Book Image

Engineering Manager's Handbook

By : Morgan Evans
Book Image

Engineering Manager's Handbook

By: Morgan Evans

Overview of this book

Delightful and customer-centric digital products have become an expectation in the world of business. Engineering managers are uniquely positioned to impact the success of these products and the software systems that power them. Skillful managers guide their teams and companies to develop functional and maintainable systems. This book helps you find your footing as an engineering manager, develop your leadership style, balance your time between engineering and managing, build successful engineering teams in different settings, and work within constraints without sacrificing technical standards or team empathy. You’ll learn practical techniques for establishing trust, developing beneficial habits, and creating a cohesive and high-performing engineering team. You’ll discover effective strategies to guide and contribute to your team’s efforts, facilitating productivity and collaboration. By the end of this book, you’ll have the tools and knowledge necessary to thrive as an engineering manager. Whether you’re just starting out in your role or seeking to enhance your leadership capabilities, this handbook will empower you to make a lasting impact and drive success in your organization.
Table of Contents (24 chapters)
1
Part 1: The Case for Engineering Management
5
Part 2: Engineering
9
Part 3: Managing
15
Part 4: Transitioning
19
Part 5: Long-Term Strategies

Why should you retain talent?

The turnover rate refers to how many positions on a team are “turned over” or vacated and then rehired. According to Linkedin.com, their data shows a turnover rate for technology teams at around 10–13% per year. When positions turn over, engineering managers have the ability to hire new team members and coach them to success, but there are many benefits to retaining the talent you already have on your team as follows:

  • Cost: Hiring and onboarding new staff is expensive. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), each employee departure can cost between ⅓ to ⅔ of the employee’s annual earnings. Both in terms of resources and time, restaffing requires considerable effort. As you learned in Chapter 13, you can expect a long list of activities, ranging from writing job descriptions to scheduling interviews and wrangling interviewers. There is also a bottom line cost for job postings, recruiter...