> all the planning, negotiating, syncing, communication & meetings stuff overflows into the engineers themselves That is traditionally done by managers, but it

> all the planning, negotiating, syncing, communication & meetings stuff overflows into the engineers themselves That is traditionally done by managers, but it doesn't actually need to be handled someone who is anyone's boss in particular. It's handleable, often with less overall effort, by people who are at the same level as every other team member on the org chart. The whole boss/report dynamic tends to inhibit clear communication, because circumspect people tend to to communicate less-than-candidly with those who hold the power to advance or inhibit their career progress.