Knowledge shared by our community

Managing New Team Members

When my team doubled in size, I faced the challenge of managing the sudden growth, ensuring existing members were not overburdened, and keeping the new members motivated. To address this, I created a “buddy” system, conducted onboarding sessions, and identified core groups to groom stories. However, I should have identified the capability of our automation and regression suits from the start. As a lesson, I learned to collaborate with team leaders and take accountability for responsibilities.

How to Be an Effective Manager During a Crisis

A billing report release caused a loss of around XX$ for the company, which was identified by the finance team a month later. The biggest mistake made was not communicating the issue to senior management on time. The team identified the root cause of the problem and took steps to backfill the costs, while setting up validation, monitoring, and alerting for the next time. A 3-month plan was laid out to ensure the issue did not repeat itself, and updates were sent out on a daily basis. The lesson learned was to keep managers in the loop and communicate effectively to manage a budget.

Tips on How to Improve Backlog Grooming Meetings

A team was having difficulty with their grooming meetings, and senior engineers took the lead to understand the requirements and groom stories outside of the main room. They introduced release-when-ready strategies and feature flags to help with the release process. They also implemented data-driven standups and encouraged team members to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the problem before bringing in solutions.

Retaining Top Talents

A manager faced the challenge of motivating a high-performing team member who was not interested in the tasks assigned to them for the quarter. Instead of forcing them to do the work, the manager allowed them to explore other opportunities within the company and eventually found a team where the team member could work on data cleaning tasks. This rotation gave the team member the chance to keep adding value to the company while growing and learning new tasks. The manager learned the importance of prioritizing the company and its goals, and giving team members the chance to work on their weaknesses to keep them motivated and challenged.

Hiring Niche Talents in a Fiercely Competitive Market

ThousandEyes experienced rapid growth after being acquired by Cisco in August 2020, and needed to increase their headcount by 2x to sustain that growth. To do this, they took steps to supercharge their hiring funnel, from sourcing to virtual onsite interviews and offer stages. They also implemented best practices such as diverse panel members, well-calibrated questions, and clear rubrics to ensure a successful hiring process. Lastly, they focused on hiring candidates who had the ability to learn new tech stacks on the job, while also making sure that the candidate had a clear understanding of the opportunity ahead.

Three-Phase Approach to Onboarding Engineers in a Distributed Services Environment

At ThousandEyes, a distributed services environment can be overwhelming for new engineers. To simplify the onboarding process, a three-phase process was defined. Phase 1 focuses on product knowledge, Phase 2 on processes, and Phase 3 on priorities. Lessons learned include having new hires go through a common phase and allowing them to explore on their own. Onboarding buddies should also time box the time they spend with new hires.

How Managers Can Support Employee Career Growth

This story is about a person who was stuck in a role they didn't want to be in and was struggling to make the transition to product management. The protagonist was able to help the person by introducing them to other product managers and sharing their own experiences of transitioning from engineering to engineering management. The person was also given an opportunity to create a product requirement document and was referred to some great books. Eventually, the person was able to impress the team and earn the role in product management. The protagonist learned that it is important to recognize potential and invest in people, even when it may not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Expert Antidote to Repair a Toxic Culture

A mentor was helping a fresh graduate transition from college to professional life. The mentor took notes on the issues the mentee was facing and identified the core problem as a lack of a mentor or coach to guide her. The mentor then provided advice on how to align expectations with her manager, invest in learning, and provide effective feedback. In the end, the mentee was able to gain credibility and set herself up for professional success. The mentor learned the importance of listening and paying attention to detail, educating mentees on providing effective feedback, and helping them maintain professional boundaries.

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Resolving Workplace Conflict

This article discusses the importance of conflict resolution, both within a team and between a manager and their team. It outlines the steps taken to resolve a conflict between two senior engineers of different cultural backgrounds, and how the manager was able to get them to work together. It also discusses the manager's own experience with a peer who was pushing back on her ideas, and how she was able to overcome this by documenting her ideas and presenting them to her colleague before meetings. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the other person's perspective and picking one's battles.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.

Communicating Effectively

This article discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and how it can be improved. It provides advice on how to be succinct and to-the-point in interviews, as well as how to include empathy and compassion in conversations. It also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and listening, and suggests taking courses in communication to develop these skills.

Integrating a Team of Offshore Contractors

A team of offshore contractors based in India owned the domain knowledge, but communication between Product and Engineering was not satisfactory. To improve collaboration and transfer domain knowledge, an architect and product people were brought in to build documentation from scratch, and some of the best engineers were brought to the US. This hybrid model improved the development process and enabled the company to expand their business in multiple countries.

Feelings Aside: Handling a Team Layoff

This story is about a first-line manager who had to lay off his team due to changed business circumstances. He was offered to keep his role, but he turned it down and stayed with the company in a different role. He learned to detach his emotions from the task and to consider the offer presented to him if he had to do it all over again. He also learned to adjust to the more ruthless nature of business in the US, and to recognize that layoffs are not done to intentionally harm anyone.

When Solving Problems for Others Is Wrong

This story outlines a situation in which a team was facing a problem caused by a dependency on another team. The team wanted to fix the problem themselves, but this would go against the company's culture of each team being responsible for their own tech debt. The team leader decided to veto the decision and escalate the problem, causing friction between the teams. Eventually, the other team committed to fixing the problem, and the team leader learned the importance of respecting organizational boundaries and standing firm in the face of pressure.

There Is No Commitment Without Disagreement

This article discusses a situation in which a team of eight engineers had to deal with a top performer who was not performing up to their usual standards. The team tried various methods to re-engage the individual, but nothing worked. Eventually, the team leader realized that the individual had to be allowed to express their disagreement with the project direction in front of the team. This allowed them to feel comfortable advocating for their point of view and ultimately led to a successful outcome. The article highlights the importance of allowing team members to express their disagreement and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to do so.

Cultivating Accountability

Leaders need to create an environment where people feel safe to do their work, while still holding them accountable. The goal is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than punishing them for failure. Leaders should foster an environment of honesty and constructive criticism, and be aware of their own emotions and how they impact others. Mutual feedback is key to helping everyone improve.

Easing the Fear of Failure with Guidance

Poor management and a lack of creativity can lead to a company's failure. Leaders should provide context to their teams, share data, and empower their employees to make adult decisions. It is important to have a strategy and vision for the product organization, and to focus on how to make customers' lives better. Developing a sense of ownership and understanding the impact of work is essential for success.

Playing the Father Figure

This article discusses the challenges of managing people and the lessons learned from the experience. It is important to be aware of how you communicate with others and to be clear in what you are asking of your team. It is also important to frame goals in a way that relates to the broader goals of the organization. Good leadership keeps everybody and their work in focus.

Managing New Team Members

When my team doubled in size, I faced the challenge of managing the sudden growth, ensuring existing members were not overburdened, and keeping the new members motivated. To address this, I created a “buddy” system, conducted onboarding sessions, and identified core groups to groom stories. However, I should have identified the capability of our automation and regression suits from the start. As a lesson, I learned to collaborate with team leaders and take accountability for responsibilities.

How to Be an Effective Manager During a Crisis

A billing report release caused a loss of around XX$ for the company, which was identified by the finance team a month later. The biggest mistake made was not communicating the issue to senior management on time. The team identified the root cause of the problem and took steps to backfill the costs, while setting up validation, monitoring, and alerting for the next time. A 3-month plan was laid out to ensure the issue did not repeat itself, and updates were sent out on a daily basis. The lesson learned was to keep managers in the loop and communicate effectively to manage a budget.

Tips on How to Improve Backlog Grooming Meetings

A team was having difficulty with their grooming meetings, and senior engineers took the lead to understand the requirements and groom stories outside of the main room. They introduced release-when-ready strategies and feature flags to help with the release process. They also implemented data-driven standups and encouraged team members to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the problem before bringing in solutions.

Retaining Top Talents

A manager faced the challenge of motivating a high-performing team member who was not interested in the tasks assigned to them for the quarter. Instead of forcing them to do the work, the manager allowed them to explore other opportunities within the company and eventually found a team where the team member could work on data cleaning tasks. This rotation gave the team member the chance to keep adding value to the company while growing and learning new tasks. The manager learned the importance of prioritizing the company and its goals, and giving team members the chance to work on their weaknesses to keep them motivated and challenged.

Hiring Niche Talents in a Fiercely Competitive Market

ThousandEyes experienced rapid growth after being acquired by Cisco in August 2020, and needed to increase their headcount by 2x to sustain that growth. To do this, they took steps to supercharge their hiring funnel, from sourcing to virtual onsite interviews and offer stages. They also implemented best practices such as diverse panel members, well-calibrated questions, and clear rubrics to ensure a successful hiring process. Lastly, they focused on hiring candidates who had the ability to learn new tech stacks on the job, while also making sure that the candidate had a clear understanding of the opportunity ahead.

Three-Phase Approach to Onboarding Engineers in a Distributed Services Environment

At ThousandEyes, a distributed services environment can be overwhelming for new engineers. To simplify the onboarding process, a three-phase process was defined. Phase 1 focuses on product knowledge, Phase 2 on processes, and Phase 3 on priorities. Lessons learned include having new hires go through a common phase and allowing them to explore on their own. Onboarding buddies should also time box the time they spend with new hires.

How Managers Can Support Employee Career Growth

This story is about a person who was stuck in a role they didn't want to be in and was struggling to make the transition to product management. The protagonist was able to help the person by introducing them to other product managers and sharing their own experiences of transitioning from engineering to engineering management. The person was also given an opportunity to create a product requirement document and was referred to some great books. Eventually, the person was able to impress the team and earn the role in product management. The protagonist learned that it is important to recognize potential and invest in people, even when it may not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Expert Antidote to Repair a Toxic Culture

A mentor was helping a fresh graduate transition from college to professional life. The mentor took notes on the issues the mentee was facing and identified the core problem as a lack of a mentor or coach to guide her. The mentor then provided advice on how to align expectations with her manager, invest in learning, and provide effective feedback. In the end, the mentee was able to gain credibility and set herself up for professional success. The mentor learned the importance of listening and paying attention to detail, educating mentees on providing effective feedback, and helping them maintain professional boundaries.

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Resolving Workplace Conflict

This article discusses the importance of conflict resolution, both within a team and between a manager and their team. It outlines the steps taken to resolve a conflict between two senior engineers of different cultural backgrounds, and how the manager was able to get them to work together. It also discusses the manager's own experience with a peer who was pushing back on her ideas, and how she was able to overcome this by documenting her ideas and presenting them to her colleague before meetings. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the other person's perspective and picking one's battles.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.

Communicating Effectively

This article discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and how it can be improved. It provides advice on how to be succinct and to-the-point in interviews, as well as how to include empathy and compassion in conversations. It also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and listening, and suggests taking courses in communication to develop these skills.

Integrating a Team of Offshore Contractors

A team of offshore contractors based in India owned the domain knowledge, but communication between Product and Engineering was not satisfactory. To improve collaboration and transfer domain knowledge, an architect and product people were brought in to build documentation from scratch, and some of the best engineers were brought to the US. This hybrid model improved the development process and enabled the company to expand their business in multiple countries.

Feelings Aside: Handling a Team Layoff

This story is about a first-line manager who had to lay off his team due to changed business circumstances. He was offered to keep his role, but he turned it down and stayed with the company in a different role. He learned to detach his emotions from the task and to consider the offer presented to him if he had to do it all over again. He also learned to adjust to the more ruthless nature of business in the US, and to recognize that layoffs are not done to intentionally harm anyone.

When Solving Problems for Others Is Wrong

This story outlines a situation in which a team was facing a problem caused by a dependency on another team. The team wanted to fix the problem themselves, but this would go against the company's culture of each team being responsible for their own tech debt. The team leader decided to veto the decision and escalate the problem, causing friction between the teams. Eventually, the other team committed to fixing the problem, and the team leader learned the importance of respecting organizational boundaries and standing firm in the face of pressure.

There Is No Commitment Without Disagreement

This article discusses a situation in which a team of eight engineers had to deal with a top performer who was not performing up to their usual standards. The team tried various methods to re-engage the individual, but nothing worked. Eventually, the team leader realized that the individual had to be allowed to express their disagreement with the project direction in front of the team. This allowed them to feel comfortable advocating for their point of view and ultimately led to a successful outcome. The article highlights the importance of allowing team members to express their disagreement and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to do so.

Cultivating Accountability

Leaders need to create an environment where people feel safe to do their work, while still holding them accountable. The goal is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than punishing them for failure. Leaders should foster an environment of honesty and constructive criticism, and be aware of their own emotions and how they impact others. Mutual feedback is key to helping everyone improve.

Easing the Fear of Failure with Guidance

Poor management and a lack of creativity can lead to a company's failure. Leaders should provide context to their teams, share data, and empower their employees to make adult decisions. It is important to have a strategy and vision for the product organization, and to focus on how to make customers' lives better. Developing a sense of ownership and understanding the impact of work is essential for success.

Playing the Father Figure

This article discusses the challenges of managing people and the lessons learned from the experience. It is important to be aware of how you communicate with others and to be clear in what you are asking of your team. It is also important to frame goals in a way that relates to the broader goals of the organization. Good leadership keeps everybody and their work in focus.

Managing New Team Members

When my team doubled in size, I faced the challenge of managing the sudden growth, ensuring existing members were not overburdened, and keeping the new members motivated. To address this, I created a “buddy” system, conducted onboarding sessions, and identified core groups to groom stories. However, I should have identified the capability of our automation and regression suits from the start. As a lesson, I learned to collaborate with team leaders and take accountability for responsibilities.

How to Be an Effective Manager During a Crisis

A billing report release caused a loss of around XX$ for the company, which was identified by the finance team a month later. The biggest mistake made was not communicating the issue to senior management on time. The team identified the root cause of the problem and took steps to backfill the costs, while setting up validation, monitoring, and alerting for the next time. A 3-month plan was laid out to ensure the issue did not repeat itself, and updates were sent out on a daily basis. The lesson learned was to keep managers in the loop and communicate effectively to manage a budget.

Tips on How to Improve Backlog Grooming Meetings

A team was having difficulty with their grooming meetings, and senior engineers took the lead to understand the requirements and groom stories outside of the main room. They introduced release-when-ready strategies and feature flags to help with the release process. They also implemented data-driven standups and encouraged team members to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the problem before bringing in solutions.

Retaining Top Talents

A manager faced the challenge of motivating a high-performing team member who was not interested in the tasks assigned to them for the quarter. Instead of forcing them to do the work, the manager allowed them to explore other opportunities within the company and eventually found a team where the team member could work on data cleaning tasks. This rotation gave the team member the chance to keep adding value to the company while growing and learning new tasks. The manager learned the importance of prioritizing the company and its goals, and giving team members the chance to work on their weaknesses to keep them motivated and challenged.

Hiring Niche Talents in a Fiercely Competitive Market

ThousandEyes experienced rapid growth after being acquired by Cisco in August 2020, and needed to increase their headcount by 2x to sustain that growth. To do this, they took steps to supercharge their hiring funnel, from sourcing to virtual onsite interviews and offer stages. They also implemented best practices such as diverse panel members, well-calibrated questions, and clear rubrics to ensure a successful hiring process. Lastly, they focused on hiring candidates who had the ability to learn new tech stacks on the job, while also making sure that the candidate had a clear understanding of the opportunity ahead.

Three-Phase Approach to Onboarding Engineers in a Distributed Services Environment

At ThousandEyes, a distributed services environment can be overwhelming for new engineers. To simplify the onboarding process, a three-phase process was defined. Phase 1 focuses on product knowledge, Phase 2 on processes, and Phase 3 on priorities. Lessons learned include having new hires go through a common phase and allowing them to explore on their own. Onboarding buddies should also time box the time they spend with new hires.

How Managers Can Support Employee Career Growth

This story is about a person who was stuck in a role they didn't want to be in and was struggling to make the transition to product management. The protagonist was able to help the person by introducing them to other product managers and sharing their own experiences of transitioning from engineering to engineering management. The person was also given an opportunity to create a product requirement document and was referred to some great books. Eventually, the person was able to impress the team and earn the role in product management. The protagonist learned that it is important to recognize potential and invest in people, even when it may not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Expert Antidote to Repair a Toxic Culture

A mentor was helping a fresh graduate transition from college to professional life. The mentor took notes on the issues the mentee was facing and identified the core problem as a lack of a mentor or coach to guide her. The mentor then provided advice on how to align expectations with her manager, invest in learning, and provide effective feedback. In the end, the mentee was able to gain credibility and set herself up for professional success. The mentor learned the importance of listening and paying attention to detail, educating mentees on providing effective feedback, and helping them maintain professional boundaries.

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Resolving Workplace Conflict

This article discusses the importance of conflict resolution, both within a team and between a manager and their team. It outlines the steps taken to resolve a conflict between two senior engineers of different cultural backgrounds, and how the manager was able to get them to work together. It also discusses the manager's own experience with a peer who was pushing back on her ideas, and how she was able to overcome this by documenting her ideas and presenting them to her colleague before meetings. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the other person's perspective and picking one's battles.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.

Communicating Effectively

This article discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and how it can be improved. It provides advice on how to be succinct and to-the-point in interviews, as well as how to include empathy and compassion in conversations. It also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and listening, and suggests taking courses in communication to develop these skills.

Integrating a Team of Offshore Contractors

A team of offshore contractors based in India owned the domain knowledge, but communication between Product and Engineering was not satisfactory. To improve collaboration and transfer domain knowledge, an architect and product people were brought in to build documentation from scratch, and some of the best engineers were brought to the US. This hybrid model improved the development process and enabled the company to expand their business in multiple countries.

Feelings Aside: Handling a Team Layoff

This story is about a first-line manager who had to lay off his team due to changed business circumstances. He was offered to keep his role, but he turned it down and stayed with the company in a different role. He learned to detach his emotions from the task and to consider the offer presented to him if he had to do it all over again. He also learned to adjust to the more ruthless nature of business in the US, and to recognize that layoffs are not done to intentionally harm anyone.

When Solving Problems for Others Is Wrong

This story outlines a situation in which a team was facing a problem caused by a dependency on another team. The team wanted to fix the problem themselves, but this would go against the company's culture of each team being responsible for their own tech debt. The team leader decided to veto the decision and escalate the problem, causing friction between the teams. Eventually, the other team committed to fixing the problem, and the team leader learned the importance of respecting organizational boundaries and standing firm in the face of pressure.

There Is No Commitment Without Disagreement

This article discusses a situation in which a team of eight engineers had to deal with a top performer who was not performing up to their usual standards. The team tried various methods to re-engage the individual, but nothing worked. Eventually, the team leader realized that the individual had to be allowed to express their disagreement with the project direction in front of the team. This allowed them to feel comfortable advocating for their point of view and ultimately led to a successful outcome. The article highlights the importance of allowing team members to express their disagreement and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to do so.

Cultivating Accountability

Leaders need to create an environment where people feel safe to do their work, while still holding them accountable. The goal is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than punishing them for failure. Leaders should foster an environment of honesty and constructive criticism, and be aware of their own emotions and how they impact others. Mutual feedback is key to helping everyone improve.

Easing the Fear of Failure with Guidance

Poor management and a lack of creativity can lead to a company's failure. Leaders should provide context to their teams, share data, and empower their employees to make adult decisions. It is important to have a strategy and vision for the product organization, and to focus on how to make customers' lives better. Developing a sense of ownership and understanding the impact of work is essential for success.

Playing the Father Figure

This article discusses the challenges of managing people and the lessons learned from the experience. It is important to be aware of how you communicate with others and to be clear in what you are asking of your team. It is also important to frame goals in a way that relates to the broader goals of the organization. Good leadership keeps everybody and their work in focus.

Managing New Team Members

When my team doubled in size, I faced the challenge of managing the sudden growth, ensuring existing members were not overburdened, and keeping the new members motivated. To address this, I created a “buddy” system, conducted onboarding sessions, and identified core groups to groom stories. However, I should have identified the capability of our automation and regression suits from the start. As a lesson, I learned to collaborate with team leaders and take accountability for responsibilities.

How to Be an Effective Manager During a Crisis

A billing report release caused a loss of around XX$ for the company, which was identified by the finance team a month later. The biggest mistake made was not communicating the issue to senior management on time. The team identified the root cause of the problem and took steps to backfill the costs, while setting up validation, monitoring, and alerting for the next time. A 3-month plan was laid out to ensure the issue did not repeat itself, and updates were sent out on a daily basis. The lesson learned was to keep managers in the loop and communicate effectively to manage a budget.

Tips on How to Improve Backlog Grooming Meetings

A team was having difficulty with their grooming meetings, and senior engineers took the lead to understand the requirements and groom stories outside of the main room. They introduced release-when-ready strategies and feature flags to help with the release process. They also implemented data-driven standups and encouraged team members to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the problem before bringing in solutions.

Retaining Top Talents

A manager faced the challenge of motivating a high-performing team member who was not interested in the tasks assigned to them for the quarter. Instead of forcing them to do the work, the manager allowed them to explore other opportunities within the company and eventually found a team where the team member could work on data cleaning tasks. This rotation gave the team member the chance to keep adding value to the company while growing and learning new tasks. The manager learned the importance of prioritizing the company and its goals, and giving team members the chance to work on their weaknesses to keep them motivated and challenged.

Hiring Niche Talents in a Fiercely Competitive Market

ThousandEyes experienced rapid growth after being acquired by Cisco in August 2020, and needed to increase their headcount by 2x to sustain that growth. To do this, they took steps to supercharge their hiring funnel, from sourcing to virtual onsite interviews and offer stages. They also implemented best practices such as diverse panel members, well-calibrated questions, and clear rubrics to ensure a successful hiring process. Lastly, they focused on hiring candidates who had the ability to learn new tech stacks on the job, while also making sure that the candidate had a clear understanding of the opportunity ahead.

Three-Phase Approach to Onboarding Engineers in a Distributed Services Environment

At ThousandEyes, a distributed services environment can be overwhelming for new engineers. To simplify the onboarding process, a three-phase process was defined. Phase 1 focuses on product knowledge, Phase 2 on processes, and Phase 3 on priorities. Lessons learned include having new hires go through a common phase and allowing them to explore on their own. Onboarding buddies should also time box the time they spend with new hires.

How Managers Can Support Employee Career Growth

This story is about a person who was stuck in a role they didn't want to be in and was struggling to make the transition to product management. The protagonist was able to help the person by introducing them to other product managers and sharing their own experiences of transitioning from engineering to engineering management. The person was also given an opportunity to create a product requirement document and was referred to some great books. Eventually, the person was able to impress the team and earn the role in product management. The protagonist learned that it is important to recognize potential and invest in people, even when it may not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Expert Antidote to Repair a Toxic Culture

A mentor was helping a fresh graduate transition from college to professional life. The mentor took notes on the issues the mentee was facing and identified the core problem as a lack of a mentor or coach to guide her. The mentor then provided advice on how to align expectations with her manager, invest in learning, and provide effective feedback. In the end, the mentee was able to gain credibility and set herself up for professional success. The mentor learned the importance of listening and paying attention to detail, educating mentees on providing effective feedback, and helping them maintain professional boundaries.

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Resolving Workplace Conflict

This article discusses the importance of conflict resolution, both within a team and between a manager and their team. It outlines the steps taken to resolve a conflict between two senior engineers of different cultural backgrounds, and how the manager was able to get them to work together. It also discusses the manager's own experience with a peer who was pushing back on her ideas, and how she was able to overcome this by documenting her ideas and presenting them to her colleague before meetings. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the other person's perspective and picking one's battles.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.

Communicating Effectively

This article discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and how it can be improved. It provides advice on how to be succinct and to-the-point in interviews, as well as how to include empathy and compassion in conversations. It also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and listening, and suggests taking courses in communication to develop these skills.

Integrating a Team of Offshore Contractors

A team of offshore contractors based in India owned the domain knowledge, but communication between Product and Engineering was not satisfactory. To improve collaboration and transfer domain knowledge, an architect and product people were brought in to build documentation from scratch, and some of the best engineers were brought to the US. This hybrid model improved the development process and enabled the company to expand their business in multiple countries.

Feelings Aside: Handling a Team Layoff

This story is about a first-line manager who had to lay off his team due to changed business circumstances. He was offered to keep his role, but he turned it down and stayed with the company in a different role. He learned to detach his emotions from the task and to consider the offer presented to him if he had to do it all over again. He also learned to adjust to the more ruthless nature of business in the US, and to recognize that layoffs are not done to intentionally harm anyone.

When Solving Problems for Others Is Wrong

This story outlines a situation in which a team was facing a problem caused by a dependency on another team. The team wanted to fix the problem themselves, but this would go against the company's culture of each team being responsible for their own tech debt. The team leader decided to veto the decision and escalate the problem, causing friction between the teams. Eventually, the other team committed to fixing the problem, and the team leader learned the importance of respecting organizational boundaries and standing firm in the face of pressure.

There Is No Commitment Without Disagreement

This article discusses a situation in which a team of eight engineers had to deal with a top performer who was not performing up to their usual standards. The team tried various methods to re-engage the individual, but nothing worked. Eventually, the team leader realized that the individual had to be allowed to express their disagreement with the project direction in front of the team. This allowed them to feel comfortable advocating for their point of view and ultimately led to a successful outcome. The article highlights the importance of allowing team members to express their disagreement and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to do so.

Cultivating Accountability

Leaders need to create an environment where people feel safe to do their work, while still holding them accountable. The goal is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than punishing them for failure. Leaders should foster an environment of honesty and constructive criticism, and be aware of their own emotions and how they impact others. Mutual feedback is key to helping everyone improve.

Easing the Fear of Failure with Guidance

Poor management and a lack of creativity can lead to a company's failure. Leaders should provide context to their teams, share data, and empower their employees to make adult decisions. It is important to have a strategy and vision for the product organization, and to focus on how to make customers' lives better. Developing a sense of ownership and understanding the impact of work is essential for success.

Playing the Father Figure

This article discusses the challenges of managing people and the lessons learned from the experience. It is important to be aware of how you communicate with others and to be clear in what you are asking of your team. It is also important to frame goals in a way that relates to the broader goals of the organization. Good leadership keeps everybody and their work in focus.

Managing New Team Members

When my team doubled in size, I faced the challenge of managing the sudden growth, ensuring existing members were not overburdened, and keeping the new members motivated. To address this, I created a “buddy” system, conducted onboarding sessions, and identified core groups to groom stories. However, I should have identified the capability of our automation and regression suits from the start. As a lesson, I learned to collaborate with team leaders and take accountability for responsibilities.

How to Be an Effective Manager During a Crisis

A billing report release caused a loss of around XX$ for the company, which was identified by the finance team a month later. The biggest mistake made was not communicating the issue to senior management on time. The team identified the root cause of the problem and took steps to backfill the costs, while setting up validation, monitoring, and alerting for the next time. A 3-month plan was laid out to ensure the issue did not repeat itself, and updates were sent out on a daily basis. The lesson learned was to keep managers in the loop and communicate effectively to manage a budget.

Tips on How to Improve Backlog Grooming Meetings

A team was having difficulty with their grooming meetings, and senior engineers took the lead to understand the requirements and groom stories outside of the main room. They introduced release-when-ready strategies and feature flags to help with the release process. They also implemented data-driven standups and encouraged team members to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the problem before bringing in solutions.

Retaining Top Talents

A manager faced the challenge of motivating a high-performing team member who was not interested in the tasks assigned to them for the quarter. Instead of forcing them to do the work, the manager allowed them to explore other opportunities within the company and eventually found a team where the team member could work on data cleaning tasks. This rotation gave the team member the chance to keep adding value to the company while growing and learning new tasks. The manager learned the importance of prioritizing the company and its goals, and giving team members the chance to work on their weaknesses to keep them motivated and challenged.

Hiring Niche Talents in a Fiercely Competitive Market

ThousandEyes experienced rapid growth after being acquired by Cisco in August 2020, and needed to increase their headcount by 2x to sustain that growth. To do this, they took steps to supercharge their hiring funnel, from sourcing to virtual onsite interviews and offer stages. They also implemented best practices such as diverse panel members, well-calibrated questions, and clear rubrics to ensure a successful hiring process. Lastly, they focused on hiring candidates who had the ability to learn new tech stacks on the job, while also making sure that the candidate had a clear understanding of the opportunity ahead.

Three-Phase Approach to Onboarding Engineers in a Distributed Services Environment

At ThousandEyes, a distributed services environment can be overwhelming for new engineers. To simplify the onboarding process, a three-phase process was defined. Phase 1 focuses on product knowledge, Phase 2 on processes, and Phase 3 on priorities. Lessons learned include having new hires go through a common phase and allowing them to explore on their own. Onboarding buddies should also time box the time they spend with new hires.

How Managers Can Support Employee Career Growth

This story is about a person who was stuck in a role they didn't want to be in and was struggling to make the transition to product management. The protagonist was able to help the person by introducing them to other product managers and sharing their own experiences of transitioning from engineering to engineering management. The person was also given an opportunity to create a product requirement document and was referred to some great books. Eventually, the person was able to impress the team and earn the role in product management. The protagonist learned that it is important to recognize potential and invest in people, even when it may not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Expert Antidote to Repair a Toxic Culture

A mentor was helping a fresh graduate transition from college to professional life. The mentor took notes on the issues the mentee was facing and identified the core problem as a lack of a mentor or coach to guide her. The mentor then provided advice on how to align expectations with her manager, invest in learning, and provide effective feedback. In the end, the mentee was able to gain credibility and set herself up for professional success. The mentor learned the importance of listening and paying attention to detail, educating mentees on providing effective feedback, and helping them maintain professional boundaries.

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Resolving Workplace Conflict

This article discusses the importance of conflict resolution, both within a team and between a manager and their team. It outlines the steps taken to resolve a conflict between two senior engineers of different cultural backgrounds, and how the manager was able to get them to work together. It also discusses the manager's own experience with a peer who was pushing back on her ideas, and how she was able to overcome this by documenting her ideas and presenting them to her colleague before meetings. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the other person's perspective and picking one's battles.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.

Communicating Effectively

This article discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and how it can be improved. It provides advice on how to be succinct and to-the-point in interviews, as well as how to include empathy and compassion in conversations. It also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and listening, and suggests taking courses in communication to develop these skills.

Integrating a Team of Offshore Contractors

A team of offshore contractors based in India owned the domain knowledge, but communication between Product and Engineering was not satisfactory. To improve collaboration and transfer domain knowledge, an architect and product people were brought in to build documentation from scratch, and some of the best engineers were brought to the US. This hybrid model improved the development process and enabled the company to expand their business in multiple countries.

Feelings Aside: Handling a Team Layoff

This story is about a first-line manager who had to lay off his team due to changed business circumstances. He was offered to keep his role, but he turned it down and stayed with the company in a different role. He learned to detach his emotions from the task and to consider the offer presented to him if he had to do it all over again. He also learned to adjust to the more ruthless nature of business in the US, and to recognize that layoffs are not done to intentionally harm anyone.

When Solving Problems for Others Is Wrong

This story outlines a situation in which a team was facing a problem caused by a dependency on another team. The team wanted to fix the problem themselves, but this would go against the company's culture of each team being responsible for their own tech debt. The team leader decided to veto the decision and escalate the problem, causing friction between the teams. Eventually, the other team committed to fixing the problem, and the team leader learned the importance of respecting organizational boundaries and standing firm in the face of pressure.

There Is No Commitment Without Disagreement

This article discusses a situation in which a team of eight engineers had to deal with a top performer who was not performing up to their usual standards. The team tried various methods to re-engage the individual, but nothing worked. Eventually, the team leader realized that the individual had to be allowed to express their disagreement with the project direction in front of the team. This allowed them to feel comfortable advocating for their point of view and ultimately led to a successful outcome. The article highlights the importance of allowing team members to express their disagreement and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to do so.

Cultivating Accountability

Leaders need to create an environment where people feel safe to do their work, while still holding them accountable. The goal is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than punishing them for failure. Leaders should foster an environment of honesty and constructive criticism, and be aware of their own emotions and how they impact others. Mutual feedback is key to helping everyone improve.

Easing the Fear of Failure with Guidance

Poor management and a lack of creativity can lead to a company's failure. Leaders should provide context to their teams, share data, and empower their employees to make adult decisions. It is important to have a strategy and vision for the product organization, and to focus on how to make customers' lives better. Developing a sense of ownership and understanding the impact of work is essential for success.

Playing the Father Figure

This article discusses the challenges of managing people and the lessons learned from the experience. It is important to be aware of how you communicate with others and to be clear in what you are asking of your team. It is also important to frame goals in a way that relates to the broader goals of the organization. Good leadership keeps everybody and their work in focus.

Managing New Team Members

When my team doubled in size, I faced the challenge of managing the sudden growth, ensuring existing members were not overburdened, and keeping the new members motivated. To address this, I created a “buddy” system, conducted onboarding sessions, and identified core groups to groom stories. However, I should have identified the capability of our automation and regression suits from the start. As a lesson, I learned to collaborate with team leaders and take accountability for responsibilities.

How to Be an Effective Manager During a Crisis

A billing report release caused a loss of around XX$ for the company, which was identified by the finance team a month later. The biggest mistake made was not communicating the issue to senior management on time. The team identified the root cause of the problem and took steps to backfill the costs, while setting up validation, monitoring, and alerting for the next time. A 3-month plan was laid out to ensure the issue did not repeat itself, and updates were sent out on a daily basis. The lesson learned was to keep managers in the loop and communicate effectively to manage a budget.

Tips on How to Improve Backlog Grooming Meetings

A team was having difficulty with their grooming meetings, and senior engineers took the lead to understand the requirements and groom stories outside of the main room. They introduced release-when-ready strategies and feature flags to help with the release process. They also implemented data-driven standups and encouraged team members to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the problem before bringing in solutions.

Retaining Top Talents

A manager faced the challenge of motivating a high-performing team member who was not interested in the tasks assigned to them for the quarter. Instead of forcing them to do the work, the manager allowed them to explore other opportunities within the company and eventually found a team where the team member could work on data cleaning tasks. This rotation gave the team member the chance to keep adding value to the company while growing and learning new tasks. The manager learned the importance of prioritizing the company and its goals, and giving team members the chance to work on their weaknesses to keep them motivated and challenged.

Hiring Niche Talents in a Fiercely Competitive Market

ThousandEyes experienced rapid growth after being acquired by Cisco in August 2020, and needed to increase their headcount by 2x to sustain that growth. To do this, they took steps to supercharge their hiring funnel, from sourcing to virtual onsite interviews and offer stages. They also implemented best practices such as diverse panel members, well-calibrated questions, and clear rubrics to ensure a successful hiring process. Lastly, they focused on hiring candidates who had the ability to learn new tech stacks on the job, while also making sure that the candidate had a clear understanding of the opportunity ahead.

Three-Phase Approach to Onboarding Engineers in a Distributed Services Environment

At ThousandEyes, a distributed services environment can be overwhelming for new engineers. To simplify the onboarding process, a three-phase process was defined. Phase 1 focuses on product knowledge, Phase 2 on processes, and Phase 3 on priorities. Lessons learned include having new hires go through a common phase and allowing them to explore on their own. Onboarding buddies should also time box the time they spend with new hires.

How Managers Can Support Employee Career Growth

This story is about a person who was stuck in a role they didn't want to be in and was struggling to make the transition to product management. The protagonist was able to help the person by introducing them to other product managers and sharing their own experiences of transitioning from engineering to engineering management. The person was also given an opportunity to create a product requirement document and was referred to some great books. Eventually, the person was able to impress the team and earn the role in product management. The protagonist learned that it is important to recognize potential and invest in people, even when it may not seem like there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Expert Antidote to Repair a Toxic Culture

A mentor was helping a fresh graduate transition from college to professional life. The mentor took notes on the issues the mentee was facing and identified the core problem as a lack of a mentor or coach to guide her. The mentor then provided advice on how to align expectations with her manager, invest in learning, and provide effective feedback. In the end, the mentee was able to gain credibility and set herself up for professional success. The mentor learned the importance of listening and paying attention to detail, educating mentees on providing effective feedback, and helping them maintain professional boundaries.

How to Get Your Team Back on Track

When joining a company with a team that was not executing well and slipping deadlines, the author had to build trust and credibility while firefighting. Through 1:1s with the engineering team, they identified patterns of the issues and worked with different stakeholders to address them. The author also worked closely with the quality organization and pushed back against the product management. After 30-60 days, the author had earned the trust of the team and created long-lasting relationships. Lessons learned include focusing on people first, never being afraid to do the right thing, and being open to different perspectives.

Resolving Workplace Conflict

This article discusses the importance of conflict resolution, both within a team and between a manager and their team. It outlines the steps taken to resolve a conflict between two senior engineers of different cultural backgrounds, and how the manager was able to get them to work together. It also discusses the manager's own experience with a peer who was pushing back on her ideas, and how she was able to overcome this by documenting her ideas and presenting them to her colleague before meetings. The article concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding the other person's perspective and picking one's battles.

Achieving Alignment With Male Colleagues

This article discusses the difficulties of being a woman in the tech industry and how the author overcame these challenges. She faced pushback from her male peers and was initially hesitant to raise her voice in meetings. With the help of her director, she gained confidence in her ideas and eventually worked her way up to management. Even then, she faced resistance from her male colleagues, but she stayed calm and tried to make her alliance with them clear. She also started mentoring sessions with other women in the company to help them through similar experiences.

Building the Future in Front of You

The author reflects on their experience as a manager and how they have taken it upon themselves to mentor and empower those around them. They discuss the importance of having a mentor and how it can help shape one's career path. They also share lessons they have learned from their mentees, such as the importance of asking the right questions and validating people in their decision-making process. Finally, the author shares how they are actively involved in mentoring and helping others in their alumni network and other organizations of diversity.

Communicating Effectively

This article discusses the importance of effective communication in the workplace, and how it can be improved. It provides advice on how to be succinct and to-the-point in interviews, as well as how to include empathy and compassion in conversations. It also emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and listening, and suggests taking courses in communication to develop these skills.

Integrating a Team of Offshore Contractors

A team of offshore contractors based in India owned the domain knowledge, but communication between Product and Engineering was not satisfactory. To improve collaboration and transfer domain knowledge, an architect and product people were brought in to build documentation from scratch, and some of the best engineers were brought to the US. This hybrid model improved the development process and enabled the company to expand their business in multiple countries.

Feelings Aside: Handling a Team Layoff

This story is about a first-line manager who had to lay off his team due to changed business circumstances. He was offered to keep his role, but he turned it down and stayed with the company in a different role. He learned to detach his emotions from the task and to consider the offer presented to him if he had to do it all over again. He also learned to adjust to the more ruthless nature of business in the US, and to recognize that layoffs are not done to intentionally harm anyone.

When Solving Problems for Others Is Wrong

This story outlines a situation in which a team was facing a problem caused by a dependency on another team. The team wanted to fix the problem themselves, but this would go against the company's culture of each team being responsible for their own tech debt. The team leader decided to veto the decision and escalate the problem, causing friction between the teams. Eventually, the other team committed to fixing the problem, and the team leader learned the importance of respecting organizational boundaries and standing firm in the face of pressure.

There Is No Commitment Without Disagreement

This article discusses a situation in which a team of eight engineers had to deal with a top performer who was not performing up to their usual standards. The team tried various methods to re-engage the individual, but nothing worked. Eventually, the team leader realized that the individual had to be allowed to express their disagreement with the project direction in front of the team. This allowed them to feel comfortable advocating for their point of view and ultimately led to a successful outcome. The article highlights the importance of allowing team members to express their disagreement and creating an environment where everyone feels safe to do so.

Cultivating Accountability

Leaders need to create an environment where people feel safe to do their work, while still holding them accountable. The goal is to allow people to learn from their mistakes and grow, rather than punishing them for failure. Leaders should foster an environment of honesty and constructive criticism, and be aware of their own emotions and how they impact others. Mutual feedback is key to helping everyone improve.

Easing the Fear of Failure with Guidance

Poor management and a lack of creativity can lead to a company's failure. Leaders should provide context to their teams, share data, and empower their employees to make adult decisions. It is important to have a strategy and vision for the product organization, and to focus on how to make customers' lives better. Developing a sense of ownership and understanding the impact of work is essential for success.

Playing the Father Figure

This article discusses the challenges of managing people and the lessons learned from the experience. It is important to be aware of how you communicate with others and to be clear in what you are asking of your team. It is also important to frame goals in a way that relates to the broader goals of the organization. Good leadership keeps everybody and their work in focus.