Author: Steve
-
Recommended Reading – April 2018
Some blogs I recommend reading this month… The Two Traits of the Best Problem-Solving Teams Having teams that are cognitively diverse that also have psychological safety are probably on most leaders’ wish list. It is the leaders and their behaviour that are key to this. Talk: Building Great Engineer Cultures from 0 to Scale Fast-paced…
-
Recommended Reading – March 2018
Some blogs I recommend reading this month… How to Rands Setting expectations for those you work with is important, Rands lays out his very clearly. Many ideas can be taken into our work environments to improve interactions with our teams. A Wake-Up Call For Tech Managers https://hackernoon.com/a-wake-up-call-for-tech-managers-d0415775efd0 “Create an environment where your programmers can fully…
-
Being a hands-on Engineering Manager
I’ve been a manager for a number of years now but still enjoy getting my hands dirty in the code. There’s a buzz I get from understanding a problem and delivering a solution! Full-time coding is difficult to let go of for many engineers moving into management, the challenges moves into finding the right balance.…
-
Recommended Reading – February 2018
Some blogs I recommend reading this month… The 3 Types of C Players and What to Do About Them This blog gives good options on a difficult problem- C Players. Having C players on the team always poses a dilemma, as each player and situation is different there is no silver bullet. Something does need…
-
Are you learning from your one-on-ones?
One-to-ones should be seen as a special time, it’s usually the only time set aside for you and a member of the team to talk…about anything! Unfortunately, it seems most time in one-on-ones is used up with status reports that a manager should know anyway. Set a target to learn something new from each of…
-
Recommended Reading – January 2018
Some blogs I enjoyed reading this month… The 8 Must-Have Non-Technical Skills in Software Development Non-technical skills, or soft skills, are essential to be successful. Even more basic though, is team fit for which these skills are a must. This blog covers 8 of these. One-on-ones are a good time to encourage these in people…
-
Forward-thinking during year-end reviews
Year-end reviews think back on the year, while this is important it’s also a good opportunity to be forward thinking for next year. Whether it’s for us or others, preparing for next year while reflecting on this one can prove valuable. The goal-setting period usually creeps up on us and, before we know it, we’re…
-
Mentorship: 3 approaches and who really benefits
Mentoring can be wide-ranging from offering guidance to advice and support. Approaches can vary, from the very informal to a fully documented structured program. Different approaches have their merits, the correct one will depend on the goal of the mentorship and the people involved. It could be said that any approach is better than none,…
-
155 is my number
I recently watched the movie Sully starring Tom Hanks. Most people will remember the actual event on January 15th, 2009 that the film is based on but I didn’t know anything about the pilot or the investigation that followed. Not only did I really enjoy the movie, I thought it provides some great examples in…