I’m a senior technical staff member on my team. This means that I occasionally get to write code, spend lots of time debugging integration problems, and (as I s

I’m a senior technical staff member on my team. This means that I occasionally get to write code, spend lots of time debugging integration problems, and (as I see it) matching up people and problems that come in to the team. I don’t have direct reports, but I provide feedback to managers, am a team member, lead my own team, and lead / mentor team leaders of other teams. Delegation and Motivation are most difficult by far. I can think of several occasions where I’ve said or done something the wrong way, causing friction, heartache and strife. I’be gotten better at recognizing different communication styles and matching the message to the recipient however. Soft skills are key. Go look at Manager Tools[1], a podcast focused on improving the quality of management in the workforce. Every podcast they’ve ever produced is online, going back to 2005, and covers all of the unspoken stuff like how to communicate effectively, how to have good 1:1’s, how to give feedback, how to handle “steel cage death match” meetings, and even how to handle personal scent issues. They organize the podcasts into a “map of the universe” and also have a “hall of fame.” I’d say start with the map of the universe (it has a “start here” which covers a couple of foundational topics, like I mentioned above. Once you’ve gotten a feel for it, search around and find something relevant (eg performance reviews might be a good idea given that we’re in q4). [1]