đź’ˇ Content for engineering leaders
Practical hints and actionable steps for high-performing engineering leaders
To become an influential and successful leader, you have to focus on multiple areas, not always related to technology. On this page, you can find all content ever published on Practical Engineering Management. Pick what you need the most at the moment, or open a few links randomly - I promise, each piece will help you become a better engineering leader.
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Mirosław Stanek
One-bites
All short-form articles. Words of wisdom in up to 2 minutes read.
Technology
How to work with technology as an engineering leader.
- Ten types of technical debt
- Lightweight RFC
- Key Insights for Engineering Leaders from DORA research
- Don't prevent risk, build ability to recover
- The Value of Continuous Delivery
- Breaking the Myth of "No Release on Fridays"
Empowered Leadership
What it means to be a high-performing leader working with empowered teams.
- 5 Characteristics of a high-performing team leader
- What Engineering Leader Can Learn from Product Model at Spotify?
- A crisis is an opportunity for change
- Leaders create leaders
- Assess accomplishments, not responsibilities
- Unlocking empowerment in your team: a simple guide
- Be comfortable with sharing drops in KPIs
Building Product
Engineers build products, not just the code. Here's what it means.
- Three levels of engineering teams engagement
- Accelerating product development and elevating quality - core objectives for tech companies
- Building a product is rarely a sprint. It's a marathon.
- Four factors essential to the success of any product
Your team
How to work with your teammates.
- Top Ten Factors of Developers' Productivity
- How to handle employee departure
- How to retain departing employee
- My first 1:1 sessions
- What you should expect from a Software Engineer
- Invest in Your Team's Growth: The Power of Book Gifting
Planning & Priorities
Tools and pieces of advice to plan and prioritize your work.
- The Eisenhower Matrix - should I bother my teammates?
- How to Plan Your Week as an Engineering Leader
- Staying Rational Under Pressure: A Simple Approach
- Busy doesn't mean better: the role of a good manager
- Overcoming Resistance to Project Management Tools, Monitoring and Metrics Adoption
- Work smart, not hard - facing the culture of busyness
From industry
Overview of industry trends and important reports.
- 1 out of 3 IT students aspire to solve problems
- By 2030 tech talent shortage will reach 4 million unfilled positions
- Navigating the Future of Productivity: Slack State of Work 2023 report
- On developer experience and productivity
- The future of engineering teams
Inspiration
The dose of inspiration for engineering leaders.
My interviews
Practical hints
Practical hints for engineering leaders.
- Value of business trips
- Notebook and meetings
- Engineer leader vocabulary
- Paper vs mobile for note taking
Wisdom & Life
Random, free thoughts from the leader's life.
- Stay hungry, be grateful
- I don't plan on Sundays
- 2hrs per week saved thanks to WFH
- Weekend reset
- Perfection is the enemy of good
- Software & health deterioration
- Linear progress in real life
- 1000x "whys" from your kid and leadership
- Woman's Day and equality
- Working from home changed my life
- Continuous improvement
- Work and life balance
- How I progress and achieve my goals
- Brave New World and leadership
- Celebrate Labor Day
Articles
Empowered Leadership
What it means to be a high-performing leader working with empowered teams.
- Go back to coding, engineering leader
- Software Engineering Management in 2023
- Tech leader self-assessment
- How to Tech Lead as former software engineer
- Building high-performing engineering team
- Who is (not) a Tech Leader
- Empowered Engineering in Brand24
Leader's Challenges
- Engineering Leader’s Hidden Challenges - Less Obvious, Yet Common Struggles in Leadership
- Assess your manager’s work, engineering leader
- Being a leader is a lonely journey
Planning & Priorities
Tools and pieces of advice to plan and prioritize your work.
Building Product
Engineers build products, not just the code. Here's what it means.
Technology
How to work with technology as an engineering leader.
Your team
How to work with your teammates.
- 1:1 - the essential tool for leaders
- Software Engineer Responsibilities
- Grow your team, build your trust
- Senior software engineer, these skills are expected from you
- Regular software engineer, these skills are expected from you
- Junior software engineer, these skills are expected from you
- Why you need vision and strategy for your team
- What tech leader can learn from direct reports’ performance reviews
- You need juniors in your team
Practical hints
Practical hints for engineering leaders.
- AI solutions for engineering leaders
- How to not hijack brainstorming meetings
- How to prepare internship for software engineers
Wisdom & Life
What do life and leadership have in common? Words of wisdom and my stories.