5 Aspects of a Successful Software Engineering Manager

What I believe are the top five things you should be doing as an engineering manager

There is no one-size-fits-all job description for an engineering manager. Due to the nature of businesses operating at different scales, teams requiring slightly different skill sets, or simply because the role means something else entirely; it is difficult to cover every feasible quality required.

With this said, here are five key themes I believe a good engineering manager should be doing:

1. Leading, coaching and mentoring ??

Leading

Managing a team of software engineers has at least two elements; people and tech.

Looking specifically at the people side of things, the role of an engineering manager should certainly encompass leading the team. When I say “lead”, this can come in numerous different forms:

• Leading key team ceremonies (e.g. standup, planning, estimations etc.)
• Helping lead key decision making (e.g. architectural decisions)
• Communicating key messages to the team
• Conversely to point 3, knowing when to shield the team from unnecessary distractions
• Singing the team’s successes and showcasing the good work they produce

The key point to stress here is that all of the above things don’t necessarily sit 100% with the engineering manager, but the accountability does. If we take points 1 and 2 as an example, the team would still be expected to share the load when it comes to ceremonies. It is counter-productive and generally unhealthy for the engineering manager to be the only person making the decisions within the team. Engineering managers must take onboard the views, opinions and experiences of their team to help come to the right decision and hold that accountability for the choices made.

Coaching and Mentoring

Where leading helps set the direction of the team and ensures a level of focus, coaching and mentoring is often focussed at the individual (person) level.

Coaching involves working with an individual to help them identify and achieve their personal and professional goals. Coaching is often focused at the individual level, and can help team members self-identify areas for growth and development.

Mentoring involves working with an individual to help them develop their skills and achieve their personal and professional goals. This can involve providing guidance, feedback, and support as they work to improve their skills and performance. You can also lean on your own experiences to showcase ways of working and best practise.

2. Establishing best practice ?

As a leader within engineering, it may come as no surprise that there is some technical leadership required. One of the key responsibilities of an engineering manager should be to establish best practice where possible.

This isn’t to say that all of these practices need to be defined by the engineering manager, but instead they should be chasing improvements overall and keeping abreast of advancements within the industry.

It is also key to highlight that communicating with other specialists is a key part of this responsibility as an engineering manager. Depending on the scale of the business, there might be separate specialist teams who are focused on fields such as DevOps, Security - it’s important to collaborate closely with such teams.

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The Manager's Mindset - 5 Aspects of a Successful Software Engineering Manager