Already an engineering manager and want to step up your game within your company? Here\u2019s how to be the engineering manager your company needs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, we\u2019ll run through what tech skills and soft skills are necessary for engineering managers. Feel free to use this as a starting point for your learning process!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking to hire the best remote developers? Arc can help you:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Get instant candidate matches without searching Try Arc to hire top developers now \u2192<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n An up-to-date knowledge means being well-versed in your languages, frameworks, cloud services, toolkits, methodologies, etc. As a manager, you don\u2019t necessarily need to know the inner workings of each, but you\u2019ll need to be aware of what\u2019s applicable for which situation, and what each of their downfalls are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019ll often be your architects and senior software developers giving their informed opinions on which toolchain and stack are best for which application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it\u2019s good practice to be able to evaluate their choices to some degree, instead of going in with blind acceptance. This way, you know the benefits and risks of choosing a particular technology, particularly as it relates to time and cost estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For those not currently up to date, it\u2019s time you start reading up and following the best online dev communities<\/a>. Hit subscribe to JavaScript, Angular, programming, AI, data science\u2026 whatever catches your interest. Browse these community posts in the morning with your coffee, instead of doom-scrolling through Insta or Facebook, and you\u2019ll find yourself absorbing helpful new knowledge in no time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Ready to Take On a Senior Role or Leadership Position as a Developer?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are plenty of engineering managers out there who haven\u2019t coded a line in years. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. However, not having proficient enough or up-to-date coding skills to appraise your team\u2019s work is<\/em> a deal-breaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Consider this: if you wanted to apply for a new engineering management role, where your team works mainly in Ruby and you haven\u2019t played around with it in years, you may well be out of your depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cross-ecosystem\/language\/paradigm managers (or those that have slipped with their skills!) looking to keep up with what skills are needed should brush up on their relevant coding knowledge, including newer and more popular coding languages, frameworks, and libraries<\/a> you might not have played around with before. (Also know how to list those programming languages on your CV<\/a> correctly!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n This way your team members will be able to trust your judgment when it comes to their output. For developers, there\u2019s nothing worse than a hefty dose of praise on a project where you know the underlying code is held together with hacks and a prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can’t improve your leadership skills<\/a> without also working on your ability to communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a standard requirement for any<\/em> management role. However, it\u2019s particularly relevant in the software engineering field, where soft skills usually take a backseat to technical skills. Both hard and soft skills<\/a> are important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you really want to be in a role heavily weighted towards people skills<\/a>, or do you actually love programming?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For some senior software engineers who go into engineering management positions, they try it out for a while and realize that, actually, they prefer having a workload that\u2019s more highly weighted towards the tech side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Knowing what you like<\/em> doing is just as important as being able to succeed in it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are your people skills polished enough to be a good manager?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a junior developer, I noticed two distinct types of managers in my rise up the ranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, there was the \u201cpeople person manager<\/strong>.\u201d This type of manager stopped by the office, checked in for a chat, caught up with his or her team’s work and social life, and elicited updates on progress naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This type of manager was well in tune with their project management tools and responsibilities (software and otherwise), always open to suggestions on the best way forward for a project, and was as comfortable communicating with stakeholders as they were with developers. They often were great engineers and excellent coordinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then there was what I\u2019ll call the \u201cdeveloper-manager<\/strong>.\u201d Generally, this was a typical senior engineer who completed management courses and was actively trying to be a people person. They\u2019d be brilliant at coding and pointing the team towards technical solutions we never thought of, but not the strongest at generating team buzz or effectively communicating project context outside of our little bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the work always got done, it didn\u2019t foster an ideal team environment and cohesiveness \u2014 it was simply going through the motions. There wasn\u2019t a smooth flow of information through stakeholders down to developers and the other way around, and team collaboration wasn’t as effective<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team needs to be able to trust<\/em> in your ability to manage, in your ability to communicate effectively and fluidly with everyone. You can work on your communication skills by reading books like How to Win Friends and Influence People<\/em>, listening to podcasts, attending your local Toastmasters group, and practicing what you learn both socially and at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, and don’t forget cross-cultural communication skills<\/a>, as well, especially on remote or distributed engineering teams!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read More<\/strong>: Here\u2019s When You Can TRULY Call Yourself a \u201cSenior\u201d Software Engineer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also explore HireAI<\/a> to skip the line and:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u26a1\ufe0f Get instant candidate matches without searching <\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/a>Try HireAI and hire top developers now \u2192<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the 2021\u00a0<\/a>State of Agile Report<\/a> by Digital.ai, agile adoption within software development teams has reached an all-time high at 86%, which is up from 37% the year before (likely due to the pandemic).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Agile is becoming both pervasive and mature within organizations. The intersection of agile and DevOps is particularly important in management roles, so it\u2019s important that you bone up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agile approach focuses on intra- and inter-team communication and flow of artifacts, continuous development and testing, automation across activities, and other various directives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Different team activities no longer exist in a vacuum in large, discrete chunks, as was practiced in the Waterfall model of software development, but are broken up and continually built upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This makes software less error-prone (from continuous testing), easier to release (from a minimum viable product), less manual (with the right DevOps configuration) and thus less personnel-resource heavy, and less susceptible to schedule blowouts (and smaller activities are defined).<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an agile engineering manager, you\u2019ll need to outline expectations, have faith that your team will be self-organizing, remove impediments to their success, offer support and assistance where necessary, and solicit estimations of time\/resources need for them to do their job. If you have hired well, then your agile team, with the right tools and agile practices in place, should be a success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Picking up agile is particularly relevant if you are an engineering manager with just a little or no agile experience. If this sounds like you, then do know that there are options open to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grow your skillset by taking an <\/a>agile management course or engage the services of a mentor to help build your knowledge before starting the job application cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking to apply for a new role? You\u2019ll need to ask yourself whether the company\u2019s engineering processes, product, and vision resonate with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How you feel about the company and your ability to spearhead project success is going to be a huge determinant in how well you do and how long you stay in the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only is this going to be important for the company hiring you, it\u2019s also important for you<\/em> to take into consideration unless you\u2019re just looking into a short-term engagement as a stepping stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more about their current engineering processes. Ask questions, poke around. Does it sound like they know what they are doing? Do they have sound DevOps systems, development style guides, well-kept version control, compulsory documentation, and solid testing practices in place?<\/p>\n\n\n\n While it might be up to you to implement some<\/em> new practices, you don\u2019t want to step into a workplace that has spaghetti code, mismanaged backups, and has so far just got by on a wing and a prayer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ensure you have a deep knowledge of the space the company is working within, as well as the scope of the project\/s you will be working on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no point in jumping in on a project that sounds as if it would bore you to tears \u2014 because it\u2019ll probably end up doing just that. If you jump into a role without<\/em> that deep understanding of product and vision, you\u2019re taking a huge risk in hoping you\u2019ll be a match, instead of evaluating if you think it\u2019ll be a good fit first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take a look at the company, its values, brand voice, internal culture, and how they interact with the wider community. Does it sound like it matches your own career philosophy? Will this role energize you and propel success?<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are out of work, it can be tempting to want to pick up any<\/em> role. However, if you have the means, or can take on casual\/external\/temp work in the meantime, it\u2019s better to carefully evaluate whether the company, product, and engineering processes will be a match for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Identify top applicants from our network of 350,000+
\u26a1\ufe0f Hire 4x faster with vetted candidates (qualified and interview-ready)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nUp-to-Date Knowledge of Software Technologies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Know How to Read the Code Your Team is Writing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Effective Communication Skills & Interpersonal Skills<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u26a1\ufe0f Identify top applicants from our network of 350,000+ with no manual screening
\u26a1\ufe0f Hire 4x faster with vetted candidates (qualified and interview-ready)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nAgile Management Experience<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Deep Understanding Of and Belief In the Engineering Processes, Product & Vision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Are their engineering processes in line with your standards?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Are you actually<\/em> interested in and knowledgeable about the projects you\u2019ll be working on?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Does the company vision match your own career philosophy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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