Thanks! I tried to focus on active things instead of passive ones like "read articles" since it feels good to have a tangible artifact and that's good for career management in most companies too.
Thank you so much for sharing this! As always super actionable and relatable insights
I have used the Frictioner technique before but didn’t know it can be named as Frictioner approach!!! Loved the name!!
It genuinely helps stay in touch/hands on and my team (engineers + product) highly appreciated the fact that i took time to do this indicating i was truly engaged and invested in the ICs. My team mentioned that leaders usually just glance over and offer “feedback” but they loved the fact that I tried to live the journey
That's the same feedback I've got from my teams all the times I've tried these techniques! Like Rafa said here, teams appreciate leaders joining them and showing deep interest in their work instead of sitting in an ivory tower.
Thanks Rafa! Your "skin in the game" comment is spot on! I think eng leaders can use all of these techniques to build connection with their reports as well.
Great advice here. I’m actually a proponent of hands-off management, I believe an EM can have bigger impact focusing on the team, their ways of working, and the individuals’ support. But nothing you wrote I would argue with, they are all beneficial activities to remain / become technical as an EM.
Thanks Péter! What you mentioned are certainly core responsibilities of an EM. However as more and more companies are asking their managers to be "hands on", I wanted to steer focus towards activities that managers could do without getting in the way of their team or neglecting their core responsibilities.
Absolutely loved this article. The best one I’ve read on staying technical, without BS like ‘read articles and go to conferences’.
Thanks! I tried to focus on active things instead of passive ones like "read articles" since it feels good to have a tangible artifact and that's good for career management in most companies too.
Great write up… I can see myself doing some of these things but never had a name for them before. Really enjoyed the read.
Thanks Tushar! Great to hear you enjoyed reading this! If you have tried any of these before, I'd love to know your experience.
Great post Chaitali and thanks for the vocabulary to tell my team what hat I'm wearing that week :)
I'm very curious to hear what your team thinks of the vocabulary!
Thank you so much for sharing this! As always super actionable and relatable insights
I have used the Frictioner technique before but didn’t know it can be named as Frictioner approach!!! Loved the name!!
It genuinely helps stay in touch/hands on and my team (engineers + product) highly appreciated the fact that i took time to do this indicating i was truly engaged and invested in the ICs. My team mentioned that leaders usually just glance over and offer “feedback” but they loved the fact that I tried to live the journey
That's the same feedback I've got from my teams all the times I've tried these techniques! Like Rafa said here, teams appreciate leaders joining them and showing deep interest in their work instead of sitting in an ivory tower.
Loved the ivory tower analogy!!!!!
Excellent and actionable advice for Engineering Leaders!
I always recommend being on-call for multiple reasons, one of them being hands-on and having skin in the game.
Thanks Rafa! Your "skin in the game" comment is spot on! I think eng leaders can use all of these techniques to build connection with their reports as well.
Great point, Chaitali! By using these techniques, leaders can build rapport, trust and also respect, as they're leading by example.
Great advice here. I’m actually a proponent of hands-off management, I believe an EM can have bigger impact focusing on the team, their ways of working, and the individuals’ support. But nothing you wrote I would argue with, they are all beneficial activities to remain / become technical as an EM.
Thanks Péter! What you mentioned are certainly core responsibilities of an EM. However as more and more companies are asking their managers to be "hands on", I wanted to steer focus towards activities that managers could do without getting in the way of their team or neglecting their core responsibilities.