior engineers?

This engineering manager learned that having a balanced team in terms of profiles and years of experience is not enough to ensure a team's effectiveness. After analyzing both teams, it was found that the less productive team lacked guidance from their senior engineer, who was more focused on his own productivity than helping and coaching his peers. This experience taught the manager that senior engineers should not only perform their duties, but also help improve their team's productivity by helping others, reviewing their work, and giving advice. Now, when hiring senior engineers, the manager looks for candidates who can bring productivity to the team, not just to themselves.

How To Hire Remotely

This article outlines a thorough process for hiring remote workers that is fair and transparent to both sides. It includes posting an advert, prescreening candidates, sending a sheet explaining the interview process, a technical phone screen, and a hack hour. If the interviewee is successful, they are offered a contract role for a hack week, and if that goes well, a full-time role. This process has reduced the drop-off rate of the company and has saved time for both the company and the interviewees.

Perceived bad quality due to bad internal communication

The lead dev in a telecom company discovered that customer support teams were not following the proper installation procedures and not using the troubleshooting tools, leading to customer dissatisfaction. To solve the problem, the lead dev took responsibility and asked the support team to have someone from his team take part during installation and someone from their team during the testing phase. This improved communication and facilitated the installation process, teaching the lesson that taking responsibility and being proactive towards a solution is key to solving problems.

Navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager

Transitioning from individual contributor to manager was difficult for the author, who stopped feeling the same gratification from coding. After seeking help from managers and colleagues, the author learned to look at themselves as an "agent of change" and focus on the positive changes they could make each day. The author's lesson is to ask for help when having a problem and to think of positive changes to make each day to stay motivated.

How to convince a direct report to reconsider his decisions

A tech lead on a team had chosen to use the Derby database for their product, but as the product grew and customers began storing more data, they encountered issues with long running maintenance jobs. The manager had to convince the tech lead to reconsider his decision without making him feel defensive. Through asking questions and inspiring him to find the solution himself, the tech lead became proactive in researching and implementing a new database. This taught the manager the lesson to always keep direct reports engaged when trying to convince them to reconsider their decisions.