Eran Kampf's Notes
Engineering Management

Engineering Management

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Principals

Protect Your Energy

As a CI - focus is key. You derive most of your value from blocks of time dedicated to focus work. You can block some time and dissapear to avoid distractions. Ad a Manager - energy is key. You produce value through enabling and empowering your engineers. You need to be available to unblock your team. Being available & empathetic and being able to context switch takes energy. You’re there to protect your CIs focus time by taking meetings with other teams, attending planning sessions with management, etc. You’re most impactful when you attend the right meetings and able to be present, pay attention & particiate. That takes energy.

DOs:

  • Set 1-3 (ideally 1) goals a day and focus on those.
  • Be selective on which meetings you need to be in.
  • Take breaks. A walk outside, cup of coffee…
  • Own it - be responsible for your own energy and performance. Dont blame your team or company culture. You can assert more control than you think (over your clendar, the meetings you take or not, your time off)

References:

Techniques

  • Coach Mindset
  • Work “Wind Down” Routine

Coding

Stop writing code and\or taking ownership of features in the critical path! But, keep your hands warm and finger on the pulse of the project - code structure, know where the code-small is, etc.

DOs:

  • Writing and going over specs, technical leadership (guide team on “how” things should be implemented on a high level)
  • Code reviews
  • Help team avoid context switches by taking them P2 issues that are annoying but never become a priority
  • Dependencies upgrades

DONTs:

  • author features
  • micromanage code (“all commits go through me”)

References