zlib.pub_the-managers-path-a-guide-for-tech-leaders-navigating-growth-and-change

Upon hearing that someone is underperforming, many companies will have you write the person a document called a performance improvement plan. This is a set of clearly defined objectives that the person must achieve within a fixed period of time.

often the plan is written in such a way that the person can’t possibly hope to achieve the goals in the allotted time, and it’s just a generous way of giving someone time to look for another job before being fired. Whatever the procedure is at your company, the process of coaching someone out should begin long before any performance improvement document is filed with HR, and long before the actual act of firing. One of the basic rules of management is the rule of no surprises, particularly negative ones. You need to understand what a person is supposed to be giving you, and if that isn’t happening, make it clear to her early and often that she is not meeting expectations. The ideal is that you know exactly what job she is supposed to be doing, and if she isn’t doing it, you can say, “You aren’t doing X, Y, and Z. Do more of those things.” Of course, like all perfect circumstances, reality is rarely so simple. A common, straightforward scenario is closer to the following. Your employee, Jane, has been with you for a few months. She seemed a little bit slow in the onboarding process, but you gave her the benefit of the doubt; the code base isn’t in perfect shape, and there’s a lot of business jargon to learn in a new hire’s first few months.

often the plan is written in such a way that the person can’t possibly hope to achieve the goals in the allotted time, and it’s just a generous way of giving someone time to look for another job before being fired.

the process of coaching someone out should begin long before any performance improvement document is filed with HR,

you start giving feedback early and often, and keep records of the feedback you’ve been delivering.

You’ll always need to have a record of negative feedback to fire someone in any environment where HR is active and a standard performance improvement plan is required.

“coaching out.” Make the situation clear to him. You have told him repeatedly what the next level looks like, and he has not been able to show that he can work at that level, so you don’t think that your team is the right place for him to grow his career.

“coaching out.” Make the situation clear to him. You have told him repeatedly what the next level looks like, and he has not been able to show that he can work at that level, so you don’t think that your team is the right place for him to grow his career. You aren’t firing him, but you are telling him that he needs to move on if he wants to progress.

More than writing code, they hold responsibility for identifying bottlenecks in the process and roadblocks to success for their team and clearing these roadblocks.

capable of identifying headcount needs for the team and planning and recruiting to fill these needs.

it’s easy for new managers to get overly focused on the people-related tasks,

syndrome. I knew I was out of my league. They knew I was out of my league! Of course, both of the most senior engineers I was now managing realized that this was awkward. We talked about how everyone had a job to do, and mine was to help them succeed however I could.

I knew I was out of my league. They knew I was out of my league! Of course, both of the most senior engineers I was now managing realized that this was awkward. We talked about how everyone had a job to do, and mine was to help them succeed however I could.

even though you may stop writing code, your job will require that you guide technical decision making.

if you truly wish to command the respect of an engineering team, they must see you as technically credible.

at this level, if you don’t stay in the code, you risk making yourself technically obsolete too early in your career.

It’s far easier to identify technical debt and prioritize dealing with it when you’ve slogged through the code yourself.

Strong engineering managers can identify the shortest path through the systems to implement new features.

these managers end up grabbing technical time on nights and weekends, if ever.

I pushed the team to make improvements that allowed us to release daily.