Blog
What we think it means to be a good tech leader.
by Andrew Murphy
Stepping into your first role as an engineering manager can feel like navigating uncharted waters, filled with both excitement and uncertainty. This guide offers a beacon through the initial 90 days, providing actionable strategies for building relationships, understanding your team, and setting the stage for delivering value sustainably.
by Andrew Murphy
influence in leadership isn’t about bossing people around. It’s about getting everyone on the same page and working towards a common goal.
by Andrew Murphy
Stepping into a leadership role in the tech industry can be as exciting as cracking a complex algorithm. Yet, with this transition comes the responsibility of managing a team and being responsible for outputs, productivity and, more importantly, their personal and professional growth. At the heart of all of this lies the art of conducting one-on-one meetings. The effectiveness of these personal interactions cannot be overemphasised as they provide the scaffolding for building strong relationships, unearthing concerns, and fostering growth.
With every meaningful conversation, you are not just inching closer to becoming a tech leader revered by your team, but you are also setting a precedent, a narrative of leadership that resonates with empathy, understanding, and a drive for collective growth.
by Andrew Murphy
Entering into a leadership role within the tech industry is both an exciting and challenging experience. As a new tech lead or engineering manager, you are faced with a set of responsibilities that go beyond coding and technical oversight. While your technical skills have brought you this far, effective leadership demands an entirely different skill set, including core skills like communication, empathy, and team management. This article aims to debunk some of the common misconceptions new tech leaders often have, providing actionable insights to help you navigate the complex landscape of leadership.
by Andrew Murphy
Stepping into the shoes of an Engineering Manager, you're entering an entirely new ballpark. Scrap that, it's an entirely different sport! It’s not just about flexing your technical muscles anymore. Now, it's about steering your team smoothly towards scoring those goals while keeping everyone motivated and the vibes positive for everyone, including yourself. The quick switch to manager mode means you’ve got to catch on fast to meet the asks of your new gig and it can leave you with a sinking feeling as tasks pile up.
Feeling productive doing easy pieces of work, lying to yourself that they are important, all while being swamped but not actually ticking off the important to-dos is a sneaky pitfall. It’s like being caught in a task tornado, yet when the dust settles, the crucial stuff is still staring back at you. This might be due to poor time management, blurry priorities, or a trying to multitask. Breaking free from this cycle means getting a grip on what tasks to tackle first and owning your time like a pro. It's all about channelling your time and sweat into tasks that genuinely push the project forward, instead of just hustling on the low-impact stuff.
In this article, I will be sharing the productivity tips that worked for me during my career. These tips are straight to the point, aiming to provide practical advice that can be implemented right away.
by Andrew Murphy
In recent months, a concerning trend has begun to manifest across the engineering industry. Companies are increasingly choosing to compress the role of Engineering Manager into a primarily technical function - focussed more on writing code than building and supporting their team.
This decision, often driven by short-term financial considerations, fails to appreciate the broader value that Engineering Managers bring to an organisation. They are not mere technical resources but the glue of the team, which fosters innovation, nurtures talent and aligns technical goals with business objectives.
To be clear, I don’t endorse this reductionist approach. Leading takes a lot of time - putting out fires, preparing and leading meetings, creating and managing roadmaps, overseeing recruitment/onboarding, supporting your peers, handling conflict, and communicating with other disciplines/stakeholders.
However, some of my readers are finding themselves in a situation now where they are having to do it all - leading and supporting their team, and fulfilling the short-term technical objectives.
I hope the practical tips in this post will help you to navigate this challenging situation if you find yourself unexpectedly back “on the tools.”
