This resource first appeared in issue #65 on 13 Mar 2021
and has tags Becoming A Manager: Other
Thoughts on Engineering Management - Ben McCormick
McCormick writes a series of five articles on technical computing management. The broad topics won’t be a huge surprise to readers, but they’re good reads in that they’re all in a very coherent voice and philosophy:
- What EMs do - focussing on facilitating information flow, driving progress forward, and building a sustainably productive team - and that all of those are time consuming
- Choosing what to work on - which does a good job of separating the focus from the “rhythms” of certain kinds of routine but important work like one-on-ones, sprint rituals, etc that keep things running smoothly, and the prioritizing the rest on high-leverage work that has the most impact. “Stay Sane, Keep Your Integrity, and Remember That People Matter The Most” is probably as good a single line of management advice as any I’ve heard;
- Handling Accountability as a manager, which in our first managerial jobs is very different than the kinds of accountabilities we’re used to
- How to delegate - and
- How to give feedback - emphasizing candor and the “situation, behaviour, impact” model.
