Software Engineering Manager DOs and DON'Ts
What are some of the DOs and DON'Ts that you would advise someone who is starting a new role as a Software Engineering Manager? Thank you 🙏
Be supportive first of all, always say you understand their point of view before you argue, be polite
Great, thank you. 100% agree
Very important to develop empathy about what it takes to ship something. I suggest you learn by doing - take a small feature and implement it yourself. Take it all the way to prod. It will help more than anything else. As engineers, we suffer the most when our managers are clueless about what it takes to get anything even minor shipped. It will also help you contribute more meaningfully to scoping discussions - you might find double-checking yourself often. Some self-doubt is a good thing for a leader. Please continue this exercise in a different way in future and contribute to increasing test coverage over time.
Absolutely important. I definitely want to take a feature and build it all the way till shipment so I can have a very good understanding of the procedures and what it takes to have it implemented and deployed. what are some of the ways that I can show empathy to my team so that they can actually feel that i'm there with them and for them?
Don't micro manage Do: here out all opinions before assuming consensus
I'm totally against micromanaging also. In your opinion what are the things that make a manager seem that he's micromanaging so I can avoid those? How to best make everyone feel they are heard?
'You are late by 10 mins', making tech decisions just because you feel it and can't back it up. Inserting yourself in every single tech discussion and talking on things you don't understand.
I have been managing engineers for more than 5 years and also been before 10 years an engineer. As other said - as a manager, you are not the tech lead! This is not your job. Your job is to facilitate the discussion and the decision-making process. you are the moderator. Yet you are also responsible for delivering and communicating upwards. The bad situation of an engineering manager is being in between the engineers and the upper management. Strategy (we must have X done by EOY because we have y teams in coordination from marketing&sales to CEO product presentation) so at times you do have to make decisions overruling your team (the engineer in me hates it), but every decision must be explained. If you don' t and you force things down peoples throat they lose trust in you and without your team behind you, you are as good as gone. Welcome to the balancing act of an EM. Your survival depends on being able to satisfy both sides and knowing when and how to push back on demands from above as well as knowing when and how to ask your team to hit the pedal to the metal.
Don’t consider yourself smarter/more intelligent because you’re a manager. Focus on Empowering your team.
Great advice, what are some of the ways to empower the team? Thanks
Trust, don't micromanage or restrict their curiosity to learn within limits offcourse. Listen and see if you can make their QOL better.