From Engineer to Technical Manager A Survival Guide - Frank kane

How do i get stuff done in between all those meetings? FOCUS

• Again, turn off notifications when you’re trying to get stuff done!
• Put on headphones to discourage interruptions
• If you were a successful engineer, you know how to get into “the zone” still
• Hide somewhere if you must
• Defensively block off time on your calendar for getting work done

The importance of letting go

Your immediate instinct is to stick to what you’re good at : writing code! Building things!

THAT IS NOT YOUR JOB NOW

Your job is to keep your larger team productive!

You exist to AMPLIFY THE TALENTS OF YOUR TEAM MEMBERS

You will achieve much bigger things than you could as an individual.

THIS IS THE MOST COMMON PITFALL FOR NEW TECHNICAL MANAGERS

Don’t steal credit

Give credit where credit is due

• “Brett did an exceptionally good job with the design of this system”

You SHOULD be helping to guide your team in design decisions and architecture

• But IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU

Listen to their ideas

Ideally your company tries to hire smart people - so listen to them!

Don’t shut down ideas that aren’t your own

You’re there to nurture their career development

Leading by example

Your team will emulate the leadership skills you demonstrate.

Be honest, be productive, and focus on results. Strive to always improve.

• … and they will too.

Remember: Your team will emulate negative behaviors as well as positive behaviors.

If you feel frustrated or demoralized, work through that yourself before you let it show

Inbox Management 101

Stay on top of emails whenever you can

The goal is INBOX ZERO

Email is slowly dying, but the same idea can be applied to messages.

Your (not) fancy to-do list

• I used a whiteboard
• A little text document will do as well
• You don’t need fancy software to manager your own work.
• You can also schedule meetings with yourself to complete individuald tasks, or to remind yourself to follow up on things.
• By knowing you have a record of all your current responsibilities somewhere, you can erase it from your mind and make it seem less overwhelming.

Well that sound sounds fine and dandy

but what if there aren’t enough hours in the day to stay on top of it all?

It’s achievable with :

• Dicipline
• Focus
• Delegation
• Saying no (tactfully)

Those the real secrets to time management, not some fancy patented system.

Avoiding Death By notifications

NOTIFICATIONS DISTRACT YOU AND STEAL YOUR FOCUS

KILL THEM NOW

If you are tethered to slack conversations, you will NOT be productive

If you check your messages every few hours or so, you’ll be fine

Delegation

Remember, you have a team! Let them help you.

Do you have a project manager? A shared administrative assistant? Let them do their jobs!

DON’T TAKE ON EVERY TASK YOURSELF JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T TRUST ANYONE BUT YOURSELF TO GET IT DONE

• Common new manager pitfall

The art of saying no (Delegating Out)

You don’t have to accept every task that gets thrown your way.

Are you the right / best person to do it?

Can you get it done within expectations?

Can you say no to another task to make room for this one?

Can you flat-out say no? Is it just pointless busy work and you should call it out as such?

• This may require tact

Activity : Tame your inbox

If you have time to watch this course right now, maybe you can take an hour to get closer to inbox zero as well.

Go through all the emails you’ve received so far today and apply our system for managing them.

Spam or useless notification? Unsubscribe & delete

Information only? Archive, reply only if necessary

Requires a quick action? Do it now, then reply and archive, or keep it in your inbox until you do it later today.

Requires a larger action? Delegate, create a meeting with yourself to get it done as soon as possible, or add it to your to do list, then reply to set expectations, and archive.

BONUS POINTS: Disable notifications on your phone and desktop for any non-emergency topics. If you make inbox zero a habit, you won’t need them.

Think strategically, act tactically

But graspoing the strategy behind what you are building may be a new skill

You need to learn to THINK BIG. What are the BUSINESS objectives you are trying to fulfill?

Understand WHY your team is building something, not just HOW.

Understand the customer experience you are delivering, not just the technology.

As you progress as a manager, you will start developing your own strategies.

Activity: Understanding Tactics and Strategy

Make a list of the goals you have committed to (hopefully you already have this)

For each, write down HOW you plan to achieve them (tactics)

… and WHY that goal is important to the business (strategy)

If you don’t know why a goal is important, ask your boss in your next meeting!

• Understanding the strategy makes it easier to “sell” the work to your team

Avoiding overcommitment

• The quickest way to fail is to sign up for more work than your team can handle
• Learn QUICKLY that how long it would take for YOU to perform a task is not the same amount of time it would take your TEAM to perform a task
• You CANNOT take your own time estimate, divide it by the number of people assigned to the task, and go with that. There is overhead, unforeseen difficulties, varying experience levels, and dependencies to consider
• Remember people are not writing code 8 hours a day

Tactics: How things get done

There’s a strategy to tactics!

Realistic estimations require an ability to:

• Break down a project into individual, lower-level tasks
• Understand the availability and efficiency of the people best suited to those tasks
• Understand the dependencies between these tasks
• Understand any external dependencies that might impede progress
• … and how those external dependencies might be eliminated

Even if you are using something like Kanban or Scrum for day-to-day project management, older “waterfall” project management techniques may be better for understanding dependencies

GANTT charts

PERT charts

If you have a PM, use her experience and tools

Pushing things forward

If you were promoted from a technical position, you already know your company’s daily project management practices

• Kanban
• Scrum
• Waterfall

Remember what you found useful and annoying as an engineer - you have a change to fix that now!

• Too many meetings?
• Are “daily standups” necessary for every projects?

Use Your weekly(?) 1:1 meetings to stay on top of deliverables (among other things)

• What are they working on right now? Does that surprise you?
• How did they spend their time this week?
• Are they blocked by anyone or anything?

The Importance of simplicity

Engineers (like you?) prefer building complex system that provide interesting engineering challenges

THIS IS NOT HOW TO GET THINGS DONE

Understand the RESULTS you are being asked to deliver

What is the SIMPLEST system that will deliver those results?

Simplicity = less things to break, quicker delivery, lower cost

Example : Build a system to recommend related products in a person’s shopping cart.

Solution A: Use deep learning on a large cluster of GPU instances in the cloud, with daily tuning of its hyperparameters and systems to manually classify objectionable content. Train it in real-time using customer purchase behavior data.

Solution B: Store purchase data in a graph database, and issue a one line query to find items that tend to be purchased with other items.

Deep learning may be fun to build, but it will be expensive and difficult to tune and maintain.

If you want to get stuff done, and minimize the accrual of technical debt - a is the right choice.

You need to strike a balance between too simple and too complex

This is where your judgment comes in.

What if you just recommended the highest rated products within the same category? That’s even simpler, but might not be targeted enough to be effective.

Starting simple and working your way up can work.

Working backwards

Work BACKWARD from the customer experience you are delivering, and figure out the simplest technical solution to deliver that experience.

Avoid working FORWARD from whatever the latest trendy technology is

• solutions in search of a problem

Examples:

• Using blockchain to manage an achievements system
• using deep learning when a database search would do
• Using quantum computing for … anything right now.

Stay focused on results

Tools for working backwards

Start with a press release, explaining to the world why they should be excited about what your new system will DO (not how it works)

Design systems from the customer backward

• Start with the UI and what builds it
• Then the services that power that UI
• Then the data that powers the services

Activity: Working backwards

Your team has been tasked with building an ad targeting system for showing specific product ads to individuals on social media.

• Feel free to substitue a problem more relevant to your organization or expertise.

Write down your initial “thinking forwards” thoughts about the type of system that would work best.

Start with press release aimed at the customers who will see these ads. Why should they be excited about it? What will it deliver to them?

Sketch a high-level system design working backwards from the front-end that will deliver this system.

• Note, social media will give you information about individual customers like the subjects and categories they are interested in, where they live, demographics, etc.

How did the “backwards” approach differ from the “forwards” approach?

Running useful 1:1 meetings

Meet regularly with everyone on your team. Ideally once per week.

Objectives of the 1:1 meeting:

• Learn about status of deliverables, anything blocking the person
• Work toward their career goals
• Provide timely feedback, positive and negative
• Let them provide feedback for you

Mainly this meeting protects everyone from nasty surprises

Absolute Candor

Acknowledge work well done ( this is surprisingly powerful! and surprisingly rare)

But do not shy away from delivering areas for improvement

• Nobody should hear negative feedback for the first time on their performance review.
• Nip issues in the bud
• Be blunt, stick to the facts.
• You are criticizing the behavior, not the person

the !@#$ Sandwich

• Start with positive feedback, then negative (if any), then end with something positive
• If it’s serious though, don’t sugar coat it.

Checking in on goals

Your employees may have specific goals for the year

SMART goals (your organization may vary)

Do these goals still make sense?

Is the employee receiving opportunities to achieve them?

Is the employee on track to achieve them?

Adjust them before review time, before they become a problem.

Sample 1:1 agenda

Check-in on project status

Check-in on performance goals

Check-in on career goals

Feedback (positive and negative)

Feedback for you

Handling difficult conversations

LISTEN

• “Reflective listening” / “Active listening”
• Repeat back what you heard in your own words, get affirmation that you understand
• Acknowledge how it makes them feel
• The engineer in you wants to jump right to solutions
• But first, listen! Empathize!

Stay cool

• Don’t cross the line to sympathy or assigning blame just yet
• Listen, be concerned, but don’t promise things you can’t deliver
• No touchie - you’re the boss, not a friend

Kleenex and a glass of water

Set up a time to follow up on the issue so you can investigate

• Involve HR and/or your boss if appropriate
• Respect confidentiality

Write down what you heard and what you said someplace safe and secure

Active listening

• Pay attention! show that you’re listening
• Don’t interrupt; Defer judgment
• Keep your own feeling out of it

Do not hesitate to involve HR

There could be legal repercussions if you try to solve delicate, personal situations yourself

• Not only for the company, but for you

Anything health related, potentially discriminatory, harassment etc. - go straight to HR

Many companies have an employee assistance program (EAP) to help with personal problems

• They are qualified to offer advice, not you

Letting employees be their best

Solicit and nurture new ideas

• Find ways to let them explore them without sacrificing current commitments

Align tasks with career goals

Guid technical decisions without being proscriptive

• Being the boss doesn’t mean you’re hte smartest
• You can define the goals, not the means - let your engineers do their job

Amplify their talents, skills and ideas - not yours

Managing growth at different levels

How you manage a new hire is different from how you manage a principal engineer

New hire - find them a buddy, set clear expectations, ensure work is tightly defined. Check-in frequently.

Mid level - find opportunities for growth; working with other groups, architecture work. Check-in weekly.

High level - collaborating with other high-level engineers, or work toward management. Check-in as needed

Activity: Practice active listening

Active listening, or reflective listening, isn’t just useful at work!

Try it at home, next time a family member or friend has an issue they want to talk about

Listen, acknowledge

Reflect back what you heard and how it makes them feel

It may seem unnatural to you but not to them

• It’s just demonstrating empathy really

Recruiting tips

• Make your company’s recruiters your best friends
• Devote the necessary time – this is a very important part of your job
• Hone your sales pitch – why is your team awesome?
• And if your team really is awesome, you won’t have to recruit as much…
• Get creative with sourcing
• Interns / college hires
• Incent employee referrals
• Searching GitHub
• Searching academic papers
• Social media / groups – where do your potential employees hang out online?
• Host or sponsor local technical events / hackathons etc
• Internal hires
• Host internal or external tech talks
• Go on tour
• Remote workers

“Managing up or out”

Sometimes a member of your team won’t be pulling their weight, and you must take action.

You can manage “up” – try to correct the behavior. Or “out” if that fails.

Always consult with HR before taking any disciplinary action.

Firing someone is the most difficult thing for a new manager – or any manager.

Layoffs happen too.

Sometimes someone is just in the wrong role.

Why firing is important

The cost of a toxic employee is astronomical

• Your entire team could fall apart

Even someone who is just underperforming will drag down the performance of the entire team

You may be surprised that the rest of your team will thank you for it

The cost of turnover and hiring a replacement is high, but the cost of having the wrong person on the bus is higher.

How NOT to fire someone

• Do it out of anger
• Deflect blame
• Make it personal
• Give false hope
• Be too nice
• Dump them on someone else’s team
• If the employee is surprised by it, you’ve done it very wrong
• If you have security waiting outside because you think they’ll get violent, you’ve done it very wrong

Firing: best case scenario

Employee has known for some time they are not meeting expectations

With HR you implement a Performance Improvement Plan

Employee finds a new job that is a better fit for them

You can remain on good terms

It is done discreetly

HR guides you on logistics

Handling layoffs

• Demonstrate empathy
• But stick to the facts
• Have all logistics ready
• Final payments / severance
• Guidance for unemployment & insurance
• As a new manager you probably won’t have much say in it.
• Don’t get sued

Managing Up

• Not as nefarious as it sounds…
• Just understand your manager
• Understand both of your goals
• Keep open communication
• A good relationship with your boss means you’re both more effective

Have backbone

Work to understand mangerial decisions and directives first

But don’t be afraid to ask questions, or push back

In most corporate cultures, critical thought is valued

Disagree and commit

Sometimes however you must commit to a decision from above

• Even if you don’t personally agree with it.

Recognize you could be wrong

Do not complain about it

• Especially to your team

Just make it happen and move on

How to deliver problems or bad news

Be honest

COME WITH SOLUTIONS

Present your plan to fix the immediate problem

Show that you understand the ROOT CAUSE of the issue

… and you have already taken actions to prevent reoccurence

Meeting etiquette

If you don’t know, say “I don’t know” (but will find out and follow up - then do that.)

• Never make stuff up just to look good

Don’t hog the floor

Don’t interrupt others

Speak clearly

Be prepared

Be on time

Leave on time

Don’t call unnecessary meetings

Overcoming introversion

Common issue with developers turned manager

• Extroverts tend to dominate discussions

Finding openings to talk without interrupting can be hard

Find an ally - can your boss make sure you’re given an opportunity to speak in meetings?

Be the person who may not say much, but says something relly insightful

Listening more than talking

If you are structuring the meeting, ensure everyone - including you - has a chance to speak.

Can follow up in writing later

Presenting to upper management

BE PREPARED

• Anticipate questions and have the answers and data ready
• Sit in on similar meetings if you can, so you know what to expect
• Do a practice run with your boss

IN THE MEETING…

• Be succinct, don’t ramble
• Don’t make stuff up, say “I don’t know but will look that up and get back to you right after this meeting.”
• Don’t take things personally

Building and maintaining morale

• Build your tribe

Remaining relatable

You were one of them not long ago! use that to your advantage

Continue to respect and listen to your team

Show that you’re in this together

Listen, don’t just talk

Don’t demand more than what you would demand of yourself

Goals and morale

A team making progress toward a shared goal makes the team more cohesive.

Individuals making progress against their own career goals keeps individual motivated.

Always watch for opportunities to help people with their personal goals

Always make sure your team know their shared goals and their progress toward them

Killing a project without destroying morale

• A very challenging situation is cancelling a project your team has been working hard on
• Make sure you understand why it was cancelled and can convey this effectively
• Deliver the news in person
• You may be demoralized by it – don’t let that show
• Recognize the great work done on it thus far
• Recognize what was learned from it
• Can work from the cancelled project be used for a new one?
• Keep the focus on larger strategic goals

Killing a project without destroying morale

• A very challenging situation is cancelling a project your team has been working hard on
• Make sure you understand why it was cancelled and can convey this effectively
• Deliver the news in person
• You may be demoralized by it – don’t let that show
• Recognize the great work done on it thus far
• Recognize what was learned from it
• Can work from the cancelled project be used for a new one?
• Keep the focus on larger strategic goals

Your continued growth as a manager

• Find mentor
• Understand the business
• Learn from decision you don’t understand
• Observe upper management and learn from them
• Build good relationship outside your team