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FOUND HAPPY SOFTWARE ENGINEER Juan Pablo Buriticá VP of Engineering - ride.com @buritica

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Building Great Technology Organizations

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BUILDING GREAT TECHNOLOGY ORGANIZATIONS A great technology organization delivers business value through technological implementations

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RECRUITING: WHAT DO I NEED?

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RECRUITING - WHAT DO I NEED? • What is the role of the team? • What am I building? • a technology product/service company • a tech enabled product or service • a technology consulting company • Do I need/want a local or a remote team?

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RECRUITING: WHERE DO I FIND TALENT?

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If you don’t have enough technical knowledge to make technical decisions…

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…HIRE SOMEONE WHO DOES!!!

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If you do have enough knowledge…

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RECRUITING - WHERE DO I FIND TALENT? • referrals, first and foremost • local user groups, meetups and conferences • online communities • Github • twitter • irc • google groups • stack overflow

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JOB POSTINGS SUCK…

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… recruiting needs direct contact as early as possible

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RECRUITING: HOW DO I ATTRACT TALENT?

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Are you building a new company?

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…it comes down to vision, compensation and opportunity.

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If you have a good track record you have a head start.

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If you don’t…

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…it comes down to vision, compensation and opportunity.

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You just have to do 10x the work

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RECRUITING: HOW DO I SELECT TALENT?

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Have an objective, repeatable interviewing process that is empathetic.

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Focus on candidate experience

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Build a pipeline. Standardize and formalize

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RECRUITING - HOW DO I SELECT TALENT? • Define what you looking for: • tech skills • soft skills • experience

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HOW WILL YOU MEASURE TECH SKILLS?

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RECRUITING - HOW DO I SELECT TALENT? • respect the craft • don't look for a brown house carpenter • recreate realistic environments • be fair

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HOW WILL YOU MEASURE SOFT SKILLS?

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RECRUITING - HOW DO I SELECT TALENT? • measure indirectly • learn to recognize patterns • don't be judgmental • be empathetic

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HOW WILL YOU MEASURE EXPERIENCE?

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RECRUITING - HOW DO I SELECT TALENT? • What does experience mean to you? • Define based on needs and offerings: • junior / entry level • mid level • senior level **

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COMPENSATION: HOW DO I EVEN?

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It’s not all about the $$$…

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…but it starts with it.

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GO BEYOND MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

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No content

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salary, options, bonuses

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COMPENSATION: PERSONAL FACTORS

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Is the team already great?

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Are there great leaders?

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Will there be learning opportunities?

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COMPENSATION - PERSONAL FACTORS • continued education • training sessions • attend events • speak at events • study groups • personal growth in non tech areas • business knowledge • sales, support, leadership

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Is there good career management?

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What is the level of impact?

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What are the kind of responsibilities?

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Is the company a good fit?

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COMPENSATION: OTHER FACTORS

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• business opportunities • network growth • exposure • financial benefits • industry expertise and knowledge • lifestyle • work / life balance • non monetary benefits COMPENSATION - OTHER FACTORS

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COMPENSATION: WHAT SHOULD I OFFER?

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IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU…

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…IT’S ABOUT THE CANDIDATE

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Aim for balance.

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Have packages to choose from.

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Don’t be afraid to negotiate…

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…but be aware of social disadvantages and unconscious biases and privilege…

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…if you want a diverse and balanced team.

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You do want the best team possible, right?

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Be transparent.

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And remember, if you want THE BEST…

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… you better pay like it.

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ENG MANAGEMENT: THE EASY PART

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404 NOT FOUND

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ENG MANAGEMENT: THE EASY PART

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ONBOARDING

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• What is the most important information in order to help them succeed? • Use living documents, empathize and iterate. • Define metrics for success • Everyone should be involved • Ask your candidates to document as they navigate on-boarding for improvement ENG MANAGEMENT - THE NOT SO EASY PART

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LEADERSHIP

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Your role is to help people succeed in delivering value…

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…not to tell them what to do

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No content

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Define a framework for decision making.

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Be transparent, even when you can't be.

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DON’T MICROMANAGE*

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ENG MANAGEMENT: HOW DO I MOTIVATE?

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…it comes down to vision, compensation, opportunity…

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… environment, well-being and personal achievements.

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ENG MANAGEMENT: HOW DO I RETAIN?

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Ibid.

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ENG MANAGEMENT: THE HARD PART

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How do I deal with performance issues?

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• Could this be your fault? • Start with an open conversation. • Be clear about what’s not working out. • Have clear objectives for improvement. • Don’t threaten • Follow up constantly • *Increase micro-management in steps • Be human. ENG MANAGEMENT - PERFORMANCE ISSUES

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How do I deal with personal issues?

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• Build trust and be trustworthy • Take privacy seriously • Trust • Be understanding and supportive • Empathy is key • Let the information flow, don’t add pressure • Be human ENG MANAGEMENT - PERFORMANCE ISSUES

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How do I deal with team conflicts?

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• Prevent them by establishing spaces for discussion and being clear about decision process • Promote healthy, respectful discussions, passionate people are bound to argue • Do not pick sides • No written mediums • Let people know when they should take some time away to collect their thoughts ENG MANAGEMENT - TEAM CONFLICTS

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How do I deal with team mistakes or failures?

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Be aware of the Fundamental Attribution Error http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error

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..focus on the environment which caused the failure.

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• blameless postmortems • what actions they took at what time, • what effects they observed, • expectations they had, • assumptions they had made, • and their understanding of timeline of events as they occurred. • without fear of punishment or retribution. ENG MANAGEMENT - TEAM FAILURES https://codeascraft.com/2012/05/22/blameless-postmortems/

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How do I deal with an individual’s mistakes or failures?

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• Bring them up in the correct environment • Do not punish • Help them learn from them • Don't use consequences as a punishment • Higher risks mean increasing chances for failure, keep that in mind ENG MANAGEMENT - INDIVIDUAL’S MISTAKES

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How do I deal with my mistakes or failures?

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• If someone brings up an issue don’t ignore it • Don't respond immediately, take time to think about it • Don't use non-apologies, apologize sincerely • Be open with it, learn from it, write it down, go back to your notes ENG MANAGEMENT - MY MISTAKES

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Emergency Management

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GET OUT OF THE WAY!

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GET OTHER PEOPLE OUT OF THE WAY!

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TAKE CONTROL OF EXTERNAL FACTORS

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BE USEFUL OR GTFO

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ENG MANAGEMENT: THE WORST PART

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When do I let someone go?

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• Follow your instincts • Your job is to help people succeed, if someone is not succeeding it may be your fault • Even if it is your responsibility, it may be not be the right environment or opportunity for them. • If it is performance based, make sure you did everything you could. ENG MANAGEMENT - LETTING GO

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How do I let someone go?

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• Be direct and clear about the reasons • Be ready for emotions, no one likes to get fired • Make sure they are not taken by surprise, if they are, you were not clear enough in performance reviews • Be human ENG MANAGEMENT - LETTING GO

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ENG MANAGEMENT: FINAL THOUGHTS

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Management is not a promotion…

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…it’s a career change. http://fractio.nl/2014/09/19/not-a-promotion-a-career-change/

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Approach it the same way as you did programming…

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…read, learn, write, test, teach.

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People expect you to have the answer, even when you don’t.

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It’s ok to say I don’t know.

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Software is about people.

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Great people in great teams with great leadership build great software.

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Go build, come back and teach us.

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THE END Juan Pablo Buriticá VP of Engineering - ride.com @buritica