97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know
From 97 Things Every Engineering Manager Should Know: Collective Wisdom from the Experts by Camille Fournier
Finally, I always ask my reports to keep track of the work they’ve done to date. It should include the project, relevant tasks, timeline, and impact to the team/ organization/ company. The purpose of this document is three-fold: Brains are squishy and often forget details big and small. If it’s written down and shared, it’s less likely that key elements of a promotion packet will be forgotten. You can’t guarantee that you will always be their manager, and having a document that can stay with the individual engineer means that onboarding a new manager will be easier than having to start from scratch. (This is especially helpful in fast-growing companies, where an individual contributor might go through more than three or four managers in a single year!) Finally, there’s no guarantee that an employee will stay at a company for their entire careers (and is increasingly uncommon to do so). As such, an accomplishments document will be helpful when filling out resumes and helping the individual get their next position, regardless of what company they head to next.
Published 22 April 2022, with 196 words.