The People First Approach to Engineering Success - DevNot 2024

The key points include:

• Collaboration Over Isolation: Engineering is inherently collaborative. Teams thrive when they work together, and making isolated decisions can be harmful in the long run.
• Empathy in Engineering: Empathy is presented as a vital skill. Engineers should write code that others can easily understand, and focus on building the right solutions by considering both the users’ needs and their teammates’ perspectives.
• Product-Minded Engineers: Engineers must be product-focused and capable of communicating effectively with non-technical colleagues. Solving real user problems is more important than keeping up with the latest tech trends.
• Avoiding Hero Culture: The presentation warns against “hero culture” in engineering, where one person becomes the go-to for everything. This leads to a toxic environment. Instead, sharing knowledge, documenting processes, and providing support for others are encouraged.
• Becoming the Go-to Person: Engineers are encouraged to become experts in specific areas, whether it’s a technology or domain, and to actively contribute through mentoring, documentation, and sharing knowledge, rather than spreading themselves too thin.
• Credibility and Timeless Skills: Building credibility through reliability, ownership, and strong relationships is essential. Timeless skills like problem-solving, business understanding, and good communication are becoming more critical, especially in the age of AI.

Transcript

1. ENGINEERING SUCCESS PEOPLE FIRST APPROACH DEVNOT 2024 TO ZİKRİYE ÜRKMEZ Engineering Manager
2. ABOUT ME 10+ years experience Cross functional team management Sustainable productivity Great tech culture building Special interest on the technical side is Domain Driven Design zikriyeurkmez@gmail.com
3. All my work is code related, I don't need to waste time talking to a lot of people and all I have to do is improve myself technically!
4. All my work is code related, I don't need to waste time talking to a lot of people and all I have to do is improve myself technically!
5. Technology People Expectation Reality 0 20 40 60 80 100 Engineering is one of the most collaborative fields out there collaboration and alignment to effectively deliver solutions working in isolation and making decisions with just one person cause a lot more harm all of the future changes would depend just on that person.
6. Software Development is a team sport and great teams build great software. You can have the best and the smartest engineers on the team, but if they don’t work together, they will not be delivering the actual value. Gregor Ojstersek
7. shine like a diamond with good people skills in the industry great code reviews, extra support to the new person coming in look at disagreements as a way to find the best solution put yourself in other people's shoes to understand their perspective help others in need
8. Look for ways to contribute value proactively see a problem in the codebase? take ownership and fix it. see something in the app that would help the customers? suggest that to your product manager. see something that could improve the process? make sure to let your manager know. Don’t just wait to be given a task and do what it says. Try to find ways that will help the team, the organization or the customers. There are a lot of different ways to do that,
9. EMPATHY write code in a way that others with zero context would be able to easily understand it. focus on building the RIGHT things by putting yourself in the shoes of the users. turn disagreements into valuable conversations, where both sides work together to find the best solution. empathy is such a superpower in the industry 10X engineers
10. Technology Business Customer 0 20 40 60 80 100 TIMELESS SKILLS Get better at being PRODUCT-MINDED Pair with non-tech people Explain technical solutions to non-tech people Stop focusing on new shiny tech, instead focus on solving users’ problems. Understanding the business needs and the industry Being Valuable without thinking like a product The new direction of engineering is moving exactly in this way You can create the best technical solution, but if it will not solve customer’s problems, it will not be perceived that way.
11. team work and helping others inspire good teamwork inside the team setting correct expectations ensure that the team is building the right things give frequent feedback focusing on unblocking others do code reviews swiftly be a great role model for your team People that are making others around them better will just be more and more important. A good engineer thinks like a product
12. HEROISM hero: a person, typically a man, who is admired for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities The “hero” is the only person able to solve a problem managers tend to love them Vacation nightmare - what if something breaks and he/she is not here? “Stop the world” rewrite Hidden-secret keeper the invisible side of Heroes are part of a toxic work environment hero culture
13. become the go-to person You don’t need to become the go-to for everything. Being the go-to for one thing and doing that well is a lot better than being the go-to for more and you are doing a mediocre job on all of them. Spread the knowledge and awareness about it Create documentation and learning documents Provide support, be helpful and be there when others need help
14. How to become the go-to person? You don’t need to become the go-to for everything. Become the go-to person for a specific project Take ownership of the project and responsibility to get everyone on the same page + ensure that everyone is building the right things. You may ask, that this might be the responsibility of the product/project manager? Well, that’s not the case, because the product manager does not understand all of the technical details, but you do.
15. You don’t need to become the go-to for everything. Become the go-to person in a specific technology Host learning sessions inside your team or your organization, where you share your knowledge with others Start writing online post or start writing a blog or a newsletter. Focus on helping others - word of mouth travels fast How to become the go-to person?
16. How to become the go-to person? You don’t need to become the go-to for everything. Become the go-to person in a specific domain Become an evangelist for that domain make sure that all the documentation is up to date works flawlessly and you can quickly spot issues if there are any continuously checking if any unusual things are going on there others can quickly get onboarded and become productive you are available to answer any questions that your colleagues may have.
17. Credibility in the engineering industry opportunities Skills alone are not enough, make sure to focus on the how people perceive you! credibility very credible people have countless opportunities HOW TO BUILD CREDIBILITY ? be reliable admit mistakes focus on predictability, stability and consistency take ownership and responsibility be proactive do exactly what you say and agree upon focus on good communication focus on building good relationships focus on building your personal brand
18. DON’T get religious about technology every technology was at one time good or even considered great. dogmatic beliefs tends to be quite inflammatory The real point here is to not limit your options. you can't grow in an environment where you already know the answers no solution or technology is completely right or wrong It's easier to be open to other opinions if you accept how little you know
19. with the emergence of AI; product/business understanding good communication problem-solving abilities will be more and more important for ICs Engineering is more about people than tech TIMELESS SKILLS are getting more and more important Especially for developers paralyzed by AI
20. BOOKS you may enjoy!
21. END OF FUN!