Diversity Impact

Best Practices for Managing Diverse Talent in Engineering Teams

In today's engineering landscape, managing diverse talent in teams is crucial for achieving common goals. Embracing diversity brings a wealth of perspectives and skills to the table, fostering a culture of inclusion. Effective communication ensures everyone understands their roles and responsibilities, while building trust creates a supportive environment for sharing ideas. Leveraging individual strengths maximizes team performance, and encouraging collaboration fosters unity and shared purpose. By implementing these best practices, an inclusive and high-performing engineering team can be created.

How to Maximize Employee Retention in Engineering Teams

High churn rates can have a significant impact on product-based companies, so it is important to find ways to retain employees. The author, a CTO, has adopted several management techniques to reduce the churn rate, such as a 4-step interview process, an onboarding process that normalizes knowledge gaps and is generous with adaptation time, and a management approach that gives ownership of the work, explains the reasoning behind goals, conducts regular check-ins, and provides flexible working hours. The key tips for high retention are to not micromanage, lead with empathy, and trust employees.

When Culture Does Not Translate Into Business Goals

When leading a cross-cultural team, it is important to observe, evaluate, and proceed at a constant pace in order to account for cultural differences. This is especially important when attempting to implement a corporate solution into a foreign market. By understanding the cultural differences and accommodating accordingly, it is possible to successfully deploy a solution. Additionally, it is important to foresee any potential conflict areas and invest in culture champions early on in order to build trust and collaboration.

(Re)building product teams: insights from recent recruitment

The hospitality industry was one of the hardest hit during the 2020 lockdowns, and the effects are still being felt today. This has caused a decrease in trust and an increase in high-risk employment. The hospitality tech industry has also been affected, making it difficult to find the right product managers. After months of searching, the author was able to build a team of seven diverse individuals by the end of 2021. The author learned the importance of diversity, transparency, and setting the right expectations throughout the recruitment process. The author is now looking for six more product managers and more senior talent to lead the team.

How to Work With People Who Are Different Than You

A new team member from a diverse background struggled to make themselves heard in a new team. Drawing from the book "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team" by Patrick Lencioni, the team member organized activities to build trust and get to know each other better. They also had follow-up activities with an external coach and 1:1s with team members. The team member learned that taking ownership and being solution-minded are important qualities, and that even if you are new to a team, you should make sure you are heard.