Good engineering management is a fad
Having been and worked with engineering managers for some time, I think there are eight foundational engineering management skills, which I want to personally group into two clusters: core skills that are essential to operate in all roles (including entry-level management roles), and growth skills whose presence–or absence–determines how far you can go in your career.
The core skills are:
- Execution: lead team to deliver expected tangible and intangible work. Fundamentally, management is about getting things done, and you’ll neither get an opportunity to begin managing, nor stay long as a manager, if your teams don’t execute.
Examples: ship projects, manage on-call rotation, sprint planning, manage incidents
- Team: shape the team and the environment such that they succeed. This is not working for the team, nor is it working for your leadership, it is finding the balance between the two that works for both.
Examples: hiring, coaching, performance management, advocate with your management
- Ownership: navigate reality to make consistent progress, even when reality is difficult Finding a way to get things done, rather than finding a way that it not getting done is someone else’s fault.
Examples: doing hard things, showing up when it’s uncomfortable, being accountable despite systemic issues
- Alignment: build shared understanding across leadership, stakeholders, your team, and the problem space. Finding a realistic plan that meets the moment, without surprising or being surprised by those around you.
Examples: document and share top problems, and updates during crises