Tag Archives: Career Coaching

The Art of Managing Team Exits: Lessons for Engineering Leaders

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As engineering leaders, we often focus on hiring, developing, and retaining talent. However, an equally important aspect of team management is handling exits – both voluntary and involuntary. How we manage these transitions can significantly impact our team’s morale, productivity, and long-term success. Let’s explore the dos and don’ts of managing team exits.

When Things Go South: Handling Involuntary Exits

People may forget many things about their job, but the day they’re let go is etched in their memory forever. Every minute of that day counts, so it’s crucial to handle these situations with utmost care and respect.

Show Leadership and Respect

As a leader, it’s your responsibility to handle difficult conversations directly. Don’t hide behind HR or the People Team. Show up, be present, and demonstrate genuine respect for the individual, regardless of the circumstances leading to their exit.

Consider the Ripple Effect

Remember, the exiting employee likely has social connections within your team. Whatever they experience during their exit process will be shared with their colleagues. If they leave feeling disrespected or unfairly treated, it can bring down the morale of your entire team.

Make the Best of a Bad Situation

While letting someone go is never pleasant, you can strive to make the process as respectful and supportive as possible. Offer guidance on next steps, provide honest and constructive feedback, and if appropriate, offer to serve as a reference for future opportunities.

For a deeper dive into handling these challenging situations, I highly recommend Ben Horowitz’s book, “The Hard Thing About Hard Things.” It offers valuable insights on navigating the toughest aspects of leadership. It’s mandatory reading for all my managers.

The Positive Approach: Planning for Voluntary Transitions

On the flip side, it’s important to recognize that people won’t (and shouldn’t) stay on your team forever. Variety in one’s career is healthy and contributes to personal and professional growth.

I was once in a meeting with a group of managers and HR about an engineer that resigned. And the person from HR was explaining the exit interview feedback they said “He said he left because he was on teh same team for 8 years, and nothing was changing”, his manager had missed this conversation with him in 1on1s, and we lost a good engineer, after that we got regular reports from HR about team tender to make sure we were addressing it. And as a Director I make a habit of pushing my managers to have conversation about how their directs are felling on the team, if they fell like a change, especially if they’ve been on the same team for 3-4 years.

If you have an engineer leave for another company to progress their career, it will send the wrong message to the other engineers on their team.

So plan for people to transition to other teams within your organization. Help them find roles that align with their future aspirations and development goals. This approach not only supports individual growth but also retains valuable talent within the company.

And for any engineer who’s been on your team for about three years, start having conversations about their future aspirations. Are they still finding the work challenging? Would they like to try something different? The exact timing may vary based on the individual and the nature of the work, but don’t let these conversations slide. In my experience, most people who’ve been in the same role for 8+ years are likely contemplating a significant change.

It’s far better to keep a good engineer within your organization, even if they move to a different team, than to lose them to another company. An internal move is usually less disruptive than an external exit. Moreover, you want to cultivate an environment where people feel they can grow their careers within the organization, rather than feeling they need to leave to progress.

Mark the Moment

Whether someone is moving to another team or leaving the company, always mark the moment with your team. Celebrate their contributions, share memories, and wish them well in their future endeavors at a team lunch or make an occasion somehow for this. This not only honors the departing team member but also reinforces a positive team culture.

Conclusion

Managing exits, whether voluntary or involuntary, is a crucial leadership skill. By handling these situations with respect, foresight, and empathy, you can maintain a positive team culture, support individual growth, and contribute to the overall health of your organization. Remember, how people leave your team is just as important as how they join it. Make every exit a testament to your leadership and your team’s values.

Mastering Execution in Engineering Teams: From Formation to Delivery

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In the fast-paced world of software development, execution is everything. It’s not just about writing code; it’s about forming effective teams, collaborating across departments, focusing on outcomes, and managing technical debt. Let’s dive into these crucial aspects of engineering execution.

The Art of Forming Teams and Structures

When it comes to team formation, the old adage rings true: “Adding manpower to a late software project makes it later,” as famously stated in Brooks’ Law. This counterintuitive principle reminds us that team dynamics are complex and that simply adding more people doesn’t necessarily speed things up.

Understanding the stages of team formation is crucial. The Forming/Storming/Norming/Performing model, developed by Bruce Tuckman, provides a useful framework. In my experience, the Forming and Storming stages usually take a minimum of 2-3 sprints. If you’re struggling with these initial stages, consider reducing your sprint cadence to give the team a short reflection period on their working process to drive process change faster.

Here are some key principles for effective team structure:

Longevity should be a priority when structuring your engineering teams. Teams should be viewed as long-term investments rather than temporary assemblies. Even when headcount calculations don’t align perfectly, resist the urge to disband established teams. The relationships, shared knowledge, and mutual understanding that develop over time are invaluable assets that can’t be easily replicated. A team that has worked together for an extended period will often outperform a newly formed team, even if the latter looks better on paper.

Independence is another crucial factor in team effectiveness. Strive to create teams that possess all the skills necessary to execute their projects without constant handoffs to other teams. This autonomy not only boosts efficiency by reducing communication overhead and wait times but also increases accountability. When a team has end-to-end ownership of a project or feature, they’re more likely to take pride in their work and ensure its success.

Lastly, system ownership plays a vital role in team engagement and performance. In my experience, teams should have clear ownership over specific systems or components within your technology stack. This ownership fosters a deep understanding of the system and a sense of responsibility for its performance and evolution. Conversely, teams without any system ownership often struggle to appreciate impact of the technical debt they introduce and may lose respect for the value of the systems they interact with. By giving teams ownership, you’re not just assigning responsibility; you’re teaching a team about how to responsibly manage technical debt, as they are ultimately going to be then one’s responsible for it in their own system.

The Diplomacy of Inter-Team Collaboration

Working with other teams is an essential skill in any large organization, and it requires a strategic approach rooted in understanding human behavior and organizational dynamics. One crucial concept to keep in mind is what I like to call “Game Theory in Action.” When seeking collaboration with other teams, always consider the question, “What’s in it for me?” from their perspective. It’s a natural human tendency for individuals and groups to act in their own interest, and engineering teams are no exception. By anticipating this mindset, you can proactively address the needs and motivations of other teams, making collaboration more likely and more fruitful. This doesn’t mean being manipulative; rather, it’s about finding genuine win-win scenarios that benefit all parties involved.

Another key aspect of successful inter-team collaboration is the cultivation of informal networks within your organization. As a leader, one of your roles is to help your team build what I call an “irregular social network” that extends beyond the formal organizational structure. Encourage your team members to connect with colleagues from other departments, attend cross-functional meetings or events, and engage in casual conversations with people outside their immediate circle. These informal connections can be invaluable for smooth collaboration and problem-solving. They create channels for quick information exchange, foster mutual understanding, and often lead to creative solutions that might not emerge through formal channels alone. By building these networks, your team will be better positioned to know more about what’s going on within the org, and share more in common solutions to problems, in small organizations this isn’t as important as in large ones.

Shifting Focus: From Output to Outcome

It’s easy to get caught up in metrics like story points, sprint completion rates, or hours logged. However, these are merely measures of output, not outcome. Your true measure of success should be the business value your team delivers.

I once had a conversation with one of my engineers about changing the way the calculate carrier over work, I told him a half done story is “not done” and should count to zero for sprint completion, ultimately making their completion rate lower and closer to actual “completion”, his response was “But my points!”, he was fixated on his story points being his sole measure of success and was ignoring the actual value the team was delivering to the business.

Keep your engineers connected to the value they’re creating. Don’t let product management focus solely on “feature” or “milestone” success without tying it to measurable business value. If you do, you risk falling into the trap of DDD (Deadline Driven Development).

Remember Dan Pink’s insights on motivation: autonomy, mastery, and purpose are key drivers. By connecting your team’s work to real business outcomes, you’re providing that crucial sense of purpose.

Dan Pink, what motivates people

The Balancing Act of Technical Debt Management

Managing technical debt is a critical part of long-term success in software engineering, and it requires a strategic approach. One principle I’ve found effective is what I call the “30% Rule.” This involves allocating about 30% of your team’s time for technical improvements. While it might seem like a significant investment, especially when faced with pressing feature demands, this dedication to ongoing improvement pays substantial dividends in the long run. It helps prevent the accumulation of technical debt that can slow down development and increase the risk of system failures.

Why 30%? I asked Yaron Zeidman this once, who taught me this, and his response was, “Joel, I’ve worked in companies where we tried 20%, and we found that we weren’t able to keep on top of debt and technical improvements we needed, and i worked in companies where we tried 40%, and we found we weren’t able to execute on product enough, so 30% seems to be the happy middle ground.”.

Time-boxing is another powerful technique for addressing technical debt. One approach I’ve seen work well is the use of “Mobathons” – intensive periods focused solely on tackling technical debt or improvements. See this post about them.

Another instance, I once worked with a team that implemented a “60% leap sprint,” where the majority of a sprint was dedicated to making significant progress on technical debt, and every other sprint was 100% product work. These focused efforts can create momentum and visible progress, boosting team morale and improving system health.

If you try to do every sprint exactly 70/30 split, it almost never works out well.

One of the most important principles in managing technical debt is to finish what you start. It’s all too easy to let the tail end of technical migrations drag on for years, but this approach can be costly. The longer legacy systems remain in place, the more their costs grow, and the more significant their impact becomes. By seeing migrations through to completion, you can fully realize the benefits of your work and avoid the compounding costs of maintaining legacy systems.

When it comes to system design and development, thinking small can yield big benefits. Building small, modular systems allows for incremental improvement and quicker realization of value, for example framework upgrades such as reactjs or other frameworks, need to be done at system level, for a single large system it becomes an all in effort, if you have 10 smaller systems you can do one and measure the value in an increment, validate assumptions, to help you re-prioritize before continuing. This approach not only makes it easier to manage and update your systems but also allows for more frequent deliveries of value to your users and engineers.

While technical debt may seem like a purely engineering concern, it’s crucial to include product management in these discussions. Getting buy-in from product managers on your technical work can be tremendously beneficial. Not only can they help you ask the right questions about the business impact of technical decisions, but they can also become powerful allies in advocating for necessary technical work.

Finally, don’t hesitate to escalate when necessary. If technical debt is severely impacting your team’s ability to deliver, it’s time to have a serious conversation with product management and leadership. Work together to pitch for more headcount or resources. Remember, addressing technical debt isn’t just about engineering preferences – it’s about maintaining the health and efficiency of the systems that drive your business.

Conclusion

Effective execution in engineering teams is a multifaceted challenge. It requires thoughtful team formation, skilled inter-team collaboration, a focus on meaningful outcomes, and diligent technical debt management. By mastering these areas, you can create a high-performing engineering organization that consistently delivers value.

Remember, the goal isn’t just to write code or complete sprints. It’s to create systems and products that drive real business value. Keep this north star in mind, and you’ll be well on your way to engineering excellence.

Mastering Performance Management in Engineering Teams

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As engineering leaders, one of our most critical responsibilities is effectively managing and developing our team’s performance. This goes beyond simply tracking metrics or conducting annual reviews. It’s about creating a culture of continuous improvement, open communication, and clear expectations. Let’s dive into some key aspects of performance management that can help you elevate your team’s effectiveness and job satisfaction.

The Art of Feedback

Feedback is the lifeblood of performance management. It should flow freely within your team, not just from manager to engineer. Many organizations offer training to help team members give and receive feedback effectively. As a manager, aim to provide feedback to your engineers at least biweekly. While technical feedback is important, don’t get too caught up in the technical details. Focus on broader aspects of performance and development.

A word of caution: be wary of feedback that’s overly positive or non-actionable. While positivity is great, feedback should always include areas for improvement or specific actions to maintain high performance. Remember, the goal is growth, not just praise.

Setting Behavior Expectations

When it comes to performance management, we often fall into the trap of creating “to-do” lists for promotion. However, what we’re really after is a change in mindset. We want our team members to be self-motivated, incorporating best practices into their daily work not because they’re chasing a promotion, but because it’s become part of their professional identity.

But how do we measure or change someone’s mindset? The truth is, we can’t directly measure it. However, the behaviors people exhibit serve as an excellent proxy. By setting expectations around day-to-day behaviors, especially in engineering-specific scenarios, we can create goals that foster the mindset we’re after.

This approach is inspired by Ben Horowitz’s famous “Good PM, Bad PM” blog post, which applied similar principles to product managers in the 90s and 00s. By focusing on behaviors rather than just outcomes, we create a culture of continuous improvement that becomes ingrained in daily routines.

The Power of Coaching

Effective coaching is a cornerstone of performance management and a critical skill for any engineering leader. It’s not just about solving problems for your team members; it’s about empowering them to solve problems themselves and grow in the process.

The Socratic Method: Questions as a Tool for Growth

One powerful approach to coaching is the Socratic method. Named after the classical Greek philosopher Socrates, this method involves asking probing questions to stimulate critical thinking and illuminate ideas. Instead of simply telling your team members what to do, ask questions that guide them to their own conclusions.

For example, if an engineer is struggling with a complex bug, instead of immediately offering a solution, you might ask:

  • “What have you tried so far?”
  • “Where do you think the problem might be originating?”
  • “What would be the impact if we approached it this way?”

This approach not only helps team members develop problem-solving skills but also increases their confidence and buy-in for the solutions they come up with. It transforms the coaching process from a one-way directive into a collaborative exploration.

The Importance of Explicit Language

Explicit Language isn’t about swearing, but on rare occasions that helps, but that’s a topic for another post.

When coaching, the clarity of your communication is paramount. Use explicit language to ensure your message is understood clearly. Be specific about what you’re observing, what needs to change, and what success looks like. Vague feedback or instructions can lead to confusion and frustration.

For instance, instead of saying “Your code needs improvement,” you might say “I noticed that the function on line 57 is handling multiple responsibilities. Let’s discuss how we can refactor this to improve its single responsibility and readability.”

Coaching for Technical and Soft Skills

While technical skills are crucial in engineering, don’t neglect coaching on soft skills. Leadership, communication, and collaboration are equally important for career growth. Help your team members identify areas for improvement in both technical and soft skills, and provide targeted coaching or resources for each.

The Continuous Nature of Coaching

Remember that coaching is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. Make it a regular part of your interactions with your team. This could be through scheduled one-on-one sessions, impromptu conversations, or even in the context of code reviews or project discussions.

By embracing the power of coaching, you’re not just solving immediate problems; you’re building a team of self-sufficient, confident engineers who are equipped to handle future challenges. This approach to leadership can dramatically improve team performance, job satisfaction, and overall success in your engineering organization.

Career Development: A Collaborative Effort

Career development should be a collaborative process between you and your team members. Start by creating individual development plans, or getting them to create them scales more and will have more meaning for them. These should be breathing documents that outline goals, areas for improvement, and action steps.

As a manager, it’s your job to provide opportunities for training and upskilling. Remember, you won’t always be the one who can directly train your team members. Most of the time, your role will be to identify and facilitate learning opportunities, whether that’s through courses, conferences, or mentorship programs.

Both you and your team members should have a clear understanding of what’s needed to reach the next level. An exceptional manager has a good sense of when all of their direct reports will be ready for their next promotion. This foresight allows you to provide targeted development opportunities and set realistic expectations.

Conclusion

Effective performance management is about more than just evaluating work. It’s about creating an environment where feedback flows freely, expectations are clear, and everyone is committed to continuous improvement. By focusing on behaviors, providing regular feedback, coaching effectively, and collaboratively planning career development, you can create a high-performing team that’s not just productive, but also engaged and satisfied in their work.

Remember, the goal of performance management isn’t just to improve output—it’s to help each team member grow, both professionally and personally. When done right, it’s a powerful tool for building an engineering team.

Growing Your Engineering Team: Leadership, Empathy, and Growth

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Building a strong engineering team doesn’t stop at hiring. As leaders, we must continually nurture our teams to ensure they grow, feel connected, and perform at their best. This post explores key strategies for fostering a thriving team environment.

The Power of Empathy and Connection

One of the most underrated skills in technical leadership is the ability to connect with your team members on a personal level. This goes beyond discussing code or project deadlines. To build stronger connections, use your one-on-one meetings wisely. If you find yourself with spare time during these sessions, take the opportunity to ask about your team members’ weekends or personal interests. Having genuine curiosity about their lives outside of work can foster a deeper, more meaningful relationship.

It’s crucial to understand the whole person behind the engineer. Take an interest in who your team members are beyond their technical skills. Explore what motivates them and what aspirations they hold for their future. This holistic approach to understanding your team can provide valuable insights into how to best support and motivate each individual.

Remember that each team member is unique, with their own personality traits, communication preferences, and working styles. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to recognize and appreciate these differences. Tailor your communication and management style to suit different personality types within your team. This flexibility in your approach can lead to more effective leadership and a more harmonious team dynamic. This is especially important in multi-cultural environments.

By fostering these connections and showing genuine interest in your team members as individuals, you create a more engaged, loyal, and motivated team. This personal touch in your leadership style can make a significant difference in team morale and overall performance.

Leadership That Inspires

True leadership is about making your team feel part of something bigger than themselves. As a leader, one of your primary responsibilities is to regularly acknowledge how the team’s work contributes to broader company goals. By consistently highlighting the impact of their efforts, you help your engineers understand that they’re not just writing code or solving technical problems – they’re part of a meaningful mission that extends beyond their immediate tasks.

Team events and gatherings play a crucial role in fostering this sense of purpose and belonging. However, it’s important to approach these events strategically. Don’t organize team outings simply because you have a budget to use. Instead, use these gatherings as opportunities to mark important moments in your team’s journey. Celebrate significant milestones, warmly welcome new team members, or bid a heartfelt farewell to departing colleagues. These rituals do more than just break up the workweek – they create a tangible sense of team identity and reinforce the idea that each member is part of something special.

When you do host these events, make sure to take an active role. As a leader, your presence and words carry significant weight. Take the time to stand up and say something meaningful. This doesn’t have to be a long, formal speech – even a brief, heartfelt message can significantly boost team morale and cohesion. Your words can reinforce the team’s achievements, emphasize shared goals, or simply express appreciation for everyone’s hard work.

Remember, at their core, people want to belong to something greater than themselves. As a leader, it’s your responsibility – and privilege – to create and nurture that sense of belonging. By celebrating team impact, marking important moments, and being present and vocal at team events, you create an environment where your engineers feel valued, connected, and inspired to do their best work.

The Cornerstone of Respect

Respect is the foundation of any healthy team dynamic, and as a leader, it’s crucial that you exemplify and foster respect in every interaction. One simple yet powerful way to demonstrate respect is through consistent eye contact. When engaging with your team members, whether in one-on-one conversations or group meetings, make a conscious effort to maintain eye contact. This seemingly small gesture speaks volumes – it shows that you’re fully present, engaged, and value what the other person is saying. It’s a non-verbal cue that can significantly enhance the quality of your interactions and build stronger, more respectful relationships within your team. Be careful not to over do it though as you may intimidate people.

As a leader, you’ll inevitably face difficult conversations about topics like compensation, performance, or organizational changes. In these moments, it’s tempting to delegate these discussions to HR or hide behind company policies. However, true respect means having the courage to handle these hard conversations personally. By taking ownership of these discussions, you show your team members that you value them enough to engage directly, even when the topic is challenging. This approach builds trust and demonstrates that you take your leadership role seriously, setting a tone of openness and honesty within your team. It’s the hard part of the job, but it’s still part of the job, is how I look at it.

Another critical aspect of respect in leadership is following through on your commitments. When you make promises contingent on certain expectations being met, it’s vital that you deliver on those promises when your team meets those expectations. This means being explicit about your expectations from the start and then honoring your word when those conditions are fulfilled. For example, if you promise someone a salary bump if they meet a target, be clear about what month and have a dollar amount communicated explicitly, you maybe have certain months of the year that salary can be adjusted, your engineer probably doesn’t know that and be expecting a bump the month he delivers.

Consistency between your words and actions is key to building and maintaining respect. It shows your team that you’re reliable and that their efforts are truly valued and rewarded.

By incorporating these practices you create a culture of respect within your team. This respect forms the bedrock of a high-functioning, motivated, and loyal engineering team. Remember, respect isn’t just about being polite; it’s about consistently demonstrating through your actions that you value each team member’s contributions, thoughts, and feelings.

Navigating Conflict Constructively

Conflict, when managed effectively, can be a powerful catalyst for growth and innovation within your team. As a leader, your approach to conflict can set the tone for how your entire team handles disagreements and challenges. One crucial aspect of managing conflict is the timing and delivery of feedback. There’s a delicate balance to strike between addressing issues promptly and choosing the right moment for a conversation. Sometimes, an on-the-spot callout is necessary to immediately correct a behavior or decision. Other times, it’s more appropriate to take someone aside for a private conversation, allowing for a more in-depth and nuanced discussion. Your judgment in choosing between these approaches can significantly impact how your feedback is received and acted upon.

A valuable tool in navigating team conflicts is the “Disagree and Commit” method. This approach encourages team members to voice their disagreements openly and honestly during the decision-making process. However, once a decision is made, everyone commits to supporting it fully, regardless of their initial stance. By teaching and implementing this method, you create an environment where diverse opinions are valued, but the team remains unified in its execution. A healthy view i head on this once, is one team member who was the odd one out told the rest of teh team “I’ll bet you a coffee it doesn’t work”, this light hearted approach to disagree and commit put a simle on everyone’s face when he said it, he got the coffee in the end on that occasion though, which also showed the humility in the rest of the team of admitting their failure.

Sometimes, despite best efforts, your team might reach an impasse on how to implement a solution. In such cases, consider embracing failure as a learning opportunity. If the team can’t agree on a single implementation, you might choose to build two different versions. While one approach might ultimately fail, the process of building and comparing both solutions can provide invaluable lessons for the entire team. This approach turns potential conflict into a collaborative learning experience, fostering a culture where experimentation and calculated risk-taking are encouraged.

By viewing conflict as an opportunity for growth rather than a problem to be avoided, you can build a more resilient and innovative team. This constructive approach to conflict encourages open communication, promotes learning from failures, and ultimately leads to better solutions. Remember, your role as a leader is not to eliminate all conflict, but to channel it productively towards team growth and improved outcomes.

Conclusion

Growing a strong engineering team is an ongoing process that requires empathy, strong leadership, respect, and the ability to navigate conflicts constructively. By focusing on these areas, you’ll create a team that’s not just technically proficient, but also engaged, loyal, and primed for long-term success.

Remember, your role as a leader is not just about managing tasks and deadlines. It’s about creating an environment where each team member can thrive, feel valued, and see their work as part of a larger, meaningful whole.