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Managing engineers is different from managing a manager (yes, they need to be managed too) : you don't approach your manager with a problem, you approach them w
by toolslive 9y ago
Managing engineers is different from managing a manager (yes, they need to be managed too) : you don't approach your manager with a problem, you approach them with a choice in possible solutions. The trick is to make sure that whatever they choose, it's going to work out fine.
An engineer is different: you don't approach them with a task or a solution, but with a problem optionally with constraints.
- aalleavitch 9y agoThis is definitely the biggest pitfall I’ve run into both as a managed engineer and as a manager. It’s intuitive to think delegation involves forming a specific task and giving it to someone else, but that’s a waste of their brain power. Giving them an open problem to solve is going to result in freeing up your mental energy and will make them happier due to increased agency. In general, you want to give workers as much agency as they can competently handle.