Focusing on what matters most — I don’t know who needs to hear this, but the primary role of the Engineering Manager (EM) is to create an effective team that can deliver outstanding results. Is this controversial? Maybe. As an industry, we have accepted and incentivized the idea of focusing on individuals as the primary job…

How to make process improvement effective — Process improvement is one of the main tools for Engineering Managers (EM) to manage their team. Delivering commercial software involves overlapping multiple systems, and acting on them effectively improves the team’s environment and results. However, processes can also easily hinder effectiveness. Too much focus on it can restrict the team…

I’ve spoken recently with Typo for the Beyond the Code podcast. We talked about managing engineering teams efficiently and common challenges EMs encounter. https://typoapp.io/blog/how-to-lead-engineering-teams-efficiently-with-francisco-trindade-director-of-engineering-braze/ I hope you enjoy it!

What is the next move? — Engineering Managers (EMs) have their sights focused on execution and people. They are working to ensure their team is achieving its goals and that their reports are on the right growth path. And that is plenty. Keeping a team running smoothly while creating a fulfilling environment for its members can…

Earlier this year, I have spoken with the kind people of DevInterrupted about engineering effectiveness. We discussed systems thinking, micromanagement, and how to think about teams vs. individuals. The podcast is finally out and available on all main platforms! https://devinterrupted.com/podcast/have-engineering-leaders-become-too-hands-off/

What does it mean to be technical, and how it helps Engineering Managers — A common topic in engineering leadership is the need for technical Engineering Managers (EMs). Do they need to code or not? What should their technical contribution be? While contexts vary and there are no right and wrong answers to this topic, my experience in product software development is that technical…

The database schema is not what you should worry about — Solving a customer problem with software is a complex activity. It goes from understanding the problem to identifying possible solutions to improve the situation and then delivering it: plan and execute the initiative to create the software. Within planning and execution, an activity that usually falls within the Engineering Managers’…

Your best contribution might be outside of engineering — An Engineering Manager’s (EM) primary goal is to create an effective team. With that in mind, they will spend most of their time focusing on engineering work and how engineers work. However, that should not be all of it. A product engineering team works within a broader system, and an…

Building stronger software engineering teams — Collaboration is a good thing. There will be no one in the technology industry saying otherwise. As a rule of thumb, most companies and software engineering organizations are organized in cross-functional teams, allowing people in different disciplines to work together towards the same outcome. However, it is still common to…