Looking for top talent fast? See how <\/em>Arc<\/a> can help you:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Find developers, designers, marketers, and more Hire top talent with Arc risk-free \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Many engineers aspire to become engineering managers. Why? So they don\u2019t have to code anymore? So they can influence people more? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we dive into how you can be a good engineering manager, let\u2019s take a look at what being an engineering manager actually means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Engineering Manager can<\/em> be a confusing and arbitrary title because it means different things to different people in different companies. When engineers are asked why they want to become engineering managers, a common answer is \u201cI want to code less and work with people more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though this is not necessarily a wrong idea, it is not a complete understanding of what engineering management is. Depending on the company you work for, engineering managers may be promoted through the technical track or management track<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re working for a small startup, these \u201ctracks\u201d most likely won\u2019t exist. With that said, there will still be \u201cengineering managers,\u201d whether they actually have that title or not, who can take care of both the technical and the personal side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the common things, including both the technical side and people-management side, that engineering managers are expected to do:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re more on the technical side of things, here are some additional responsibilities:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In short, being an engineering manager doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019ll no longer be coding, and neither does it mean you\u2019ll only be doing people-related work. Depending on your company\u2019s culture, you\u2019ll most likely be doing a bit of both. With that said, your new people-management tasks should be your main focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How & Why Hiring Remote Developers Builds Strong and Diverse Teams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n As an engineering manager, you can make a greater impact on various aspects of your company. Let\u2019s take a look at what kind of effects you can have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most exciting things about being an engineering manager is the chance to touch the lives of others. As a manager, you\u2019ll have plenty of opportunities to develop, inspire, and mentor your team members. Whether it\u2019s through regular one-on-ones or through your own attitude, communication style, and work ethic, you can encourage engineers to become better professionals and perhaps leaders one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it\u2019s influencing their teams to care more about code quality, boosting team productivity, or creating an atmosphere of curiosity, engineering managers can do a lot for the team when they lead by example. Furthermore, engineering managers can improve the overall company culture by building strong cross-team relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an engineering manager, you\u2019ll get a chance to investigate, propose, and manage new product development efforts or product updates. You will be able to work with different teams (e.g. product, marketing, sales team) to drive product directions design and development. You may no longer simply be assigned tasks in a certain product, but you will be able to take part in all aspects of a product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How to Create a Remote Work Culture That\u2019s Supportive, Positive & Fun<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Though being promoted into management often means a bigger pay, a \u201clouder\u201d say, and a wider scope of responsibilities, there are also some potential downsides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we asked Thomas, VP of Engineering at Typeform, for one of the main things that deter people away from management, he said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a manager, making mistakes are expensive and harder. With more freedom to utilize company resources come more responsibilities and possibilities of screwing up. Even if your company is open-minded and does not necessarily penalize you for making mistakes, the prospect of making costly mistakes can be daunting.<\/p>\nThomas D\u00f6hler, VP of Engineering at Typeform<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Though some engineering managers remain pretty hands-on, many do not continue to code. Even if you continue to code, you\u2019ll most likely be expected to spend a lot more time conducting one-on-ones with your team members, holding meetings with product managers, and interviewing potential engineering candidates. Your responsibilities will diversify and your core responsibilities may no longer be related to coding. Engineers who pride themselves on the depth of their technical expertise may find this especially challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you get excited about refactoring a particularly difficult piece of code or helping a customer by fixing a bug, this might be the biggest challenge for you. As Jeremy, an engineering manager at InVision, said, \u201cYou\u2019re no longer judged on your personal output \u2014 you\u2019re judged on your team\u2019s output and what your team can deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some engineering managers may have a hard time celebrating<\/a> the successes of their teams rather than their own personal accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we talk about how<\/strong> you can be a good manager through effective time management, leadership, and cross-team collaboration, let\u2019s take a look at what<\/strong> makes a good engineering manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How to Manage Developers on a Remote Engineering Team<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one of the hardest questions to answer because engineering managers play different roles to different people. To answer this question more holistically, we interviewed CEOs, engineering managers, and engineers from a handful of startups. Here are some of the common qualities that they highlighted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good engineering manager is someone who understands the various expectations, from above and below, that he or she must fulfill. In 2002, Google eliminated all managers in order to become a flatter organization. The experiment ended within a few months when Google realized how important it is to have managers relay information between company leaders and engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The secret to being a good engineering manager is this: the ability to understand the priorities of different parties and communicate effectively between them to help everyone meet their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How Data Science Managers Can Effectively Lead the Team to Production<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the beginning of our interview, Thomas D\u00f6hler, VP of Engineering at Typeform, said<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a manager, you have to become very good at deciding how you spend your time. In order to fulfill all your responsibilities in a timely manner, it is important to know when and how things should be done.<\/p>\nThomas D\u00f6hler, VP of Engineering at Typeform<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s take a look at what engineering managers\u2019 schedules look like on a daily and weekly basis before we get into some time management best practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deepank Gupta<\/a>, an engineering manager at Airbnb and former employee at LinkedIn and Google, pointed out that there are fundamental differences between an individual contributor\u2019s and an engineering manager\u2019s calendar:<\/p>\n\n\n Developers usually work best when they\u2019re given 2-3 hours (or even half a day) to code without interruptions. As a result, their days tend to be divided up into 2-3 hours blocks. On the contrary, engineering managers usually work in 30-60 minute blocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, developers may see meetings and context or task switching as distractions, while engineering managers see meetings as their main work and context switching as normal. Meetings are so important, sometimes even lunches can be meetings!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the main meeting types engineer managers will have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To give you a better idea of how you can fit everything you have to do in a week, here\u2019s what Thomas\u2019s weekly schedule looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n Since Thomas doesn\u2019t code anymore, your schedule might look different from his. A very important thing Thomas repeatedly mentioned was do not reschedule one-on-ones<\/em><\/strong>. Rescheduling one-on-ones could make your team members feel like they\u2019re not valued enough to be a part of your schedule. We will discuss the purpose of one-on-ones and how to effectively conduct them in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main takeaway is you should have a clear structure for your week to stay organized and on top of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How to Objectively Measure Software Developer Productivity<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a developer, you\u2019re probably very familiar with scheduling. With that said, there are effective and ineffective ways to schedule your tasks. Urgency and importance are two concrete ways to help you prioritize tasks:<\/p>\n\n\n Deepank at Airbnb explained: \u201cSpending time in the red box is like being in a fire-fighting mode \u2014 that can work for a short period of time, but if you do that too often, you\u2019ll quickly burn out.\u201d Crises and emergencies must be attended to immediately, but it is not ideal to have too many tasks in this category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, both individual contributors and engineering managers should spend most of their time in the green quadrant. Why is that? If you leave important tasks unattended, they will eventually creep into the red quadrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s an example some of you might relate to: remember when you pulled an all-nighter because you waited to start your final paper the night before it was due? Whether you poured 10 cups of coffee down your throat or pinched your thighs to keep yourself awake, you had to get it done \u2014 after all, your grades depended on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deepank used this example to make one point: start the important tasks while you still have plenty of time to complete them so you don\u2019t find yourself in dire situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How can you avoid getting into the red zone? As an engineering manager, when you\u2019re developing a new project, make sure you do all the planning up front so you and your team can tackle the most important things first. In regards to your personal responsibilities, make sure you know your priorities and don\u2019t procrastinate on finishing important tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re ever asked to work on urgent but not important tasks, the best thing to do may be to delegate the job to someone else, communicate your current workload, and ask them to prioritize accordingly, or simply say no<\/strong>. The magic ratio Deepank proposed is: for every 2 yes\u2019s you say to such tasks, you should give out 5 no\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from having a structured calendar and good task prioritization skills, here\u2019s a summary of the best practices that can improve your time management skills:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: 5+ Best Practices for Remote Engineering Team Meetings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s move on from managing your own schedule and priorities to managing your team. We intentionally used the word \u201clead\u201d instead of \u201cmanage\u201d in our title because a leader is exactly what your engineers are expecting. If you want to be able to manage your engineers, you\u2019re going to have to earn their respect by being a leader first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are three ways to demonstrate your leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating a unique team culture is one of the most exciting things about being an engineering manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it\u2019s establishing weekly sharings, peer code reviews, or simply afternoon drinks on Fridays, you can deeply influence your team\u2019s culture. With that said, before you try to change your team\u2019s culture, it\u2019s important for you to understand how the existing team functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, when asked what the engineering team at Arc cares about the most, each member of the team answered something to the effect of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To be able to implement software quickly, correctly, and \u2018unbreakably\u2019. In other words, the most important thing to our developers is code quality. Our product director (who plays the role of engineering manager as well) is well aware of that, and focuses on improving the software development process and conducting weekly sharing sessions to discuss and identify tools that can maximize our team\u2019s code quality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Each team\u2019s desires and expectations are slightly different \u2014 detailed observation and understanding are the first steps to success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: How to Build a Successful Remote Developer Onboarding Experience<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you have an idea what your engineers are like, it\u2019s time to weed out some bad habits and introduce some good practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots of companies see their engineers as mere tools. Sounds awful? That\u2019s because it is. Not only because it\u2019s dehumanizing, but also because toxic cultures harm a company\u2019s creativity and overall productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are four steps you can follow to determine what kinds of values and practices you should introduce to the team:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before you start introducing concrete practices like code reviews, hack days, or weekly development sharing, make sure you lay the foundation of your team with robust values. Here are some of the things that engineering managers and their teams may value:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeremy at Invision emphasized that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The best culture is when vision, values, and practices are aligned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Another crucial part of building a strong team is hiring people who already believe in the same values. We will discuss hiring later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication for Remote Teams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n To effectively lead a team, you need to first establish trust. According to the leader-member exchange theory<\/a>, leaders must establish relationships with their team members before they can influence others\u2019 responsibilities, decisions, access to resources, and performance. These are often emotional relationships based on trust and respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an engineering manager, your number one tool is the one-on-one meeting with your team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With that said, one-on-ones are not easy to execute. Why can one-on-ones be hard for engineering managers to master? And what is the right way to go about them? Let\u2019s hear from experienced engineering managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One-on-one meetings are times for you to connect with your team members. However, communication can be extremely difficult initially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an independent contributor, your daily job consists of communicating with computers \u2014 you ask the computer to do something, it interprets what needs to be done, and you get the result. You even have tools like compilers, interpreters, and linters to help structure your \u201cconversation\u201d with computers. If the computer doesn\u2019t understand your command, it\u2019ll respond directly with some sort of error message, which you can use to locate and fix the problem. Humans are not so simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication is what the receiver does.<\/p>\nThomas, Typeform<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n What you\u2019re saying is not the most important part of the communication process \u2014 how your words are being received and interpreted are the keys. Since everyone sees the world through different \u201cfilters\u201d (culture, language, experience, values, beliefs, mood, etc.), learning who they are, how they think, and, as a result, how they communicate, is the hardest part of one-on-one meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The key to mastering one-on-one meetings is understanding your main goal: building personal relationships with your team. Here are some helpful tips on how to do that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, the purpose of these meetings is to build genuine relationships with your direct reports. The one-on-one will help you understand what the engineers really desire and how you can help them succeed in their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Are Personal User Manuals Useful for Managing Remote Teams?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking for top talent fast? See how <\/em>Arc<\/a> can help you:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Find developers, designers, marketers, and more Hire top talent with Arc risk-free \u2192<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Cross-team collaboration is difficult because each team has different priorities, different KPIs, and a different allocation of resources. It\u2019s not rare to see departments within companies fighting for resources and recognition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, each team plays an important and unique role in the company, and each team\u2019s success hinges on another team\u2019s success. Here are some tips for you to collaborate with other teams successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The main reason why different teams fail to work together is that their goals are not aligned, so it\u2019s imperative to unite all teams with a common goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is important to realize that at the end of the day, you are all working on the same goal, but you might be looking at different angles of how to achieve that goal.<\/p>\nThomas, Typeform<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n A tangible way to define goals is to help all stakeholders think about the value your company offers its users. Regularly communicate and emphasize the impact your products have on users to foster user empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine an engineering team working with both the design team and the product team. How might their priorities and expectations differ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most engineering teams are either fixated on code quality or implementation speed, while most designers focus on aesthetics. On the other hand, product teams mostly concentrate on delivering projects on time and on budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though each team and its priorities are important, following these priorities religiously is impractical. Not only is it impractical to think that all objectives will be met 100% of the time, but it may also be damaging to think your team\u2019s goal should come before other teams\u2019 goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of the times, issues that happen in cross team collaboration are results of misaligned expectations.<\/p>\nJeremy, Invision<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re leading a team of engineers, it is important to manage your own team\u2019s expectations. The team should care about code quality and implementation speed, but should also expect situations where compromise is needed when working with other teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way to align goals and improve communication across teams is to set up formalized structures for developmental feedback. This should include peer reviews, as well as management reviews. The purpose of reviews should be to let team members know what they have been doing well, and point out where they can improve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Can You Encourage Self-Discipline in Remote Workers? Yes, Here\u2019s How<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you\u2019re the engineering manager, you\u2019ll have the opportunity to be more involved with product direction and implementation. In some ways, you\u2019ll feel more like a shared product owner with the product manager. With that said, there\u2019s a fine line between having a sense of ownership and being overpowering. As Jeremy at Invision said,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, my product manager has the final say, but I really push him if I feel like there\u2019s something wrong with the decision that\u2019s being made.<\/p>\nJeremy at Invision<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n What Jeremy demonstrated is a healthy cross-team relationship \u2014 he respects his colleague\u2019s expertise, supports him and his decisions, but challenges him when the decisions don\u2019t seem to align with the company\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, every manager\u2019s responsibility is to make sure that company goals are prioritized. Since every member of the company has his or her expertise, it is important to respect and learn from their domain knowledge. All constructive criticism should be built on the basis of mutually respectful relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re inevitably going to make mistakes. Senior developer Jace Ju from KKBox said this about an ideal senior engineer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n They understand that admitting mistakes is not shameful; instead, it’s a chance for growth. That\u2019s why they\u2019d go back and review their mistakes after the problem has been solved. That\u2019s not to say that senior engineers take all the blame; the point is to allow the team to see the issues and solve them as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contrary, Some engineers would rather point fingers than take the fall. They might avoid blame by saying it’s not part of their job, or just cowardly throw a junior coworker under the bus.<\/p>\nJace Ju, Senior Developer at KKBox<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n If senior engineers are held to such standards, how can engineering managers not be? In addition to taking personal responsibility, engineering managers should also take responsibility for their team. If they made decisions that negatively impacted a project, another team, or the company as a whole, they should own up to their mistake instead of pointing fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Understanding Remote Team Personalities Gets Your Messages Heard<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve been an engineer for a while now, code review and project management are probably quite familiar to you. If you\u2019ve been a leader-without-a-title in your team for a while, even one-on-ones may be pretty familiar. Hiring, on the other hand, may be something new to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we dive into the XYZs of hiring, it\u2019s important to remember that hiring the right talent is more important than hiring the \u201cbest\u201d talent<\/strong>. In the previous sections, we\u2019ve discussed the importance of creating and curating a healthy team culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine that you\u2019re trying to build a lego house \u2014 you probably wouldn\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t try to force Jenga pieces into your lego house. Though the lego pieces come in all sorts of colors, they must be able to fit together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If building a team is like building a lego house, you want to make sure you get the building blocks right \u2014 your members can have different strengths, cultural backgrounds, communication styles, and more, but they should naturally exhibit behaviors that are aligned with your company culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Depending on your company\u2019s culture, the qualities you look for might differ. With that said, when we interviewed different engineering managers, some qualities were repeatedly mentioned. Here are some of them:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Build a Calm, Ethical Remote Company With a Writing-First Culture<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The types of questions you ask usually depend on the type of developer you are trying to hire. With that said, the types of interview questions can be broken down into three parts. We\u2019ve written a comprehensive interview guide on how to hire a freelance developer the right way<\/a>, but we\u2019ll outline the three types of questions here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most interviews start off with understanding the candidate\u2019s previous work experience. To understand them better, get them to talk to you about the projects they\u2019ve done in the past. What are they proud of? What would they have changed? The idea is to try to understand their involvement and sense of ownership over different projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Get a hang of their general attitude towards coding, learning new technologies, and preferred development environment. Questions about their coding journey, their thoughts on testing, and ways to improve themselves will all help you understand them better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Full Stack Developer Job Description: Guide, Sample Template & More<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication and management skills are vital for developers to succeed at their job. With that said, claiming that one has these skills doesn\u2019t mean he or she actually does. You can start off by asking your candidates about some of their best soft skills. When they\u2019ve listed some of them, ask them for specifically challenging instances where they were able to demonstrate their soft skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To test out their work ethics, you can try to find out how they go about a coding problem when they can\u2019t work it out. For those who have worked directly with clients or have been in a customer-facing role, asking them about these experiences will tell you a lot about their communication and management skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last but not least, try to find out as much about the candidate’s technical skills and practices as possible. Even though you can always find out about their skills through technical tests, it\u2019s much more probable to get to know their practices during face-to-face interviews. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can find out about your candidates\u2019 development workflow, how they find and handle performance bugs and their general attitude towards things like unit testing and continuous integration. How they answer these questions will give you an idea of how they work and whether their technical practices match your team\u2019s. You can also try to pick their brains about OOP analysis and design, ORM, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As previously mentioned, your interview questions should be tailored to the kind of developer you\u2019re looking to hire. Click on the specific language or framework to check out relevant interview questions: JavaScript<\/a>, React.js<\/a>, Angular<\/a>, TypeScript<\/a>, Machine Learning<\/a>, MongoDB<\/a>, Selenium<\/a>, Spring<\/a>, SQL<\/a>, Java<\/a>, Ruby on Rails<\/a>, and PHP<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Common Non-Technical Interview Questions to Ask Software Developer Candidates<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have the right attitude and practices for time management, team leadership, cross-functional team collaboration, and hiring, you\u2019re well on your way to being the engineering manager your company needs. With that said, we can all use a little help from some tools and books like these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Freelance or full-time remote + fully vetted<\/em>
\u26a1\ufe0f Save up to 80% with global hires<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat is Engineering Management?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Excellent](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/dXICCcws9oxxK\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nTechnical vs. management track<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Pros<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Meaningful impact on team members<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Substantial influence on team & company culture<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Direct involvement in product development decisions<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Cons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mistakes can be costly<\/h4>\n\n\n
![\"Expensive\"](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/aCO7n9UUsNmsE\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Potentially become less technical<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
May lack a sense of accomplishment<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What Makes a Good Engineering Manager?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Best](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/YwpylUojkfOZa\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Your biggest responsibility as an engineering manager is to drive the company\u2019s business and you\u2019re hired to do that by leading a team of engineers. In the process of doing so, you get to build a unique team, inspire your team members, and work with other teams. With that said, every decision you make should directly align with the company\u2019s business goals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
A good engineering manager should be able to make plans based on a product\u2019s long-term wellbeing. For instance, he or she must be able to design architectures that are maintainable, instead of making sacrifices for short-term needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Understand the companies\u2019 and products\u2019 priorities, and play the role of a \u201cscrum master\u201d in delegating tasks and designing schedules to help engineers prioritize tasks. Since every engineer will have different strengths, these tasks should be assigned to capitalize on each engineer\u2019s abilities and passions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Trying to convince people to listen to you simply because you have the title doesn\u2019t (and shouldn\u2019t) work. Many CEOs, engineering managers, and engineers mentioned that it\u2019s extremely important for engineering managers to have great communication skills. What that means is they must be able to logically persuade, inspire, and guide both their own team members as well as other team members, rather than just issue commands.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Engineering managers are expected to act as liaisons between the engineering team and other teams within the company. This means that they must be able to not only communicate in engineering jargon and non-technical language but also to translate between the two.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
As previously mentioned, one of your main jobs as a leader is to delegate. Delegation doesn\u2019t mean blindly assigning tasks to your cohort, it means observing each engineer\u2019s strengths and workload, and making necessary adjustments. For instance, if one of his or her team members is suffocating under the workload, an engineering manager should reallocate it so it\u2019s more manageable.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
In order for engineers to trust their manager, they need to feel like their manager represents them well. What that means is that if anyone belittles the engineers or asks them to work on tasks with unreasonable schedules, the manager will stand up for his or her team members. A good engineering manager is one that can manage up as well as manage down \u2014 he or she should always have the team\u2019s best interest in mind, without compromising business priorities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Many software developers expressed the importance of having a manager who understands how to code. They don\u2019t necessarily have to code as managers, but they should be familiar with coding enough to have technical discussions and make informed decisions. For instance, the manager should be technical enough to be able to make decisions about what technical stacks the team should use.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re a people manager, your focus should be on other people\u2019s success. It should never be about how much money, fame, or power you can get, but how much you can help, guide, and inspire someone to become a better engineer or even future engineering manager. This is why leaders like Steve Jobs hire people who are smart \u2014 perhaps even smarter than they are<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Employer-client-blog-CTA-banner.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow can I manage my time effectively?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Best](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/GoRa9C6DkjKBa\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Engineer vs. Engineering Manager Calendar<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"calendar](\"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/calendar-comparing-time-management-of-engineering-manager-vs-IC.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"sample](\"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sample-engineering-manager-weekly-schedule-1024x274.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nTask prioritization: Urgency vs. importance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"task](\"https:\/\/arc.dev\/employer-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/task-prioritization-urgency-vs-importance.png\" "\\"undefined\\"")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nTime management best practices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
How do I successfully lead my team?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Donald](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/vIJaz7nMJhTUc\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nUnderstand your team\u2019s existing culture<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Create a stronger team culture<\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Stronger](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/3o7TKrZBXOM28gmU5q\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Hold one-on-one meetings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why one-on-one meetings can be hard<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
How to master one-on-one meetings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Freelance or full-time remote + fully vetted<\/em>
\u26a1\ufe0f Save up to 80% with global hires<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow can I effectively collaborate with other teams?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Focus on a common goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Align expectations and communicate trade-offs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Support and challenge one another<\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"Challenge](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/3WPKHcTih1xwQ\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Take responsibility (admit it when you\u2019re wrong)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
How do I hire the right talent?<\/h2>\n\n\n
![\"Pick](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/xT5LMFZDsj0AKUDYTS\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nQualities to look for<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Red flags to watch out for<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Interview questions to ask a developer<\/h3>\n\n\n
![\"I](\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/l0Iy8hSJalxmgTOF2\/giphy.gif\" "\\"undefined\\"\/")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDeveloper\u2019s experience<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Developer\u2019s communication and management skills<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Developer\u2019s technical skills\/practices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What tools can I use to manage my team more effectively?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Organization and project management<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n