How to keep engineers out of meeting hell

Also: Why people don't want to be managers anymore and how soft skills are more valuable than hard skills.

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The digest

Why people don’t want to be managers anymore (Cath Everett / Raconteur)

• People now prefer specialization and work-life balance over managerial roles, shifting the traditional view of career success.
• Regular role reviews and positive managerial role models can re-spark interest in management positions.

More and more of us are associating managerial jobs with?stressful workloads?for which no pay rise can compensate (…) this view is deterring potential managers from seeking such roles.

How to keep engineers out of meeting?hell (Brian Kelly / More Than Coding)

• Make sure meetings are purposeful and productive by defining clear desired outcomes, moving beyond just having an agenda.
• Favor meetings for making decisions where engineers can present conclusions, keeping discussion async whenever possible.

“Encourage engineers to ask this question about your meetings: ‘How will we know when this meeting is over?’”

Soft skills are more valuable than hard skills (Patti P. Phillips & Jack J. Phillips / Chief Learning Officer)

• Soft skills training programs, are increasingly subject to ROI evaluations, showing a shift towards recognizing their value.
• Showing the real benefit of such programs needs clear goals tied to business success and strong support throughout the company.

Misc

• On managing expectations - Leadership & work (Micha??Poczwardowski)
• Tech ahead of business fallacy (Aviv Ben-Yosef)
• What if everybody did everything?right? (Lorin Hochstein)

About Executive Engineering

I’m Yassine ??. I spend a big chunk of my time digging into engineering management and talent acquisition, especially where the two overlap. I share the most interesting resources I come across in this newsletter, all curated by hand.

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