Inspired by the Manager ReadMe idea I decided to create my own.
As an Engineering Manager my primary goal is to support engineering teams improving their processes and practices, enabling value delivery to our customers. I'm a big fan of the idea that teams should be independent value streams so I try to promote:
- Autonomy
- Mastery
- Purpose
- Discipline, rigour, energy, ownership, enthusiasm and optimism
If you're my direct report, I'll schedule a recurrent 1:1 meeting with you so that you can:
- Give and ask for feedback;
- Talk about current challenges and how to overcome them (I expect you bring your own propositions);
- Talk about your personal expectations and career development;
- Things that you need support/help from me;
- Other important topics.
Communication is asynchronous therefore when I email/slack you I don't expect an immediate answer, unless I explicitly ask for it - in that case I'll make it clear. If I expect an action from it I'll be clear about it and the related ETA/deadline. If for any reason you cannot fulfill that expectation please send me feedback mentioning it so that we can, both, find alternatives. :)
I always expect feedback, and please try to be concise.
Feel free to bring any subject that's important for you, I'm here to help you or assist in any way possible. If you need time to talk about it please ask, if you just want to give a heads up, a simple slack message will do fine (please be concise, giving the proper context).
There are times that I'll bomb you (not on purpose ;) ) with fyi emails, I expect you have the autonomy to absorve the relevant information and/or follow-up with necessary actions. You can share the info, if it's relevant. I'll gladly help you (or give you more context) if you ask for it.
FYIO (for your information only) - means, please do not share with anyone before talking with me.
I'l try to keep them to a minimum the number ensuring that only the absolutely necessary meetings are created. In that case, I'll share the agenda upfront before each meeting and I expect you:
- Go through the agenda before the meeting (and eventually prepare the required information);
- Be on time (if you're presenting something, make sure you've the necessary conditions before the meeting starts);
- Make sure you're prepared (reach out if it isn't clear what's expected from you);
- If you can't attend, make sure you inform before the meeting or delegate the attendance;
- Bring your ideas - share them upfront as much as possible.
From time to time you may face a huge number of things to do, I'll expect you can prioritise them by importance, but, again if you find it hard, please reach out, I'll help you.
You might already be aware of the ‘Rocks, Pebbles and Sand’ analogy. As the story goes, a teacher conducted the experiment in front of their classroom, in which they filled a jar with large rocks and asked the class whether it was full. The class responded that it was. Then the teacher began to pour in smaller pebbles between the gaps in the jar, again asking whether it was full. Finally, the teacher poured in sand, until the jar was entirely full to the brim. As the teacher explained, the message is that if we fill our time (the jar) with smaller tasks first, there will be no time left for the bigger (most important) tasks, like strategic decisions for a project or the team.
I expect you can distinguish the decisions that are reversible from the ones that are not. The ones that are reversible should be made with 70% of context (or less), enabling fast-decision making culture. We should battle to have 90% for the ones that are not reversible.
Challenges are a normal and common part of our daily jobs, we cannot antecipate all of them, but we can improve and learn from our mistakes.