Before we dive into my year of managerial misadventures, let me give you a quick tour of my tech journey. Picture a fresh-faced computer science grad, mid 2010s, armed with nothing but barely a computer science degree and an unhealthy but strong addiction to sugar and coffee. That was me, ready to conquer the world one line of code at a time.
Fast forward through a decade of web development, where I became fluent in Ruby and JavaScript or maybe more like fluent in debugging my own mistakes - e.g., I pushed x || true on production and didn’t get fired.
Other highlights include systems I’ve architected that could handle millions of users, survived countless production fires and I also mastered the art of explaining technical debt to non-technical folks (hint: it involves a lot of hand-waving and metaphors). I’ve worked at scrappy startups, and at tech giants, but as it turns out, all that coding prowess was just the prelude to my biggest challenge yet: learning to manage people instead of pixels or TCP packets.
Introduction
Picture this: One year ago, I traded in my comfortable backend engineer hoodie for a shiny new “engineering manager” cape. Okay, there wasn’t actually a cape (note to self: propose capes at next offsite planning), but the transition was just as dramatic. After over a decade of cozying up in the back(end) to Ruby and JavaScript, I suddenly found myself leading a team of frontend gurus. Talk about a plot twist!
So, grab your favorite caffeinated beverage, and let’s explore the unexpected lessons I’ve learned during this year-long adventure. Spoiler alert: it involves less coding and more… people-ing.
Delegation and Ownership: The Art of Letting Go (Without Letting it All Fall Apart)
Remember when you used to solve all the problems by furiously typing code until the wee hours of the morning? Ah, those were the days. But as a manager, I quickly learned that approach is about as effective as trying to put out a fire with my kid’s water pistol.
Meet Sir David Brailsford, Manchester United’s new director. No, he didn’t personally slap the keyboard out of my hands, but his words about ownership hit me harder than a second Red Bull at 2 AM: “We respond better and perform better with a little bit more ownership.”
The Pitfall of Depth-First Leadership (Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Delegation)
At first, I fell into the classic trap of depth-first leadership. It’s like trying to play every instrument in the orchestra yourself – you might make some noise, but it’s not going to be a symphony.
Here’s what happens when you try to be the superhero coder-manager:
- You become the bottleneck
- Team output takes a nosedive (turns out, they need you to, you know, manage the rest)
- You burn out faster than a Christmas decoration candle
The Power of Effective Delegation (Or: How I Learned to Multiply Myself Without Cloning)
To avoid turning into a coffee-fueled zombie, I had to learn the art of delegation. Here’s my secret sauce:
- Recognize everyone’s superpowers and weaknesses. Especially yours.
- Build trust by being open about the what, why, and how. Overcommunicate like your team’s success depends on it (because it does). When you mess up (and you will), own it quickly and learn from it.
- Cultivate a Garden of Growth: Create an environment where ideas and people flourish. Listen more than you speak. Be open to perspectives that challenge your own. Encourage calculated risks and celebrate the lessons learned from failures.
Shifting Focus: From Output to Outcome (Or: Why Counting Widgets Isn’t Always Wise)
In the tech world, it’s easy to get obsessed with metrics. Story points, tickets closed, lines of code written (just kidding, we don’t do that anymore, right? Right??). But I learned that most of the time, we need to look beyond the numbers, as they are mere reflections of the actual impact of the work.
The Outcome-Oriented Approach (Or: Asking the Real Questions)
Instead of just counting widgets, start asking the juicy questions:
- Did our work actually make a difference, or are we just digital hamsters on a wheel?
- Are we moving the needle, or just poking it repeatedly?
- How does our work fit into the big picture? (And no, “it pays the bills” isn’t the answer we’re looking for)
The Art of Communication: Informational vs. Transformational (Or: How I Learned to Stop Boring People and Start Inspiring Them)
Now, let me tell you a story about the time I discovered the power of transformational communication. Picture this: it’s a dreary Thursday afternoon, and I’m about to kick off our team’s retrospective. I could feel the enthusiasm in the room… or was that just the hum of the air conditioner?
I started with my usual informational spiel: “Alright team, we had a great sprint. We achieved the sprint goals, the timeline, and the deliverables. What do you think?”
The response? Crickets. And not the excited, “we’re so thrilled we’re speechless” kind of crickets. More like the “is it time for coffee yet?” kind.
That’s when I realized I needed to switch gears. I took a deep breath, channeled my inner Steve Jobs (minus the turtleneck), and tried again:
“Imagine we’re not just building a new landing page. We’re crafting the future of how we work together. This Jira dashboard isn’t just about meeting deadlines – it’s about pushing boundaries, challenging ourselves, and creating something that will make users’ lives better and maybe even a little more magical. What’s stopping us from getting there?”
Suddenly, the energy in the room shifted. Eyes lit up. People started asking questions, offering ideas. It was like I’d flipped a switch from “meh” to “mission accepted!”
Informational Communication (Or: The “Just the Facts, Ma’am” Approach)
This style is great for:
- Routine tasks (like reminding everyone about the latest survey)
- Short-term objectives (deploy the feature in the morning EU time zone or maybe US)
- Clear directives (please, for the love of all that is holy, label your tickets)
It’s the Slack message. The meeting that could have been an email. Efficient? Yes. Inspiring? About as much as a tax form.
Transformational Communication (Or: The “Let’s Change the World” Approach)
This is where the magic happens. As a transformational communicator, you’re not just passing along info – you’re painting a vision, igniting passion, and maybe even causing a few goosebumps. You’re aiming to:
- Paint a future so bright, everyone needs shades
- Connect the team’s work to the big picture (we’re not just coding, we’re crafting the future!)
- Encourage thinking so far outside the box, the box is just a dot on the horizon
- Tap into what makes people tick (besides caffeine and money)
Finding the Right Balance (Or: How to Be Both Spock and Captain Kirk)
The key is knowing when to sharpen your logical Spock ears and when to channel your inspirational Captain Kirk. Use informational communication for the day-to-day stuff, and break out the transformational communication when you need to rally the troops, spark innovation, or navigate through the asteroid fields of major changes.
Conclusion
This year has been a wild ride, full of surprises, challenges, and more lessons than a semester of night classes. The leap from backend engineer to engineering manager has stretched me in ways I never expected—it turns out that people are a lot harder to debug than code!
But you know what? It’s been incredible. By learning to delegate effectively, focus on outcomes, and communicate like a boss (pun absolutely intended), I’ve discovered a whole new way to make an impact.
So, whether you’re thinking about making the leap to management or you’re already in the thick of it, remember that great engineering management isn’t just about technical know-how. It’s about empowering your team, focusing on what really matters, and sometimes, finding just the right emoji to express your thoughts in Slack.
Finally a screenshot on productivity worth sharing. Focusing on just a few areas will change your team’s productivity dramatically - improve the boosters and fix the offenders.
So to everyone on the journey ahead — may your coffee be strong, your meetings be short, and your impact be huge.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some transformational communicating to do. Has anyone seen my cape?