Why do you think people want to work for you?

Why do people leave your company?

Good reasons for leaving

• New opportunities
• Family
• Compensation

Bad reasons for leaving

• Compensation
• Issues with coworkers
• Career progression
• Lack of challenge or new work

• If you want to achieve good delivery, you need a good working environment.
• Happy employees want to stay, are motivated and bring added value to the company.
• Even though salary is important, people seek to learn, new challenges and opportunities to grow.
• You need someone who observes the team as a system and actively works for optimizing its output.
• Managers have a problem solver mindset. They can't help it.

Why do we need managers?

The Manager's role

• Set Technical Strategy and Vision (along with Tech Leads)
• Facilitate Technical design discussions (along with Tech Leads)
• Set Product roadmap (along with Product Managers)
• Global Strategy alignment (along with Senior Leadership)
• Programming
• Project Management (along with TL and PM)
• Hiring
• Productivity and team health
• Mediate in conflicts
• Set expectations
• Have regular one on ones
• Career development
• Promotions
• Performance review
• Manage low performers

One on Ones (1-1s)

• Builds trust
• Identify and anticipate problems and conflicts
• Unblock situations
• Give and receive feedback.
• Make sure your team is happy and motivated
• Alignment
• Identify areas to develop
• Career development through coaching and mentoring
• Reinforce messages (e.g. team vision, strategy...)
• Set expectations
• Retention
• Identify burnout

Engineering

Manager

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

Mobile

Engineer

UI Designer

UX Researcher

Data Scientist

Cross-functional team

• Value Stream aligned: Typically organized around a domain. e.g. Onboarding team, Account team, Checkout team...
• The team has everything they need to deliver value without autonomously, without external dependencies.
• DevOps mindset: you build it, you ship it. But also: you break it, you fix it.
• Operations, data analysis, UI design, UX research is also included.
• Ideal size: 7-9 people

About the ideal team size

Engineering

Manager

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

...

Dual leadership

• Product Manager coaches the team from the business point of view
• Engineering Manager coaches the team to deliver software efficiently
• ICs (Individual Contributors) report to the Engineering Manager

Engineering

Manager

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

...

Triple leadership

• Some companies have the Technical Lead role as a dedicated full time job.
• Engineering Manager does the people management. Technical Leader sets the technical direction, and is accountable for team quality and velocity
• Tie breaker

Technical

Leader(s)

Manager vs. Technical Lead

At the end of the day, your org depends on your team

Product

Director

Engineering

Manager

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Manager

Engineering

Manager

Design Manager

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

Mobile

Engineer

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

Backend

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Frontend

Engineer

UI Designer

Checkout team

Accounts team

Frontend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Global company structure

Engineering

Manager

Product

Manager

Product

Manager

CTO

CPO

Engineering

Manager

Anti-patterns

Engineering

Manager

Product

Manager

#1 Product Manager reporting to the Engineering Manager

Anti-patterns

Engineering

Manager + Tech Lead

#2 Tech Lead + Engineering Manager

Anti-patterns

#3 Single function teams

Engineering

Manager

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

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Backend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Engineering

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Product

Manager

Frontend

Engineer

Frontend

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Frontend

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Frontend

Engineer

Anti-patterns

#4 Engineers reporting to the Product Manager

Product

Manager

Backend

Engineer

Backend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

...

Anti-patterns

#5 Everyone reporting to the single Engineering Manager

Backend

Engineer

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Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

Backend

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Frontend

Engineer

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Engineer

Frontend

Engineer

Engineering

Manager

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