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> Seems to me that the job of the engineer manager is just too lightweight. Maybe you don't see other things they do. Their work isn't only 1:1 with you. For i

> Seems to me that the job of the engineer manager is just too lightweight. Maybe you don't see other things they do. Their work isn't only 1:1 with you. For instance, hiring, evaluating employees, redirecting team efforts if new priority arises, fostering collaboration with other teams if needed, unblocking things, reporting to high management about the team whereabout, making sure every IC has what they need for their job, taking the temperature of the team, informing people about opportunities, and so on...

sdevonoes 5y ago
> For instance, hiring Yes, they screen CVs and join tech interviews. I also join tech interviews. > evaluating employees True. They use the 1:1s to keep track of the evaluation afaik. > redirecting team efforts if new priority arises As I said, our eng. manager doesn't usually join our planning nor has ever said anything regarding "X has more prio than Y"... Redirecting the team effort is mostly on the team itself (PM + tech lead) > fostering collaboration with other teams if needed Again, this happens only if the teams decide to do so. Teams are quite self sub-stained. > unblocking things Never happen in our team. If there are any technical blockers, that's usually solved by the tech lead + infra team. If there any business blockers, that's solved by our PM + stakeholders. > reporting to high management about the team whereabout Eng. managers have private Slack channels, so can't say anything about this regard. > making sure every IC has what they need for their job Care to elaborate? If I need an IDE, I ask in the #it-support channel. If I need to take holiday/sick-leave I ask my team and PM. If I prefer Postgres instead of MySQL, I talk with the infra team; any business-related issue? I talk to my PM... what kind of stuff one asks to their eng. manager? > taking the temperature of the team, informing people about opportunities, and so on Lightweight job I would say. But yes, a job nonetheless.
- Fredej 5y ago
  Everything is pretty light weight as long as things are running smoothly. It's not completely unlike an IT department: You only really figure out their value, when things go poorly.
- mepiethree 5y ago
  Sounds to me like you just have a bad manager.

sdevonoes 5y ago

> For instance, hiring Yes, they screen CVs and join tech interviews. I also join tech interviews. > evaluating employees True. They use the 1:1s to keep track of the evaluation afaik. > redirecting team efforts if new priority arises As I said, our eng. manager doesn't usually join our planning nor has ever said anything regarding "X has more prio than Y"... Redirecting the team effort is mostly on the team itself (PM + tech lead) > fostering collaboration with other teams if needed Again, this happens only if the teams decide to do so. Teams are quite self sub-stained. > unblocking things Never happen in our team. If there are any technical blockers, that's usually solved by the tech lead + infra team. If there any business blockers, that's solved by our PM + stakeholders. > reporting to high management about the team whereabout Eng. managers have private Slack channels, so can't say anything about this regard. > making sure every IC has what they need for their job Care to elaborate? If I need an IDE, I ask in the #it-support channel. If I need to take holiday/sick-leave I ask my team and PM. If I prefer Postgres instead of MySQL, I talk with the infra team; any business-related issue? I talk to my PM... what kind of stuff one asks to their eng. manager? > taking the temperature of the team, informing people about opportunities, and so on Lightweight job I would say. But yes, a job nonetheless.

Fredej 5y ago
Everything is pretty light weight as long as things are running smoothly. It's not completely unlike an IT department: You only really figure out their value, when things go poorly.
mepiethree 5y ago
Sounds to me like you just have a bad manager.