An Engineer's Guide to Developing People

Making the leap to management isn't easy but, with the right skills and preparation, solving people and process problems can be incredibly rewarding and profitable. In fact, the experience and skills you've gained over the years may have prepared you for this new role without even realizing it! In this session, we will explore how software engineering principals and patterns can guide your journey to becoming a successful development manager. We'll cover what the role entails, common hurdles, and the mental shift required to do it effectively.

Transcript

1. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People
   

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2. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   Career Paths
   

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3. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   Leadership
   Guiding others towards
   a common goal.
   • Inspire
   • Motivate
   • Encourage
   Leading vs. Managing
   Management
   Dealing with or controlling
   things or people.
   • Plan
   • Organize
   • Coordinate
   

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4. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   Leadership
   “Leadership is the art
   of getting someone else
   to do something you
   want done because
   he wants to do it.”
   – Dwight D. Eisenhauer
   Leading vs. Managing
   Management
   “What’s measured
   gets improved.”
   – Peter F. Draker
   

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5. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   Leadership
   • Communication
   • Motivation
   • Delegation
   • Positivity
   • Creativity
   • Receptivity to Feedback
   • Responsibility
   Leading vs. Managing
   Management
   • Communication
   • Motivation
   • Delegation
   • Organization
   • Planning
   • Strategic Thinking
   • Problem Solving
   

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6. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   • Disturbance handler
   • Resource allocator
   • Negotiator
   • Liaison
   • Monitor
   • Disseminator
   • Spokesperson
   Manager Roles
   

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7. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   • Understanding Business Motivation
   • Building a Shared Vision
   • Defining Strategies
   • Setting Goals and Objectives
   • Scoping and Prioritizing Work
   Responsibilities – Planning
   

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8. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   Development of excessive technical debt without
   delivering corresponding value which meets a need
   creates unnecessary complexity and increased cost.
   • Focus on minimum viable products
   • Avoid complexity that does not deliver value
   Principle – YAGNI (You Aren’t Gonna Need It)
   

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9. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
   • Understanding Business Motivation
   • Building a Shared Vision
   • Defining Strategies
   • Setting Goals and Objectives
   • Scoping and Prioritizing Work
   • Allocating Resources
   Responsibilities – Planning
   

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10. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    A singleton is a sole instance of a shared resource
    which is created once and exposed via a common
    interface.
    • Sacrifice transparency for convenience
    • Coordination through observation or notification
    Dependencies injection provides the required resource
    to those who need them.
    • Better handles instability
    Pattern – Singleton vs Dependency Injection
    

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11. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • Setting an Example for Interaction
    • Engaging Stakeholders
    Responsibilities – Nurture Collaboration
    

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12. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    Pattern – Chain of Responsibility
    

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13. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • Setting an Example for Interaction
    • Engaging Stakeholders
    • Facilitating Communication within the Team
    Responsibilities – Facilitating Communications
    

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14. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • Optimization comes at a cost and increases
    complexity.
    • A simple approach should be used until
    requirements and implementation can be assessed.
    Principle – Avoid Premature Optimization
    

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15. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • Being a Role Model
    • Cultivating a Motivating Environment
    • Empowering the Team
    • Focusing on Solutions over Problems
    • Inviting Productive Challenge
    • Celebrating Performance
    Responsibilities – Promote Performance
    

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16. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • Cultivating Learning
    • Facilitating Training
    • Advocating for Individuals
    Responsibilities – Encourage Growth
    

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17. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    Pattern – Bounded Context
    

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18. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • How do you measure the impact of communication?
    • What indicators should determine if a new team
    member is a good fit?
    • Which metric will tell us if code reviews are effective?
    • Is stakeholder satisfaction more important than
    quantity of work delivered?
    Measuring Success
    

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19. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    • What gives you energy?
    • What drives and excites you?
    • How do you feel accomplishment?
    • What types of challenges do you want to tackle?
    • What kind of work life would you enjoy?
    Why do it?
    

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20. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    1. Develop a plan
    2. Seek mentors
    3. Engage a coach
    4. Find your leadership style
    5. Get to know your team (one-on-ones)
    6. Trust your people and process
    7. Hone your time management skills
    Tips
    

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21. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    Silver Sponsors
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22. An Engineer’s Guide to Developing People @GainesK
    Q & A
    Review
    1. Managing is more relational than technical
    2. Managers are multipliers
    3. Broader array of concerns
    4. More interrupt driven
    5. Success is more difficult to measure
    6. Delegation can be difficult
    7. Team success and satisfaction is rewarding
    Slides at DotNetDude.net
    

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