Because machines still need humans
You’re at lunch with some coworkers, and you hear someone mention a conversation happening in Slack that has implications for your work, so you ask them to send you a link to the conversation. When you get back to your desk, you open Slack, and immediately facepalm. You now face a dilemma. Do you demand Continue reading Build libraries, not vaults: minimizing private channels in Slack Teams
If you haven t seen the famous TED talk about how kindergarten kids outperform business school graduates in a team challenge, it s worth 5 minutes of your time. (Spoiler: collaboration that leads to iteration and learning is far superior to up-front planning.) In many teams, however, heavy up-front planning is expected and incentivized. Even if a Continue reading Don t confuse bias for activity…
Why are most meetings hell for engineers? As an engineering manager, you will need meetings to get some things done. Here are some quick tips on how to make them more engaging for the engineers who you ll be inviting along. Encourage engineers to ask this question about your meetings “How will we know when this Continue reading How to keep engineers out of meeting hell
How did we end up in this place? Thousands maybe millions? of developers sit in standup meetings daily and answer the same 3 questions ( What did you do yesterday? , What are you going to do today? , Any blockers? ). Managers around the world blindly adopt the same standup meeting format, without critical thought to Continue reading The 3 standup questions are terrible and need to die
Feature Factories are dangerous things. You might even work in one and don t realize it yet. Here s a test: if your team built something 6 months ago and you ve no idea if anyone is using it, or if anyone even finds it valuable, you may well work in a Feature Factory. If a new hotel Continue reading Want to write better user stories? Stop using can .
Almost all software work used to happen in office buildings. Engineers commuted there, booted up their desktop computers, did their work, then turned them off and went home. There was no way to perform work anywhere else because the machinery needed stayed stowed away in company offices, inaccessible from outside. The rise of laptops, VPNs, Continue reading Disconnecting From Work is a Skill We…
If your first reaction to this article s title was to think of other activities in software that are more expensive than estimation, that s ok! There are probably plenty of expensive things you are doing like sending large bags of money to AWS each month. However, the title says most costly and not most expensive . Estimation Continue reading Software estimation is your most costly activity. Why…
What is an Enabler Manager ? An enabler manager is someone who elevates their team members, empowers and inspires them, and enthusiastically helps them grow their careers. If you ever attend a management training course, you ll likely be told that it s very important to enable your team . Actionable advice on how exactly to do that, however, Continue reading Moving from Management to Enablement
There are some terms in common use in the software industry that, while originally well-intentioned, have since become damaging rather than useful. Sprint Sprints were originally meant to create some focused time for engineers to give them space for concentration and deep work. They are only supposed to happen periodically, and in between less intense Continue reading Three Terms in Software That…
One of the tougher parts of any manager s job is rejecting candidates who have been interviewing with them. While it s not a pleasant task for the interviewer, it s far worse for the candidate. They might be in dire need of a steady income, they might have high hopes for getting the job, and it s also Continue reading How to tell an engineering candidate that they didn t get the job
