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Managing Typical Workload and Pressure when a Start-Up is Acquired

In this case study, a start-up team was acquired by an organization in a fast-evolving industry. The team was expected to continue to operate as a SAAS business and deliver on the AI front, creating a dual role and overwhelming expectations for the team leader. To address this, the team leader created a weekly calendar to schedule tasks and sleep, and drew up a plan to get some of the tasks off his plate. He also sought advice on hiring people and bringing more voices to the process. The key lesson learned is to understand the new set up and adjust appropriately, stepping back to make a good analysis of the scenario and create a sound action plan.

Leaving your team in the hands of a new manager

An engineering manager transitioning to a full-time IC role needs to find the right balance between uncovering the performance of their direct reports and allowing the new manager to discover it on their own. The best way to achieve a successful transition is to be open-minded and organised, providing the new manager with an overview of the work performance of each team member, making themselves available for meetings or one-on-ones, and being transparent and upfront with the team about the change.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Team player vs. high performer

This story is about a tech contributor who was excellent at his job, but had a negative impact on the team due to his dismissive attitude. After a year of trying to figure out the source of the problem, the manager had conversations with the engineer and gave him direct feedback. Despite some improvement, the engineer had burnt too many bridges and eventually transferred out. The manager learned that it is better to have someone who is a better team player, even if they are not as strong technically.

Experimenting with management

An engineering manager needed to promote someone to add structure to his team, but none of his engineers were interested. He found a woman with a combination of technical and soft skills who was already acting as a mentor, and convinced her to take on the role on an experimental basis. She was well-received by the team and stayed in the role full-time at the end of the experiment. The lesson learned is that it is essential to find a way to get somebody to step up without hurting the team, and framing the role as an experiment is a great way to go.

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Gaining Respect from Engineers as a Product Manager

When joining a team without a product manager, the new PM took time to understand the team's needs and challenges. Through observation and conversations, the PM identified areas of improvement and presented solutions to the team. The PM learned that some engineers take more time to warm up to the new PM, and that the same process works for both low and high expectations.

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Building a Remote B-to-C Support Team

When building a remote support team, the author initially hired experienced managers, but they lacked the specific domain knowledge required to do the job. The author then hired two entry-level technical resources and trained them, becoming a "working manager" in the process. To build team cohesion, the author organized quarterly meetings in different cities, combined with a company briefing and team-building activities. This approach exposed low performers and allowed the team to grow beyond 7 people. The author learned that it is important to be careful when hiring, that remote teams can work if done correctly, and to learn the product until you can do the job yourself.

Recruiting a Great Engineer

After posting a job and receiving a stream of resumes, the author questioned their own ability to lead the engineering team and reset their assumptions. They asked pointed questions to the interviewees about technology, teamwork, process, conflict, and trust, and chose someone they felt they could trust for the lead. The author learned that trust must be earned and maintained to have productive working relationships when hiring.

Small team + looming deadline = priorities

Working on a tight deadline to build a mobile chat app from scratch, the engineer had to judge which parts of the app were most likely to stay and which were important for dogfooding. This was a challenging task, but frequent communication with the team helped. The experience taught the engineer the importance of working smarter and faster, and that sometimes it is necessary to build things that will be replaced in the near future.

Better tooling, better UX

In 2015, Lead UI Engineer at Zazzle, faced with the challenge of explaining why certain things couldn't be done, decided to upgrade the tech stack. After researching various frameworks, React (and TypeScript) rose to the top. After making a compelling presentation to key stakeholders, the next flagship experience was built on React and now 95% of development is on the new React stack. The successful transition was due to the engineer's ability to frame the argument in a way that resonated with both Engineering and Product.

7 Attributes of a Great Manager

After 6 years of managing a company that grew from 20 to 200 employees, the author wanted to know what attributes of their management style had been positively received. Through individual and group conversations with their former reports, they identified 7 areas of their management style that were generally well-received. These included getting to know people personally, oversharing information, understanding pain points, avoiding micromanagement, showing genuine care, having technical knowledge and strength, and having their reports' backs.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Fostering Healthy Collaboration Between Teams in Different Locations

As a product manager, the author experienced tension between the offshore developers and onsite tech leads due to personality issues and competition. To resolve the situation, the author took on the role of mediator, being present and reframing conversations to focus on the company's goals. They also discussed the importance of respecting tech leads and trusting their decisions, even if it means failing as a team. Finally, they prioritized cam conferences and bringing team leads together to build relationships and trust. The author learned the importance of objectivity, honest communication, and respect in order to bring teams together and push forward.

Starting an Engineering Blog

This article discusses the actions taken by two companies to create more credibility among developers and introduce themselves to potential candidates. These actions included creating a blog, targeting roughly one blog entry per month, and brainstorming and writing introductory posts about the company and its engineering challenges. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of planning and editing schedules, offering editing services, and using the blog to attract customers. Finally, the blog is a great way to store knowledge and save time with potential candidates.

Advocating for Major Refactoring focused on Technical Debt.

The head of engineering at a series B startup faced the challenge of improving the company's data platform, which was not designed for its current use case. After brainstorming with senior engineers and architects, they created a plan that would take two months and reduce risk. The CEO and Head of Product were kept appraised, and the plan was approved. The project was successful, though there were some delays due to unexpected data migration issues. Lessons learned included the importance of involving all stakeholders, having a clear process for decision making, communicating benefits, giving the team time to think through options, and prototyping.

Don’t Let an Inter-Team Crisis Go to Waste

When a senior engineer on one of the teams managed by the author committed a piece of code that touched another team's code base, the other team was incredibly angry. After talking to the engineers and manager of the other team, the author realized that the incident was a mere spark for some long-standing frustrations. The author took action by listening to the other team's perspective and making changes to reduce dependencies between code modules. After a few months, the engineer that was originally the most upset told the author that the teams were now working better together. The author learned that sometimes when someone over-reacts, it's an indication of latent problems, and that truly listening to people to understand their concerns can help alleviate tension.

How to Frequently Adapt Your Teams to Your Growing Business

In order to successfully manage growth, managers must find ways to help teams embrace frequent changes. This can be done by describing the problem to all involved, asking for volunteers to test the proposed changes, and allowing employees to hear from their peers why a change is for the best. By recognizing the importance of making employees a part of the decision-making process, managers can gain their trust and willingness to try something new.

How to Keep Expertise in a Feature Team

A manager implemented 'chapters' to help feature team members stay in touch with their peers and maintain their skills. In these meetings, members shared what they had learned and helped each other improve their skills. The manager learned that it is important to dedicate time for people to meet and learn from each other, but also that it is important to ensure someone with organizational skills is included in each chapter to help the meetings run more smoothly.

Managing Typical Workload and Pressure when a Start-Up is Acquired

In this case study, a start-up team was acquired by an organization in a fast-evolving industry. The team was expected to continue to operate as a SAAS business and deliver on the AI front, creating a dual role and overwhelming expectations for the team leader. To address this, the team leader created a weekly calendar to schedule tasks and sleep, and drew up a plan to get some of the tasks off his plate. He also sought advice on hiring people and bringing more voices to the process. The key lesson learned is to understand the new set up and adjust appropriately, stepping back to make a good analysis of the scenario and create a sound action plan.

Leaving your team in the hands of a new manager

An engineering manager transitioning to a full-time IC role needs to find the right balance between uncovering the performance of their direct reports and allowing the new manager to discover it on their own. The best way to achieve a successful transition is to be open-minded and organised, providing the new manager with an overview of the work performance of each team member, making themselves available for meetings or one-on-ones, and being transparent and upfront with the team about the change.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Team player vs. high performer

This story is about a tech contributor who was excellent at his job, but had a negative impact on the team due to his dismissive attitude. After a year of trying to figure out the source of the problem, the manager had conversations with the engineer and gave him direct feedback. Despite some improvement, the engineer had burnt too many bridges and eventually transferred out. The manager learned that it is better to have someone who is a better team player, even if they are not as strong technically.

Experimenting with management

An engineering manager needed to promote someone to add structure to his team, but none of his engineers were interested. He found a woman with a combination of technical and soft skills who was already acting as a mentor, and convinced her to take on the role on an experimental basis. She was well-received by the team and stayed in the role full-time at the end of the experiment. The lesson learned is that it is essential to find a way to get somebody to step up without hurting the team, and framing the role as an experiment is a great way to go.

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Gaining Respect from Engineers as a Product Manager

When joining a team without a product manager, the new PM took time to understand the team's needs and challenges. Through observation and conversations, the PM identified areas of improvement and presented solutions to the team. The PM learned that some engineers take more time to warm up to the new PM, and that the same process works for both low and high expectations.

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Building a Remote B-to-C Support Team

When building a remote support team, the author initially hired experienced managers, but they lacked the specific domain knowledge required to do the job. The author then hired two entry-level technical resources and trained them, becoming a "working manager" in the process. To build team cohesion, the author organized quarterly meetings in different cities, combined with a company briefing and team-building activities. This approach exposed low performers and allowed the team to grow beyond 7 people. The author learned that it is important to be careful when hiring, that remote teams can work if done correctly, and to learn the product until you can do the job yourself.

Recruiting a Great Engineer

After posting a job and receiving a stream of resumes, the author questioned their own ability to lead the engineering team and reset their assumptions. They asked pointed questions to the interviewees about technology, teamwork, process, conflict, and trust, and chose someone they felt they could trust for the lead. The author learned that trust must be earned and maintained to have productive working relationships when hiring.

Small team + looming deadline = priorities

Working on a tight deadline to build a mobile chat app from scratch, the engineer had to judge which parts of the app were most likely to stay and which were important for dogfooding. This was a challenging task, but frequent communication with the team helped. The experience taught the engineer the importance of working smarter and faster, and that sometimes it is necessary to build things that will be replaced in the near future.

Better tooling, better UX

In 2015, Lead UI Engineer at Zazzle, faced with the challenge of explaining why certain things couldn't be done, decided to upgrade the tech stack. After researching various frameworks, React (and TypeScript) rose to the top. After making a compelling presentation to key stakeholders, the next flagship experience was built on React and now 95% of development is on the new React stack. The successful transition was due to the engineer's ability to frame the argument in a way that resonated with both Engineering and Product.

7 Attributes of a Great Manager

After 6 years of managing a company that grew from 20 to 200 employees, the author wanted to know what attributes of their management style had been positively received. Through individual and group conversations with their former reports, they identified 7 areas of their management style that were generally well-received. These included getting to know people personally, oversharing information, understanding pain points, avoiding micromanagement, showing genuine care, having technical knowledge and strength, and having their reports' backs.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Fostering Healthy Collaboration Between Teams in Different Locations

As a product manager, the author experienced tension between the offshore developers and onsite tech leads due to personality issues and competition. To resolve the situation, the author took on the role of mediator, being present and reframing conversations to focus on the company's goals. They also discussed the importance of respecting tech leads and trusting their decisions, even if it means failing as a team. Finally, they prioritized cam conferences and bringing team leads together to build relationships and trust. The author learned the importance of objectivity, honest communication, and respect in order to bring teams together and push forward.

Starting an Engineering Blog

This article discusses the actions taken by two companies to create more credibility among developers and introduce themselves to potential candidates. These actions included creating a blog, targeting roughly one blog entry per month, and brainstorming and writing introductory posts about the company and its engineering challenges. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of planning and editing schedules, offering editing services, and using the blog to attract customers. Finally, the blog is a great way to store knowledge and save time with potential candidates.

Advocating for Major Refactoring focused on Technical Debt.

The head of engineering at a series B startup faced the challenge of improving the company's data platform, which was not designed for its current use case. After brainstorming with senior engineers and architects, they created a plan that would take two months and reduce risk. The CEO and Head of Product were kept appraised, and the plan was approved. The project was successful, though there were some delays due to unexpected data migration issues. Lessons learned included the importance of involving all stakeholders, having a clear process for decision making, communicating benefits, giving the team time to think through options, and prototyping.

Don’t Let an Inter-Team Crisis Go to Waste

When a senior engineer on one of the teams managed by the author committed a piece of code that touched another team's code base, the other team was incredibly angry. After talking to the engineers and manager of the other team, the author realized that the incident was a mere spark for some long-standing frustrations. The author took action by listening to the other team's perspective and making changes to reduce dependencies between code modules. After a few months, the engineer that was originally the most upset told the author that the teams were now working better together. The author learned that sometimes when someone over-reacts, it's an indication of latent problems, and that truly listening to people to understand their concerns can help alleviate tension.

How to Frequently Adapt Your Teams to Your Growing Business

In order to successfully manage growth, managers must find ways to help teams embrace frequent changes. This can be done by describing the problem to all involved, asking for volunteers to test the proposed changes, and allowing employees to hear from their peers why a change is for the best. By recognizing the importance of making employees a part of the decision-making process, managers can gain their trust and willingness to try something new.

How to Keep Expertise in a Feature Team

A manager implemented 'chapters' to help feature team members stay in touch with their peers and maintain their skills. In these meetings, members shared what they had learned and helped each other improve their skills. The manager learned that it is important to dedicate time for people to meet and learn from each other, but also that it is important to ensure someone with organizational skills is included in each chapter to help the meetings run more smoothly.

Managing Typical Workload and Pressure when a Start-Up is Acquired

In this case study, a start-up team was acquired by an organization in a fast-evolving industry. The team was expected to continue to operate as a SAAS business and deliver on the AI front, creating a dual role and overwhelming expectations for the team leader. To address this, the team leader created a weekly calendar to schedule tasks and sleep, and drew up a plan to get some of the tasks off his plate. He also sought advice on hiring people and bringing more voices to the process. The key lesson learned is to understand the new set up and adjust appropriately, stepping back to make a good analysis of the scenario and create a sound action plan.

Leaving your team in the hands of a new manager

An engineering manager transitioning to a full-time IC role needs to find the right balance between uncovering the performance of their direct reports and allowing the new manager to discover it on their own. The best way to achieve a successful transition is to be open-minded and organised, providing the new manager with an overview of the work performance of each team member, making themselves available for meetings or one-on-ones, and being transparent and upfront with the team about the change.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Team player vs. high performer

This story is about a tech contributor who was excellent at his job, but had a negative impact on the team due to his dismissive attitude. After a year of trying to figure out the source of the problem, the manager had conversations with the engineer and gave him direct feedback. Despite some improvement, the engineer had burnt too many bridges and eventually transferred out. The manager learned that it is better to have someone who is a better team player, even if they are not as strong technically.

Experimenting with management

An engineering manager needed to promote someone to add structure to his team, but none of his engineers were interested. He found a woman with a combination of technical and soft skills who was already acting as a mentor, and convinced her to take on the role on an experimental basis. She was well-received by the team and stayed in the role full-time at the end of the experiment. The lesson learned is that it is essential to find a way to get somebody to step up without hurting the team, and framing the role as an experiment is a great way to go.

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Gaining Respect from Engineers as a Product Manager

When joining a team without a product manager, the new PM took time to understand the team's needs and challenges. Through observation and conversations, the PM identified areas of improvement and presented solutions to the team. The PM learned that some engineers take more time to warm up to the new PM, and that the same process works for both low and high expectations.

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Building a Remote B-to-C Support Team

When building a remote support team, the author initially hired experienced managers, but they lacked the specific domain knowledge required to do the job. The author then hired two entry-level technical resources and trained them, becoming a "working manager" in the process. To build team cohesion, the author organized quarterly meetings in different cities, combined with a company briefing and team-building activities. This approach exposed low performers and allowed the team to grow beyond 7 people. The author learned that it is important to be careful when hiring, that remote teams can work if done correctly, and to learn the product until you can do the job yourself.

Recruiting a Great Engineer

After posting a job and receiving a stream of resumes, the author questioned their own ability to lead the engineering team and reset their assumptions. They asked pointed questions to the interviewees about technology, teamwork, process, conflict, and trust, and chose someone they felt they could trust for the lead. The author learned that trust must be earned and maintained to have productive working relationships when hiring.

Small team + looming deadline = priorities

Working on a tight deadline to build a mobile chat app from scratch, the engineer had to judge which parts of the app were most likely to stay and which were important for dogfooding. This was a challenging task, but frequent communication with the team helped. The experience taught the engineer the importance of working smarter and faster, and that sometimes it is necessary to build things that will be replaced in the near future.

Better tooling, better UX

In 2015, Lead UI Engineer at Zazzle, faced with the challenge of explaining why certain things couldn't be done, decided to upgrade the tech stack. After researching various frameworks, React (and TypeScript) rose to the top. After making a compelling presentation to key stakeholders, the next flagship experience was built on React and now 95% of development is on the new React stack. The successful transition was due to the engineer's ability to frame the argument in a way that resonated with both Engineering and Product.

7 Attributes of a Great Manager

After 6 years of managing a company that grew from 20 to 200 employees, the author wanted to know what attributes of their management style had been positively received. Through individual and group conversations with their former reports, they identified 7 areas of their management style that were generally well-received. These included getting to know people personally, oversharing information, understanding pain points, avoiding micromanagement, showing genuine care, having technical knowledge and strength, and having their reports' backs.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Fostering Healthy Collaboration Between Teams in Different Locations

As a product manager, the author experienced tension between the offshore developers and onsite tech leads due to personality issues and competition. To resolve the situation, the author took on the role of mediator, being present and reframing conversations to focus on the company's goals. They also discussed the importance of respecting tech leads and trusting their decisions, even if it means failing as a team. Finally, they prioritized cam conferences and bringing team leads together to build relationships and trust. The author learned the importance of objectivity, honest communication, and respect in order to bring teams together and push forward.

Starting an Engineering Blog

This article discusses the actions taken by two companies to create more credibility among developers and introduce themselves to potential candidates. These actions included creating a blog, targeting roughly one blog entry per month, and brainstorming and writing introductory posts about the company and its engineering challenges. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of planning and editing schedules, offering editing services, and using the blog to attract customers. Finally, the blog is a great way to store knowledge and save time with potential candidates.

Advocating for Major Refactoring focused on Technical Debt.

The head of engineering at a series B startup faced the challenge of improving the company's data platform, which was not designed for its current use case. After brainstorming with senior engineers and architects, they created a plan that would take two months and reduce risk. The CEO and Head of Product were kept appraised, and the plan was approved. The project was successful, though there were some delays due to unexpected data migration issues. Lessons learned included the importance of involving all stakeholders, having a clear process for decision making, communicating benefits, giving the team time to think through options, and prototyping.

Don’t Let an Inter-Team Crisis Go to Waste

When a senior engineer on one of the teams managed by the author committed a piece of code that touched another team's code base, the other team was incredibly angry. After talking to the engineers and manager of the other team, the author realized that the incident was a mere spark for some long-standing frustrations. The author took action by listening to the other team's perspective and making changes to reduce dependencies between code modules. After a few months, the engineer that was originally the most upset told the author that the teams were now working better together. The author learned that sometimes when someone over-reacts, it's an indication of latent problems, and that truly listening to people to understand their concerns can help alleviate tension.

How to Frequently Adapt Your Teams to Your Growing Business

In order to successfully manage growth, managers must find ways to help teams embrace frequent changes. This can be done by describing the problem to all involved, asking for volunteers to test the proposed changes, and allowing employees to hear from their peers why a change is for the best. By recognizing the importance of making employees a part of the decision-making process, managers can gain their trust and willingness to try something new.

How to Keep Expertise in a Feature Team

A manager implemented 'chapters' to help feature team members stay in touch with their peers and maintain their skills. In these meetings, members shared what they had learned and helped each other improve their skills. The manager learned that it is important to dedicate time for people to meet and learn from each other, but also that it is important to ensure someone with organizational skills is included in each chapter to help the meetings run more smoothly.

Managing Typical Workload and Pressure when a Start-Up is Acquired

In this case study, a start-up team was acquired by an organization in a fast-evolving industry. The team was expected to continue to operate as a SAAS business and deliver on the AI front, creating a dual role and overwhelming expectations for the team leader. To address this, the team leader created a weekly calendar to schedule tasks and sleep, and drew up a plan to get some of the tasks off his plate. He also sought advice on hiring people and bringing more voices to the process. The key lesson learned is to understand the new set up and adjust appropriately, stepping back to make a good analysis of the scenario and create a sound action plan.

Leaving your team in the hands of a new manager

An engineering manager transitioning to a full-time IC role needs to find the right balance between uncovering the performance of their direct reports and allowing the new manager to discover it on their own. The best way to achieve a successful transition is to be open-minded and organised, providing the new manager with an overview of the work performance of each team member, making themselves available for meetings or one-on-ones, and being transparent and upfront with the team about the change.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Team player vs. high performer

This story is about a tech contributor who was excellent at his job, but had a negative impact on the team due to his dismissive attitude. After a year of trying to figure out the source of the problem, the manager had conversations with the engineer and gave him direct feedback. Despite some improvement, the engineer had burnt too many bridges and eventually transferred out. The manager learned that it is better to have someone who is a better team player, even if they are not as strong technically.

Experimenting with management

An engineering manager needed to promote someone to add structure to his team, but none of his engineers were interested. He found a woman with a combination of technical and soft skills who was already acting as a mentor, and convinced her to take on the role on an experimental basis. She was well-received by the team and stayed in the role full-time at the end of the experiment. The lesson learned is that it is essential to find a way to get somebody to step up without hurting the team, and framing the role as an experiment is a great way to go.

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Gaining Respect from Engineers as a Product Manager

When joining a team without a product manager, the new PM took time to understand the team's needs and challenges. Through observation and conversations, the PM identified areas of improvement and presented solutions to the team. The PM learned that some engineers take more time to warm up to the new PM, and that the same process works for both low and high expectations.

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Building a Remote B-to-C Support Team

When building a remote support team, the author initially hired experienced managers, but they lacked the specific domain knowledge required to do the job. The author then hired two entry-level technical resources and trained them, becoming a "working manager" in the process. To build team cohesion, the author organized quarterly meetings in different cities, combined with a company briefing and team-building activities. This approach exposed low performers and allowed the team to grow beyond 7 people. The author learned that it is important to be careful when hiring, that remote teams can work if done correctly, and to learn the product until you can do the job yourself.

Recruiting a Great Engineer

After posting a job and receiving a stream of resumes, the author questioned their own ability to lead the engineering team and reset their assumptions. They asked pointed questions to the interviewees about technology, teamwork, process, conflict, and trust, and chose someone they felt they could trust for the lead. The author learned that trust must be earned and maintained to have productive working relationships when hiring.

Small team + looming deadline = priorities

Working on a tight deadline to build a mobile chat app from scratch, the engineer had to judge which parts of the app were most likely to stay and which were important for dogfooding. This was a challenging task, but frequent communication with the team helped. The experience taught the engineer the importance of working smarter and faster, and that sometimes it is necessary to build things that will be replaced in the near future.

Better tooling, better UX

In 2015, Lead UI Engineer at Zazzle, faced with the challenge of explaining why certain things couldn't be done, decided to upgrade the tech stack. After researching various frameworks, React (and TypeScript) rose to the top. After making a compelling presentation to key stakeholders, the next flagship experience was built on React and now 95% of development is on the new React stack. The successful transition was due to the engineer's ability to frame the argument in a way that resonated with both Engineering and Product.

7 Attributes of a Great Manager

After 6 years of managing a company that grew from 20 to 200 employees, the author wanted to know what attributes of their management style had been positively received. Through individual and group conversations with their former reports, they identified 7 areas of their management style that were generally well-received. These included getting to know people personally, oversharing information, understanding pain points, avoiding micromanagement, showing genuine care, having technical knowledge and strength, and having their reports' backs.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Fostering Healthy Collaboration Between Teams in Different Locations

As a product manager, the author experienced tension between the offshore developers and onsite tech leads due to personality issues and competition. To resolve the situation, the author took on the role of mediator, being present and reframing conversations to focus on the company's goals. They also discussed the importance of respecting tech leads and trusting their decisions, even if it means failing as a team. Finally, they prioritized cam conferences and bringing team leads together to build relationships and trust. The author learned the importance of objectivity, honest communication, and respect in order to bring teams together and push forward.

Starting an Engineering Blog

This article discusses the actions taken by two companies to create more credibility among developers and introduce themselves to potential candidates. These actions included creating a blog, targeting roughly one blog entry per month, and brainstorming and writing introductory posts about the company and its engineering challenges. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of planning and editing schedules, offering editing services, and using the blog to attract customers. Finally, the blog is a great way to store knowledge and save time with potential candidates.

Advocating for Major Refactoring focused on Technical Debt.

The head of engineering at a series B startup faced the challenge of improving the company's data platform, which was not designed for its current use case. After brainstorming with senior engineers and architects, they created a plan that would take two months and reduce risk. The CEO and Head of Product were kept appraised, and the plan was approved. The project was successful, though there were some delays due to unexpected data migration issues. Lessons learned included the importance of involving all stakeholders, having a clear process for decision making, communicating benefits, giving the team time to think through options, and prototyping.

Don’t Let an Inter-Team Crisis Go to Waste

When a senior engineer on one of the teams managed by the author committed a piece of code that touched another team's code base, the other team was incredibly angry. After talking to the engineers and manager of the other team, the author realized that the incident was a mere spark for some long-standing frustrations. The author took action by listening to the other team's perspective and making changes to reduce dependencies between code modules. After a few months, the engineer that was originally the most upset told the author that the teams were now working better together. The author learned that sometimes when someone over-reacts, it's an indication of latent problems, and that truly listening to people to understand their concerns can help alleviate tension.

How to Frequently Adapt Your Teams to Your Growing Business

In order to successfully manage growth, managers must find ways to help teams embrace frequent changes. This can be done by describing the problem to all involved, asking for volunteers to test the proposed changes, and allowing employees to hear from their peers why a change is for the best. By recognizing the importance of making employees a part of the decision-making process, managers can gain their trust and willingness to try something new.

How to Keep Expertise in a Feature Team

A manager implemented 'chapters' to help feature team members stay in touch with their peers and maintain their skills. In these meetings, members shared what they had learned and helped each other improve their skills. The manager learned that it is important to dedicate time for people to meet and learn from each other, but also that it is important to ensure someone with organizational skills is included in each chapter to help the meetings run more smoothly.

Managing Typical Workload and Pressure when a Start-Up is Acquired

In this case study, a start-up team was acquired by an organization in a fast-evolving industry. The team was expected to continue to operate as a SAAS business and deliver on the AI front, creating a dual role and overwhelming expectations for the team leader. To address this, the team leader created a weekly calendar to schedule tasks and sleep, and drew up a plan to get some of the tasks off his plate. He also sought advice on hiring people and bringing more voices to the process. The key lesson learned is to understand the new set up and adjust appropriately, stepping back to make a good analysis of the scenario and create a sound action plan.

Leaving your team in the hands of a new manager

An engineering manager transitioning to a full-time IC role needs to find the right balance between uncovering the performance of their direct reports and allowing the new manager to discover it on their own. The best way to achieve a successful transition is to be open-minded and organised, providing the new manager with an overview of the work performance of each team member, making themselves available for meetings or one-on-ones, and being transparent and upfront with the team about the change.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Team player vs. high performer

This story is about a tech contributor who was excellent at his job, but had a negative impact on the team due to his dismissive attitude. After a year of trying to figure out the source of the problem, the manager had conversations with the engineer and gave him direct feedback. Despite some improvement, the engineer had burnt too many bridges and eventually transferred out. The manager learned that it is better to have someone who is a better team player, even if they are not as strong technically.

Experimenting with management

An engineering manager needed to promote someone to add structure to his team, but none of his engineers were interested. He found a woman with a combination of technical and soft skills who was already acting as a mentor, and convinced her to take on the role on an experimental basis. She was well-received by the team and stayed in the role full-time at the end of the experiment. The lesson learned is that it is essential to find a way to get somebody to step up without hurting the team, and framing the role as an experiment is a great way to go.

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Gaining Respect from Engineers as a Product Manager

When joining a team without a product manager, the new PM took time to understand the team's needs and challenges. Through observation and conversations, the PM identified areas of improvement and presented solutions to the team. The PM learned that some engineers take more time to warm up to the new PM, and that the same process works for both low and high expectations.

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Building a Remote B-to-C Support Team

When building a remote support team, the author initially hired experienced managers, but they lacked the specific domain knowledge required to do the job. The author then hired two entry-level technical resources and trained them, becoming a "working manager" in the process. To build team cohesion, the author organized quarterly meetings in different cities, combined with a company briefing and team-building activities. This approach exposed low performers and allowed the team to grow beyond 7 people. The author learned that it is important to be careful when hiring, that remote teams can work if done correctly, and to learn the product until you can do the job yourself.

Recruiting a Great Engineer

After posting a job and receiving a stream of resumes, the author questioned their own ability to lead the engineering team and reset their assumptions. They asked pointed questions to the interviewees about technology, teamwork, process, conflict, and trust, and chose someone they felt they could trust for the lead. The author learned that trust must be earned and maintained to have productive working relationships when hiring.

Small team + looming deadline = priorities

Working on a tight deadline to build a mobile chat app from scratch, the engineer had to judge which parts of the app were most likely to stay and which were important for dogfooding. This was a challenging task, but frequent communication with the team helped. The experience taught the engineer the importance of working smarter and faster, and that sometimes it is necessary to build things that will be replaced in the near future.

Better tooling, better UX

In 2015, Lead UI Engineer at Zazzle, faced with the challenge of explaining why certain things couldn't be done, decided to upgrade the tech stack. After researching various frameworks, React (and TypeScript) rose to the top. After making a compelling presentation to key stakeholders, the next flagship experience was built on React and now 95% of development is on the new React stack. The successful transition was due to the engineer's ability to frame the argument in a way that resonated with both Engineering and Product.

7 Attributes of a Great Manager

After 6 years of managing a company that grew from 20 to 200 employees, the author wanted to know what attributes of their management style had been positively received. Through individual and group conversations with their former reports, they identified 7 areas of their management style that were generally well-received. These included getting to know people personally, oversharing information, understanding pain points, avoiding micromanagement, showing genuine care, having technical knowledge and strength, and having their reports' backs.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Fostering Healthy Collaboration Between Teams in Different Locations

As a product manager, the author experienced tension between the offshore developers and onsite tech leads due to personality issues and competition. To resolve the situation, the author took on the role of mediator, being present and reframing conversations to focus on the company's goals. They also discussed the importance of respecting tech leads and trusting their decisions, even if it means failing as a team. Finally, they prioritized cam conferences and bringing team leads together to build relationships and trust. The author learned the importance of objectivity, honest communication, and respect in order to bring teams together and push forward.

Starting an Engineering Blog

This article discusses the actions taken by two companies to create more credibility among developers and introduce themselves to potential candidates. These actions included creating a blog, targeting roughly one blog entry per month, and brainstorming and writing introductory posts about the company and its engineering challenges. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of planning and editing schedules, offering editing services, and using the blog to attract customers. Finally, the blog is a great way to store knowledge and save time with potential candidates.

Advocating for Major Refactoring focused on Technical Debt.

The head of engineering at a series B startup faced the challenge of improving the company's data platform, which was not designed for its current use case. After brainstorming with senior engineers and architects, they created a plan that would take two months and reduce risk. The CEO and Head of Product were kept appraised, and the plan was approved. The project was successful, though there were some delays due to unexpected data migration issues. Lessons learned included the importance of involving all stakeholders, having a clear process for decision making, communicating benefits, giving the team time to think through options, and prototyping.

Don’t Let an Inter-Team Crisis Go to Waste

When a senior engineer on one of the teams managed by the author committed a piece of code that touched another team's code base, the other team was incredibly angry. After talking to the engineers and manager of the other team, the author realized that the incident was a mere spark for some long-standing frustrations. The author took action by listening to the other team's perspective and making changes to reduce dependencies between code modules. After a few months, the engineer that was originally the most upset told the author that the teams were now working better together. The author learned that sometimes when someone over-reacts, it's an indication of latent problems, and that truly listening to people to understand their concerns can help alleviate tension.

How to Frequently Adapt Your Teams to Your Growing Business

In order to successfully manage growth, managers must find ways to help teams embrace frequent changes. This can be done by describing the problem to all involved, asking for volunteers to test the proposed changes, and allowing employees to hear from their peers why a change is for the best. By recognizing the importance of making employees a part of the decision-making process, managers can gain their trust and willingness to try something new.

How to Keep Expertise in a Feature Team

A manager implemented 'chapters' to help feature team members stay in touch with their peers and maintain their skills. In these meetings, members shared what they had learned and helped each other improve their skills. The manager learned that it is important to dedicate time for people to meet and learn from each other, but also that it is important to ensure someone with organizational skills is included in each chapter to help the meetings run more smoothly.

Managing Typical Workload and Pressure when a Start-Up is Acquired

In this case study, a start-up team was acquired by an organization in a fast-evolving industry. The team was expected to continue to operate as a SAAS business and deliver on the AI front, creating a dual role and overwhelming expectations for the team leader. To address this, the team leader created a weekly calendar to schedule tasks and sleep, and drew up a plan to get some of the tasks off his plate. He also sought advice on hiring people and bringing more voices to the process. The key lesson learned is to understand the new set up and adjust appropriately, stepping back to make a good analysis of the scenario and create a sound action plan.

Leaving your team in the hands of a new manager

An engineering manager transitioning to a full-time IC role needs to find the right balance between uncovering the performance of their direct reports and allowing the new manager to discover it on their own. The best way to achieve a successful transition is to be open-minded and organised, providing the new manager with an overview of the work performance of each team member, making themselves available for meetings or one-on-ones, and being transparent and upfront with the team about the change.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Team player vs. high performer

This story is about a tech contributor who was excellent at his job, but had a negative impact on the team due to his dismissive attitude. After a year of trying to figure out the source of the problem, the manager had conversations with the engineer and gave him direct feedback. Despite some improvement, the engineer had burnt too many bridges and eventually transferred out. The manager learned that it is better to have someone who is a better team player, even if they are not as strong technically.

Experimenting with management

An engineering manager needed to promote someone to add structure to his team, but none of his engineers were interested. He found a woman with a combination of technical and soft skills who was already acting as a mentor, and convinced her to take on the role on an experimental basis. She was well-received by the team and stayed in the role full-time at the end of the experiment. The lesson learned is that it is essential to find a way to get somebody to step up without hurting the team, and framing the role as an experiment is a great way to go.

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Gaining Respect from Engineers as a Product Manager

When joining a team without a product manager, the new PM took time to understand the team's needs and challenges. Through observation and conversations, the PM identified areas of improvement and presented solutions to the team. The PM learned that some engineers take more time to warm up to the new PM, and that the same process works for both low and high expectations.

Taking the Initiative to Transition from Engineering to Product

A technical program manager wanted to transition into a product management role, but faced bias from their company. To prove themselves, they built a strong relationship with a VP of product, took on a small project, and studied for interviews. In the end, they received the offer to become a product manager. The lesson learned is that it is best to transfer internally and find a sponsor on the product team who will support you through the transition.

Building a Remote B-to-C Support Team

When building a remote support team, the author initially hired experienced managers, but they lacked the specific domain knowledge required to do the job. The author then hired two entry-level technical resources and trained them, becoming a "working manager" in the process. To build team cohesion, the author organized quarterly meetings in different cities, combined with a company briefing and team-building activities. This approach exposed low performers and allowed the team to grow beyond 7 people. The author learned that it is important to be careful when hiring, that remote teams can work if done correctly, and to learn the product until you can do the job yourself.

Recruiting a Great Engineer

After posting a job and receiving a stream of resumes, the author questioned their own ability to lead the engineering team and reset their assumptions. They asked pointed questions to the interviewees about technology, teamwork, process, conflict, and trust, and chose someone they felt they could trust for the lead. The author learned that trust must be earned and maintained to have productive working relationships when hiring.

Small team + looming deadline = priorities

Working on a tight deadline to build a mobile chat app from scratch, the engineer had to judge which parts of the app were most likely to stay and which were important for dogfooding. This was a challenging task, but frequent communication with the team helped. The experience taught the engineer the importance of working smarter and faster, and that sometimes it is necessary to build things that will be replaced in the near future.

Better tooling, better UX

In 2015, Lead UI Engineer at Zazzle, faced with the challenge of explaining why certain things couldn't be done, decided to upgrade the tech stack. After researching various frameworks, React (and TypeScript) rose to the top. After making a compelling presentation to key stakeholders, the next flagship experience was built on React and now 95% of development is on the new React stack. The successful transition was due to the engineer's ability to frame the argument in a way that resonated with both Engineering and Product.

7 Attributes of a Great Manager

After 6 years of managing a company that grew from 20 to 200 employees, the author wanted to know what attributes of their management style had been positively received. Through individual and group conversations with their former reports, they identified 7 areas of their management style that were generally well-received. These included getting to know people personally, oversharing information, understanding pain points, avoiding micromanagement, showing genuine care, having technical knowledge and strength, and having their reports' backs.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Fostering Healthy Collaboration Between Teams in Different Locations

As a product manager, the author experienced tension between the offshore developers and onsite tech leads due to personality issues and competition. To resolve the situation, the author took on the role of mediator, being present and reframing conversations to focus on the company's goals. They also discussed the importance of respecting tech leads and trusting their decisions, even if it means failing as a team. Finally, they prioritized cam conferences and bringing team leads together to build relationships and trust. The author learned the importance of objectivity, honest communication, and respect in order to bring teams together and push forward.

Starting an Engineering Blog

This article discusses the actions taken by two companies to create more credibility among developers and introduce themselves to potential candidates. These actions included creating a blog, targeting roughly one blog entry per month, and brainstorming and writing introductory posts about the company and its engineering challenges. The article also outlines the lessons learned from this experience, such as the importance of planning and editing schedules, offering editing services, and using the blog to attract customers. Finally, the blog is a great way to store knowledge and save time with potential candidates.

Advocating for Major Refactoring focused on Technical Debt.

The head of engineering at a series B startup faced the challenge of improving the company's data platform, which was not designed for its current use case. After brainstorming with senior engineers and architects, they created a plan that would take two months and reduce risk. The CEO and Head of Product were kept appraised, and the plan was approved. The project was successful, though there were some delays due to unexpected data migration issues. Lessons learned included the importance of involving all stakeholders, having a clear process for decision making, communicating benefits, giving the team time to think through options, and prototyping.

Don’t Let an Inter-Team Crisis Go to Waste

When a senior engineer on one of the teams managed by the author committed a piece of code that touched another team's code base, the other team was incredibly angry. After talking to the engineers and manager of the other team, the author realized that the incident was a mere spark for some long-standing frustrations. The author took action by listening to the other team's perspective and making changes to reduce dependencies between code modules. After a few months, the engineer that was originally the most upset told the author that the teams were now working better together. The author learned that sometimes when someone over-reacts, it's an indication of latent problems, and that truly listening to people to understand their concerns can help alleviate tension.

How to Frequently Adapt Your Teams to Your Growing Business

In order to successfully manage growth, managers must find ways to help teams embrace frequent changes. This can be done by describing the problem to all involved, asking for volunteers to test the proposed changes, and allowing employees to hear from their peers why a change is for the best. By recognizing the importance of making employees a part of the decision-making process, managers can gain their trust and willingness to try something new.

How to Keep Expertise in a Feature Team

A manager implemented 'chapters' to help feature team members stay in touch with their peers and maintain their skills. In these meetings, members shared what they had learned and helped each other improve their skills. The manager learned that it is important to dedicate time for people to meet and learn from each other, but also that it is important to ensure someone with organizational skills is included in each chapter to help the meetings run more smoothly.