What Managers Do

Managers hold people accountable that “everything that needs to get done, does get done” 1.

Ongoing

Growing their team

To grow the team, the manager must engage in effective technical recruiting. A reasonable alternative to hiring experienced developers is growing junior developers within your teams2.

Developing their team

Leveling up their teams skill sets and responsibility is a high-leverage activity for managers. Creating and maintaining and engineering career ladder allows the team to have clear pathways for progression. Managers help with the progression through feedback, mentorship, and coaching.

Organizing their team

Team composition, internal coordination, and cross-team coordination are the major ways they lead their team. Managers are the conduit of information between teams and throughout an organization and therefore inter-team communication is a fundamental part of their role. Charity Majors puts it as1

I sometimes imagine managers as the nervous system of the company body, carrying around messages from one limb to another to coordinate actions.

Responsible for the SDLC

Managing the business

One-on-Ones

Time Specific

Yearly roadmap planning

Annual Planning Management By Objectives (MBO)

  • Quarterly checkins

Performance Reviews

Performance Reviews


References

1.
Majors, C. Questionable Advice: ``My boss says we don’t need any engineering managers. Is he right?’’. Charity.wtf Blog at https://charity.wtf/2024/01/05/questionable-advice-my-boss-says-we-dont-need-any-engineering-managers-is-he-right/ (2024).
2.

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