Category: Leadership
-
You can let things go…
Our days are busy, filled with meetings, status updates, future planning, risk assessing, decision making and the rest! The people in our teams are busy too! Above all we’re human, we have lives that impact our mood and outlook. To the point, we have bad days which means we can act in undesirable ways sometimes,…
-
Recommended Reading – May 2018
Some blogs I recommend reading this month… 7 Traits That Make a Great Software Developer There are many “great developer trait” lists and I don’t think there is anything new here. I’ve included the link because it’s important for leaders to guide and coach each developer that directly reports to you on these traits. You…
-
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…
-
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,…