Debugging Dev Management

A blog about software engineering management. Because people are hard.

Should an engineering manager code?
Should an engineering manager code?
You may wonder if an engineering manager (particularly those who manage a single team) should contribute code. At some companies, there is an expectation that managers should continue to contribute... Read more...
5 ways to conduct a One on One
5 ways to conduct a One on One
The goal of a one-on-one is connections, not status updates. This guide provides ideas for questions, topics, and activities to help you connect and understand your team member. You don’t... Read more...
How to use Enneagrams for Team Building
How to use Enneagrams for Team Building
A practical team-building workshop that uses the Enneagram to turn self-awareness into empathy and empathy into better collaboration. Why facilitate an Enneagram-based team-building workshop? Enneagrams are a personality typing system.... Read more...
What does a manager do day to day?
What does a manager do day to day?
As an engineer on the outside looking in, it often looks like a manager shows up to stand ups and 1–1s but otherwise is in a lot of meetings. Here's... Read more...
How to Make Writing a Powerful Tool in Your Software Engineering Toolbox
How to Make Writing a Powerful Tool in Your Software Engineering Toolbox
Why writing matters + a technical design template Stephanie C. 6 min read · Feb 12, 2023 As a manager, the number one skill I coach in my engineers is... Read more...
I am thinking of becoming a people manager
I am thinking of becoming a people manager
Questions to ask yourself, ways to try it before you jump, and personal stories to help you decide My first question is why? The motivation is key. There are 3... Read more...
Why Planning Matters
Your success as an engineering manager relies on your ability to deliver reliably. If people around you do not trust you to do that, you will not succeed. How to think about planning for an engineering team is a meaty topic I learned about the hard way. In my first role as an engineering manager, I was not new to sprint planning, but I had a fairly limited experience with several philosophies on sprint planning. During my first year leading a team, we weren’t using any particular estimation method, but... Read more...
Planning Problem 3: Underdelivering
Planning Problem 3: Underdelivering
Maybe your team’s estimates are bang on, but they take twice as long to complete tasks as they should. How To Identify Underdelivering Give your team a performance review You... Read more...
Planning Problem 1: Under Accounting
Planning Problem 1: Under Accounting
Under-accounting happens when the team works on unexpected tasks. This happens a lot to teams who are responsible for a lot of technical debt, maintain a support queue, or have... Read more...
Planning Problem 2: Underestimating
Planning Problem 2: Underestimating
Note: if you are under-accounting, you need to fix that before you fix underestimating. Whether estimating with Fibonacci points or in days, engineers are pretty notorious for underestimating work. How... Read more...
How does your team plan?
It depends. A longer TL;DR answer — The use of story point estimation is situational. Not every team benefits from a process as heavy as point-based estimation. Points are used to keep a team accountable for what they are meant to deliver and their velocity for delivery. Examine Your Situation Whether or not you are using points, the question for most engineering teams is: are you delivering what is expected in the time that is expected? So my question back to my PM friend was, is your team delivering as... Read more...

Debug your team

Struggling with a team dynamic or a management bottleneck? That's okay, so are we. People are hard. Share your problem and we’ll explore it here on the blog.