Guiding Line for New Managers
Guiding line for new managers

    
        
        
            
            
                A few short tips for a manager starting out:

Hire the best people you can.

Identify the skills that your team is lacking and hire towards that.
Good beats perfection. Look for people with potential and eager to learn.
You are as fast as your slowest team member.


Provide the team with problems, not solutions.

Give space for the team to find their own solutions. This instils a sense accountability and ownership.
This improves your ability to delegate.
This allows you to fairly evaluate people. How can you evaluate someone that just did what you asked them?


Nudge if the team is tackling the wrong problems.

It can happen that the team is not scoping correctly. Ask questions, before jumping to a conclusion.
Never be afraid of providing feedback, but make sure it’s factual and actionable. The moment you are concerned about giving feedback, a time bomb starts.


Look at trends, not short-term decisions.

Avoid knee-jerk reactions - this destroys relationships. Never initiate a conversation while hot-headed.
Look at the minimum of 3 months worth of performance / impact. Write those down - both good and bad.


Buffer the team from distractions.

Engineers require long periods of uninterrupted time. Being called / mentioned often breaks the flow. Protect them.
Sometimes you will need to have difficult decisions with people outside engineering, because of that. Do it.


You are the sum of your team members’ success.

You are no longer an IC. Make sure you are out of the critical path. Don’t be a blocker, when you can delegate.
The team’s productivity and job satisfaction is your number one focus.




            
        
