(2015 - 3/11) The Engineering-to-Manager Transition: Surviving Your First 90 Days

CALIBRATE 2015 (3/11) - http://www.calibratesf.com/

The Engineer-to-Manager Transition: Surviving Your First 90 Days -- David Loftesness

http://engineering.sharethrough.com/blog/2015/11/04/surviving-your-first-ninety-days-as-an-engineering-manager/

The first few months as an engineering manager can be confusing and frustrating. This talk presents a 90-day framework that can help structure this time and prepare you for success in your new role.

Transcript

1. The Engineer-to- Manager Transition Surviving your first 90 days as an Engineering Manager David Loftesness / @dloft
2. • Quick Poll • Currently managing? • Formerly an engineer? • Received management training? • Conclusion: tech startups strongly prefer untrained managers Why does this matter?
5. Goals • Framework for EM Transition • Tools to help survive the first few months in the new role • Suggestions for how to go from surviving to succeeding
6. Surviving 90 days in 30-day chunks • Month 1: Own Your Education • Month 2: Find A Rhythm • Month 3: Assess Yourself
7. Month 1: Own Your Education
9. • Lots of resources out there: books, blogs, peers, mentors, … but you need to make the time! • Block off learning time on your calendar • Reading • 1:1 with mentor • “Manager breakfast” with peers, etc. etc. Learn about managing
10. Learn about your team
11. Month 2: Find a Rhythm
13. Time traps for managers 1. Email / meeting death spiral 2. Coding instead of managing 3. Not delegating
14. The EM Event Loop • Structured checklists for Daily, Weekly, Monthly management tasks • Customized to highlight important tasks that you tend to forget or procrastinate on • Materialized in your calendar so you actually have time blocked off for them
15. EM Event Loop examples Daily Weekly Monthly People Recruiting pipeline: how can I close this great candidate? Who needs feedback from last week? Which of my big challenges can I delegate? Does everyone on the team know what is expected of them? Projects Are my critical projects on track? Do I need to update anyone on project status? Any projects on the back burner that we should start? Process What needs to be said at standup today? Do I need to do any backlog grooming? Are we managing projects the right way? Me Am I ready for today’s meetings? Can any be cancelled? What are my goals for this week? How did I do against goals for last week? What do I need to be more successful in my job?
16. Month 3: Assess Yourself
18. Month 3: Assess Yourself • Sketch out the shape of the road ahead: • More consistent execution? • Improved team morale? • Happier customers? • …
19. Month 3: Assess Yourself • Try to remove the blindfold! • Sprint metrics • “10 questions” from “First Break All The Rules” • NPS customer survey • “How’s My Driving?”
20. Month 3: Assess Yourself • Pop Quiz: In 1 minute per person, can you write down what is unique about each team member and your plan to capitalize on it? (h/t: Marcus Buckingham, "The One Thing You Need To Know”) • Are you starting to see the changes that you want to make? • Are you skipping to work? Or dreading it?
21. End of 90 Days… Go / No-Go?
23. Going from "surviving" to "succeeding" • Mentoring: focus on enhancing strengths, not fixing weaknesses. • Communicating effectively can take years to master. Take a class, practice, seek feedback. • Figure out how to have fun at work!
24. Thank you! David Loftesness david@loftesness.com / @dloft