Engineering managers and particular person contributors normally need the identical factor: to supply high quality work in a approach that feels artistic and collaborative, all whereas doing so in a predictable and sustainable approach. I’d even say you’ll battle to search out somebody who doesn’t need any such work settlement.
It’s additionally vital to notice that there’s wholesome rigidity and unhealthy rigidity between engineering managers (EMs) and particular person contributors (ICs). Nice groups work nicely once they have a wholesome quantity of rigidity — they ask questions and problem one another respectfully to get to the perfect answer.
However there are numerous transferring elements to make the EM–IC relationship work, and it’s the friction between these elements that may create unhealthy rigidity.
The reason why there is likely to be rigidity between EMs and ICs
On the subject of measurement and analysis, EMs and ICs have completely different perceptions of what provides worth. This may be based mostly on a number of tension-causing components.
(1) Completely different targets based mostly on roles. The roles themselves convey inherent rigidity. EMs wish to make it possible for issues are predictable and the group is working nicely. ICs deal with doing artistic work that’s, at occasions, laborious to foretell and ship with high quality. One needs to measure issues that the opposite can’t at all times ship predictably.
(2) The partition of labor. EMs and ICs are tasked with pondering at completely different ranges. EMs suppose one rung increased than ICs — about coordinating many individuals and roles equivalent to ICs, product managers, and designers, and shielding ICs from the inputs that come from all of these views.
These worries don’t at all times correspond to what ICs take into consideration — equivalent to tech debt, their growth course of, their CI/CD circulation. It’s not that EMs don’t fear about this stuff; it’s only a completely different hierarchy of worries.
(3) Dangerous EMs/Dangerous ICs. Typically there are dangerous EMs who don’t suppose their job is to create a group of ICs who’re unblocked and functioning nicely. This may create a really adversarial relationship, the place a supervisor says, “I want this carried out now,” and an IC says, “You don’t perceive what it takes to get that carried out.”
Conversely, there will be dangerous ICs who’re laborious to work with and lack empathy for the considerations that EMs fear about. This may result in the “managers are simply pushing paper and don’t really ‘do’ something” narrative.
(4) Measurements that “don’t matter.” EMs measuring issues that ICs really feel don’t matter creates a disconnect. I’ll speak about measurement extra later, however the rigidity right here comes, partially, due to the character of our business.
Software program engineering is artistic work, which is by nature troublesome to measure. But, the EM has to ship high quality merchandise on time, which requires a point of measuring.
(5) Properly-intentioned processes gone awry. EMs may put in place processes or guardrails to assist their groups ship issues sooner with increased high quality, however they find yourself being too time consuming, inefficient or onerous for the group. I’ve seen groups with so many onerous process-related duties that they don’t even really feel like they do a lot work. It’s simply checking numerous bins, and the ICs are depressing.
So, what to do? It’s important to align on measuring what issues.
A fantastic place to ease the stress is throughout the developer workflow or the software program growth life cycle — the method of taking issues from idea to launch. Inside that life cycle:
Measure issues that matter, not the BS stuff. Keep away from what we all know hasn’t labored previously in our business — monitoring strains of code, pull requests, happiness sentiment.
Measure issues with consistency that correlate to group efficiency. It’s vital to measure from the actual work ICs are performing as a substitute of simply gathering statistics. Specializing in the group’s efficiency focuses the measures on how everybody can enhance versus calling out people and making a poisonous stack-rank surroundings.
Measure in a innocent tradition in order that if one thing goes unsuitable, you’re not pointing fingers. A innocent tradition reinforces a deal with the group’s efficiency, not the person’s. You discuss when it comes to the group’s outcomes and learn how to enhance as a group.
Automate, automate, automate. Our business has virtually at all times moved itself ahead as a result of we automated away the human, error-prone issues. If you end up saying “Ensure you at all times…” that’s a sign that it’s time to automate. Automate the guardrails as a substitute of constructing guide processes.
Automate the developer workflow, CI/CD, alerting, the definition of carried out, and so on. You may even consider it as linting for the developer workflow, the place you construct guidelines between alerting, CI/CD, subject trackers, and code internet hosting instruments to automate issues that may assist your group be extra environment friendly and efficient.
Lastly, be open and clear about what issues, what you’re measuring and what your targets are. In doing so, you’re serving to to drive a group effort that everybody owns. It’s a bottom-up method the place you declare that you simply wish to get higher. You’re asking the group, “Will we consider in this stuff?” to make sure you measure what builders wish to be a part of, and so they have the power to see how they’re doing and the place they’ve alternatives to enhance.
And by doing this, you’re measuring the precise issues. You’re measuring the issues that persons are really engaged on, and also you’re utilizing these measurements to judge your group. That’s the stuff that issues.
It’s not straightforward to maintain rigidity in verify earlier than it veers into an unhealthy state, nevertheless it’s vital to take action. EMs and ICs will respect one another extra for it, and also you’ll get a extra collaborative, environment friendly group consequently. And inside effectivity, the actual positive aspects on your group begin to materialize.