I've just read a great article in Harvard Business Review (I still have a weakness for printed magazines) which resonates with me so much. Research says - the more busy people are, the more their efficiency drops. When incentives come from busyness and "hard work", over time, employees go on

Here's a test of the strong relationship between a leader and their team. See how comfortable for you and the team is to share information about a product's incident (e.g., a screenshot of the dashboard, which shows a few-hours drop in stability). Teams with a weak relationship are reluctant

Here is the simplified vocabulary for engineering leaders. Practical explanation to fluffy management words. To micromanage - tell them exactly what to do with minimal context. To empower - give them support, autonomy, and context (business, product), so they can use their skills and potential to solve customers' problems and

One of the recurring themes from my mentoring sessions across different industries is this. Not-yet-agile teams are often reluctant to introduce project management tools (e.g., JIRA) or monitoring / goals-tracking solutions (crash analytics, KPIs dashboards, etc.). The reasons are primarily due to miscommunication and trust between teams and management. Management's

What an exciting time to read Huxley's "Brave New World". The book originates from a post-H. Ford's world, where mass production and consumption are prioritized over individualism and self-actualization. Today Huxley's novel can even better food for thought. In the rise of parkouring robots from Boston Dynamics or everything-knowing ChatGPT.

You and your team should celebrate every single accomplishment. There is no such thing as a too-small win. When working with engineers, I very often hear: * "This is a too simple thing to share." * "It was so obvious, not worth mentioning." * "There is nothing to write/talk about." We tend

5 Characteristics of a high-performing team leader, according to the book Accelerate. Visionary, inspirational communication, intellectual stimulation, supportive leadership, personal recognition. Visionary - do you have a plan for the next 3-6-12 months (quarter, half-a-year, a year)? Are you on track toward these goals? If not progressing, what's new you

I remember my first 1:1 sessions with engineers. It was stressful! 😬 About what to say. And what they think. And how to fight silence. And how not to make this meeting awkward. And what's so important to take 1 hour of their time. And my teammates were stressed because

Is your manager a good role model? Here are a few hints for how to assess if you get what you deserve. * You should have regular 1:1s. * You deserve clear goals and alignment with the company's strategy. * You should have more learning opportunities. * You deserve full autonomy in the

Next to massive layoffs in the IT industry, we now face Silicon Valley Bank collapsing. As mid- or low-level managers, there is nothing we can do short term but wait. No one knows what will happen next, so all we can do as engineering leaders is to start preparing our

🐝 Being constantly busy is not a characteristic of a good manager. When you sit down and watch your teams moving on, it's easy to experience imposter syndrome. But one of your duties is to be available when people need you. They need to be able to approach you with any

Happy international women's day! 🌷 On that occasion, one hint at building equality. Mainly for leaders of all-white-male teams. Never assume you shouldn't hire the first woman (or any representative of a minority) to your team because they won't feel comfortable surrounded by men teammates. It's not a sign of care.

Even though we will experience massive layoffs in tech in 2023, we should keep in mind the big picture. The tech talent shortage is going nowhere and may reach 4 mln unfilled positions in 2030, according to KornFerry (check their Global Talent Crunch report). It'll be a big challenge for

According to Developer Nation Community survey, 1 out of 3 IT students aspires to solve problems. Think of it when planning career growth for your interns and junior engineers. Support them in becoming independent professionals who use their potential to the fullest rather than becoming your copy and/or task

Supporting growth and planning goals for your teammates require an individual approach. But there is one root concept I use when working with every single software engineer. According to Wikipedia, "A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate

Thanks to working from home, we save about 2hrs a week (commute time savings). And 40% of this extra time is allocated and goes back to our jobs (either primary or secondary). These are facts from National Bureau of Economic Research. Not saying that the remote first job market will