Performance Metrics

The Importance of Aligning on Priorities with Your Manager

The author joined a team with a new roadmap that had technical constraints not accounted for. After brainstorming with engineers, they presented multiple sequencing options to the manager, recommending one that would deliver business impact the earliest. The manager agreed and the author learned the importance of getting alignment with the manager on priorities and presenting multiple solutions.

Managing Team Tensions: Strategies for Engineering Leaders

This article explores effective strategies for engineering leaders to address and resolve conflicts among team members. Using a real-life scenario as a case study, the article highlights the tension between two senior staff engineers, Daniel and Sean, who have different approaches to a project. The goal is to find a way to utilize both of their strengths and align their approaches to ensure the success of the project. The article suggests understanding the situation, identifying the conflict, leveraging different perspectives, mediating the discussion, encouraging collaboration, involving distinguished engineers if necessary, leading by influence, and dealing with defensive reactions. By following these strategies, engineering leaders can manage team tensions and create a more productive work environment.

From Chaos to Structure on the Operations Team

At my previous job, I was assigned a team that was not functioning well and had a poor reputation. I took a number of actions to improve their operations, such as using a single ticketing system, providing training and cross-functional competencies, setting up rotations for the support team, creating runbooks, and setting up standard SLAs. I also established healthy hours for operations and communicated to external stakeholders. Through this process, I learned to take time to assess the situation, spend time with each team member, communicate change to the outside world, and align team celebrations with meaningful milestone deliveries.

10 learnings from 10 years at Amazon

The author of this blog post shares their ten learnings as a software engineer at Amazon. They discuss the importance of leadership principles, taking on different roles, implementing mechanisms for consistent behavior, asking questions, learning from failures, following personal interests, taking calculated risks, having meetings with agendas, contributing in meetings, mastering tools, and helping other engineers grow in their careers. These learnings have contributed to the author's continuous growth over the past decade at a fast-paced company like Amazon.

Changing the Tone of the Room as a New Manager

This story follows the journey of a manager who was tasked with helping a team with delivery issues. After struggling to break the negative cycle, the manager learned that it was important to be open and transparent with the team and to treat them with respect. Through reading books and having conversations, the manager was able to shift the dynamics and create a more trusting and productive environment. The key lesson learned was that influence does not come from worrying about being taken seriously, but rather by making a deeper connection with the team and being empathetic to their needs.

Measuring Impact: A Guide for Engineering Leaders

This article explores the importance of measuring the impact of individual engineers in a team and discusses the challenges faced in doing so. Measuring impact helps in recognizing high performers, identifying areas for improvement, and making informed decisions regarding promotions and career advancement. However, measuring impact can be subjective and difficult to quantify, and different levels of experience and seniority may require different metrics. To measure impact effectively, clear metrics and goals need to be established, growth profiles and frameworks should be revisited, and the context of the work being done should be considered. Ultimately, measuring impact contributes to the overall success of the team and the company.