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What does a “good manager” look like?

ticmasta 8y ago
Exactly. If I could find good managers couldn't I just find good employees? This seems like the answer to the first line question of "how do I scale an engineering organization?" but you are not at an addressable solution yet. It's valuable but not sufficient.
- munchbunny 8y ago
  Not sure I understand the point you are making with your question?
ChrisCinelli 8y ago
I would focus on somebody that is able to lead, first. You manage things, you lead people. Management is about handling complexity. Leadership is about creating simplicity. I think the full answer to your question would deserve at least blog post ;-)
inopinatus 8y ago
You grasp that you're not the talent. The job is to facilitate and enable those that are. You are Brian Epstein, not John Lennon. Someone who brings their team achievable goals, and the resources they need, and then gets the hell out of their way. Someone who encourages leadership (in all its many forms) to come from within the team, and doesn't see it as a challenge to their authority. Someone who understands that respect is not magically granted by position. Someone willing to make decisions - sometimes tough ones - on behalf of the team, to communicate both with and on behalf of the team, and defend the team's integrity and autonomy. Someone who understands that communication starts with listening.
- sonnyblarney 8y ago
  Managers are often senior technical leaders and in those cases are 'the talent' in some capacity.
munchbunny 8y ago
There are several common things to look at, just off the top of my head. These all take practice. 1. Organization skills/project management skills: ability to pull together internal/external resources, ability to create clear plans, ability to build relationships with other teams to make cross-team collaboration easier 2. Communication skills: ability to deescalate and mediate conflicts fairly, ability to give both positive and negative feedback regularly, ability to create psychological safety, ability to deliver bad news while maintaining psychological safety, ability to run efficient meetings, ability to make unpopular decisions while still commanding the team's respect, ability to engage with different personality types and communication styles 3. Delegation skills: ability to translate ambiguous directives from above into actionable tasks for the team, ability to arrange tasks so that individuals have the creative freedom to figure out how to do it, predictability in decision-making, ability to shield team from external pressure, ability to give negative feedback immediately, ability to fire low performers before they fester into team morale and culture problems 4. Coaching skills: ability to give targeted advice, ability to match employee's own aspirations and growth objectives to projects, enough technical expertise to point people in the right direction, ability to evaluate skills and hire for them
- inred9 8y ago
  a pratical manager
- afarrell 8y ago
  > these all take practice They also often take theory. If you’re reading this and trying to learn more about management, don’t shy away from taking some time to read good books which teach about the theory of, say, how to be good at feedback.
dbcurtis 8y ago
1. Have clear goals. 2. Communicate your goals clearly. 3. Ask what people need to achieve the goal, and actually LISTEN deeply. Negotiate deadlines/resource allocation until the crew can honestly commit. 4. Dedicate your efforts to getting the crew what they need. 5. Reiterate your clear goals often and clearly.
- afarrell 8y ago
  Do Repeat Yourself
gaius 8y ago
Praise in public, criticise in private. Give the team credit for success and take blame yourself for failure. Get those right and everything else will follow. So simple but only a fraction of managers get it.
lukethomas 8y ago
Most of the books/articles you read will give general advice, which varies depending on the individual/team. Here's what I typically recommend: 1. Create a continuous feedback loop with every single person on your team. This is why 1-1 meetings are extremely helpful. 2. Understand where each person on your team wants to go (career goals). Do they want to become X in 2 years? Do they even want to work in tech at all? Find ways to help them get there. 3. Document all the important conversations you have. Share it with the person. Most miscommunication happens when you talk about something and it's interpreted in various ways. Documenting these conversations and sharing them helps cut down on this. 4. Act like you care about them as a person.

Exactly. If I could find good managers couldn't I just find good employees? This seems like the answer to the first line question of "how do I scale an engineering organization?" but you are not at an addressable solution yet. It's valuable but not sufficient.

munchbunny 8y ago
Not sure I understand the point you are making with your question?

ChrisCinelli 8y ago

I would focus on somebody that is able to lead, first. You manage things, you lead people. Management is about handling complexity. Leadership is about creating simplicity. I think the full answer to your question would deserve at least blog post ;-)

inopinatus 8y ago

You grasp that you're not the talent. The job is to facilitate and enable those that are. You are Brian Epstein, not John Lennon. Someone who brings their team achievable goals, and the resources they need, and then gets the hell out of their way. Someone who encourages leadership (in all its many forms) to come from within the team, and doesn't see it as a challenge to their authority. Someone who understands that respect is not magically granted by position. Someone willing to make decisions - sometimes tough ones - on behalf of the team, to communicate both with and on behalf of the team, and defend the team's integrity and autonomy. Someone who understands that communication starts with listening.

sonnyblarney 8y ago
Managers are often senior technical leaders and in those cases are 'the talent' in some capacity.

munchbunny 8y ago

There are several common things to look at, just off the top of my head. These all take practice. 1. Organization skills/project management skills: ability to pull together internal/external resources, ability to create clear plans, ability to build relationships with other teams to make cross-team collaboration easier 2. Communication skills: ability to deescalate and mediate conflicts fairly, ability to give both positive and negative feedback regularly, ability to create psychological safety, ability to deliver bad news while maintaining psychological safety, ability to run efficient meetings, ability to make unpopular decisions while still commanding the team's respect, ability to engage with different personality types and communication styles 3. Delegation skills: ability to translate ambiguous directives from above into actionable tasks for the team, ability to arrange tasks so that individuals have the creative freedom to figure out how to do it, predictability in decision-making, ability to shield team from external pressure, ability to give negative feedback immediately, ability to fire low performers before they fester into team morale and culture problems 4. Coaching skills: ability to give targeted advice, ability to match employee's own aspirations and growth objectives to projects, enough technical expertise to point people in the right direction, ability to evaluate skills and hire for them

inred9 8y ago
a pratical manager
afarrell 8y ago
> these all take practice They also often take theory. If you’re reading this and trying to learn more about management, don’t shy away from taking some time to read good books which teach about the theory of, say, how to be good at feedback.

dbcurtis 8y ago

1. Have clear goals. 2. Communicate your goals clearly. 3. Ask what people need to achieve the goal, and actually LISTEN deeply. Negotiate deadlines/resource allocation until the crew can honestly commit. 4. Dedicate your efforts to getting the crew what they need. 5. Reiterate your clear goals often and clearly.

afarrell 8y ago
Do Repeat Yourself

gaius 8y ago

Praise in public, criticise in private. Give the team credit for success and take blame yourself for failure. Get those right and everything else will follow. So simple but only a fraction of managers get it.

lukethomas 8y ago

Most of the books/articles you read will give general advice, which varies depending on the individual/team. Here's what I typically recommend: 1. Create a continuous feedback loop with every single person on your team. This is why 1-1 meetings are extremely helpful. 2. Understand where each person on your team wants to go (career goals). Do they want to become X in 2 years? Do they even want to work in tech at all? Find ways to help them get there. 3. Document all the important conversations you have. Share it with the person. Most miscommunication happens when you talk about something and it's interpreted in various ways. Documenting these conversations and sharing them helps cut down on this. 4. Act like you care about them as a person.