When joining a project with a customer who was unhappy and software being rushed to release, the team was under high-stress. To destress the team, a project manager documented what the customer expected and prioritized tasks. The team then set a steady release date to improve the customer experience and reduce the number of bugs. After a month, the team regained the trust of the customer due to the high-quality software delivered in a predictable manner. The learnings from this cycle were that it is difficult to break the stressful cycle when in the middle of chaos and that it is important to understand team dynamics to create a customized solution.

Plato

Jean Hsu

Engineering leadership consultant at Medium

I had to reorganize the way my team worked

The manager of a quickly growing company had difficulty managing 15 direct reports due to the number of projects they had to work on. To address this issue, they prioritized projects, paired engineers according to their expertise and seniority, and elevated some engineers to the role of project lead. This resulted in a more motivated and happier team. The manager learned that it is important to prioritize and reorganize when a company grows, and that it is not beneficial to let members work alone on a project for weeks.

Plato

Virendra Vase

Executive Coach (CTO/COO/SVP) at Life360, Patreon, Salesforce, Yahoo

Managing Up: A Lesson in Clarifying the Expectations

As a new VP at AdKnowledge, the author was overwhelmed with the responsibilities and challenges of managing an entire Engineering Organization. To succeed, the author got to know their boss, peers, and reports, and kept an eye outside the company. Lessons learned included knowing the boss's success metrics, understanding the business, relating to peers, and representing the department.

Plato

Alexey Novak

Director of Engineering at Rose Rocket

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a New Manager

Making the transition from being an individual contributor to a manager or director can be a difficult and daunting experience. It is important to understand the differences between the two roles and to find mentors with the right experience to help you. It is also important to be willing to start from scratch and to accept the fact that you will no longer be coding as much. Finally, it is important to remember that being a good manager does not necessarily require being the smartest engineer in the room.

Plato

Tripta Gupta

Engineering Manager at Brex

Fostering a Healthy One-on-One Mentorship

This article discusses the importance of establishing a one-on-one relationship with employees in order to increase interconnectivity between departments and provide immediate access to advice, direction, and support. It also emphasizes the importance of understanding the individual needs of employees and providing them with the tools they need to succeed. Finally, it suggests pairing employees with mentors who have already found success in their desired area of specialization.

Plato

Jose Ciccio

ex-Senior Engineering Manager at SchoolMint

Maximizing Your Growth: A Guide to Getting the Best from Platohq Mentorship

Plato platform's mentorship program is designed to empower individuals on their journey towards success. By setting clear objectives, establishing a strong relationship with your mentor, actively engaging and participating, seeking feedback and implementing suggestions, continuously learning and growing, and reflecting on the experience, you can maximize the benefits of the mentorship program. Mentorship is a continuous journey of learning and growth, and by embracing the opportunity, you can unlock your full potential in pursuit of your professional aspirations.

Plato

Rachel Wasko

Product Manager at Lyft

Managing an IC Who Is Getting Ahead of the Project Timeline

A Lead Engineer was very enthusiastic about a new feature within the company's suite of offerings, but the manager was concerned about moving too quickly and potentially harming the brand. To manage the situation, the manager suggested talking to users to gain insight before moving forward. The manager also redirected the Engineer's energy to generic features that would be part of the feature no matter what direction it took. The key lesson learned was to manage expectations around timelines and to connect the Engineer to the customer's needs.

Plato

Shruti Venkatesh

Engineering Manager at Capsule

How to Create a Tailored Growth Plan For Your Teams

When joining a company with an unclear career ladder, the manager took action to ensure that their engineers had clarity on what constituted progress in their career. This included analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, setting clear goals, and identifying areas where their interests and the manager's goals could overlap. The outcome was that engineers had clarity on their goals and felt engaged and involved with the organization. The manager learned that it is important to be clear about goals at the start of a performance cycle, ask questions to team members, and build a specialized plan for engineers to help with retention.

Plato

Who to follow

Limor Bergman Gross

Tech leader empowering women. Ex-Director of Engineering. Mentors & runs workshops on leadership.Hosts podcast.

Jose Ciccio

Sr. Engineering Manager | Software Engineering Lead | Game Developer | University Teacher

Mario Hebert

Growth Engineering Leader | Advisor | Mentor | Board Member

Liz Rodriguez

Software Engineering Leader

Leonardo Andreucci

Experienced Startup VP with 20yrs in Apontador & Creditas. Expertise in people management, mentoring, leadership development

Ricardo Aravena

Infrastructure Engineering Leader, Technologist, Nerd

Connect and Learn with the Best Eng Leaders

We will send you a weekly newsletter with new mentors, circles, peer groups, content, webinars,bounties and free events.

Latest Stories

Hakim Hanif

Sr Software Engineer at Amazon Web Services

Top 7 software bloggers to follow

This blog highlights the top 7 bloggers in the field of software engineering and product development. These bloggers provide valuable insights and ideas on software design, processes, and methodologies. The list includes Martin Fowler, known for his expertise in software patterns; Kent Beck, the creator of Extreme Programming and Test Driven Development; Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator and an expert on startups and entrepreneurship; Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow; Andy Hunt, founder of the Pragmatic Programmer series; Joel Spolsky, a blogger who offers both sensible and surprising perspectives; and Steve Yegge, known for his entertaining content. Following these bloggers can help software engineers improve their skills and gain knowledge from the best in the field.

Plato

David García

Head of Engineering at Cense AG

Effective Strategies for Providing Feedback to Managers

This article discusses effective strategies for providing feedback to managers in the engineering field. It emphasizes the importance of constructive feedback for personal and professional growth. The article provides insights from top-tier engineers, including tips on framing feedback objectively and addressing the manager's impact. It also highlights the significance of promoting junior team members and offers strategies for providing feedback, such as asking for permission and being solution-oriented. Overall, the article emphasizes the value of effective feedback in fostering a positive and productive work environment.

Plato

Jose Ciccio

ex-Senior Engineering Manager at SchoolMint

Maximizing Your Growth: A Guide to Getting the Best from Platohq Mentorship

Plato

Vitor O.

Talent Success Manager at Gun.io

Why Heads of Engineering Should Master Storytelling

Storytelling is an essential skill for engineering leaders as it helps them communicate ideas, align teams, and convey values in a memorable way. In the current digital transformation era and remote work environment, storytelling becomes even more important. It enables leaders to express how their organization will adapt and innovate, establish connections between teams and clients, foster trust, and alleviate anxiety. A good story needs to be intriguing, authentic, involve the team, have a specific goal, and recognize the team's higher purpose. Storytelling can be applied in team meetings, onboarding new members, and providing feedback. Overall, storytelling is a powerful tool for effective engineering leadership that inspires action and facilitates behavioral change.

Plato

Deekshita Amaravadi

Engineering Leader at Justworks

Navigating Ambiguity in Engineering Leadership

The text discusses strategies for effectively managing ambiguity and uncertainty as an engineering leader. It emphasizes the importance of embracing change and seeking growth opportunities, nurturing mentorship, overcoming fear and seeking feedback, and the role of open communication. The conversation highlights the need for engineers to be open to new challenges and opportunities, take on the role of a mentor, have direct conversations with managers about career goals, and regularly communicate with managers about career growth and challenges. The text concludes by mentioning plans to delve deeper into the topic of mentorship in future sessions. Overall, the conversation emphasizes the importance of embracing change, seeking growth opportunities, and fostering open communication in engineering leadership roles to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty successfully.

Plato

Product

Home Circles 1-on-1 Mentorship Bounties

Explore

Engineering Management Leadership & Strategy Career Growth Roles & Titles Technical Expertise Diversity & Inclusion

Company

Blog Contact us

Legal

LinkedIn Twitter YouTube