Effective Engineering Manager

Micromanagement is one of the most damaging patterns in engineering leadership, yet it often goes unnoticed until morale, productivity, and innovation have already been compromised. In this episode, Slava and Adam examine how micromanagement undermines trust and autonomy in engineering teams, creating bottlenecks and stifling collaboration. Rather than empowering engineers to take ownership, micromanagers overload themselves with tasks that should be delegated, leaving little room for strategic direction or team development. The discussion explores the roots of micromanagement, including a lack of delegation skills, fear of failure in front of one’s own boss, and the absence of trust that often comes from failing to build relationships through 1:1s. These drivers lead to reduced creativity, slower decision-making, and higher attrition, particularly among high-performing engineers who seek environments that encourage autonomy. Micromanagement also creates a paradox: while it appears to be over-management, it is in fact a form of under-management, as leaders become too burdened to provide guidance, mentorship, or long-term vision. Slava and Adam also address the broader organizational impact. Companies that tolerate micromanagement risk weakened culture, retention issues, and diminished innovation. Solutions include leadership coaching, support for managers transitioning away from micromanagement, or in some cases moving them into individual contributor roles where they can add value without harming team dynamics. For engineering managers working under a micromanaging boss, practical strategies such as shielding the team, focusing on positives in communication, and maintaining professional compliance can help reduce the negative effects.

Our guest, Ani Mishra – engineering manager at DoorDash – unpacks what it really means to drive cross-functional collaboration as an engineering manager. Ani’s core message: shipping products isn’t just about writing code, it’s about orchestrating diverse disciplines—product, design, data science, operations, and business strategy—so that together they deliver real customer and business value. Ani frames the engineering manager’s role as a conductor of an orchestra: engineers, PMs, designers, and analysts each play their part, but the EM coordinates, empowers, and ensures harmony. Beyond predictability and productivity, EMs must remove engineering bottlenecks, expand experimentation capacity, and balance feature delivery with tech debt and internal tools. When conflicts arise, Ani emphasizes prioritization—customer first, business second, team and partners third, and self last. He stresses that change requests should be seen as learning opportunities, with proactive communication as the key to managing shifting priorities. Escalation, too, is reframed: not as failure, but as a professional tool, especially when done jointly with product partners to present transparent trade-offs. Looking ahead, Ani sees AI transforming collaboration. As non-engineering partners gain the ability to prototype and experiment independently, EMs will shift toward building enabling platforms, treating PMs, designers, and analysts as their direct customers. Ani closes with a practical checklist for managers: hold regular one-on-ones with cross-functional partners, maintain a single prioritized roadmap, translate tech debt into customer and business terms, run plan reviews with all stakeholders, and invest in informal relationship-building. His takeaway: trust and alignment across functions are the true force multipliers for engineering managers who want to lead beyond their team.

In this episode, Manju Abraham – veteran engineering leader at NetApp, Delphix, and HPE – shares hard-earned lessons on driving real change in engineering organizations. Manju reminds us that 70% of change efforts fail not because of poor plans, but because people never truly buy in. Manju’s core message: change doesn’t start with strategy, it starts with belief. Manju emphasizes creating trust and emotional safety so teams feel heard and included. Manju blends proven frameworks like Kotter’s 8 steps, ADKAR, SMART goals, and tactical empathy into a simple playbook: co-create the vision, activate the majority, empower champions, and track progress visibly. Above all, Manju stresses consistency — showing up, role modeling, and reinforcing behaviors so change becomes culture. Manju’s closing challenge: don’t ask if your team knows the plan, ask if they can repeat the vision without a slide deck. Real transformation comes not through pressure, but through trust, clarity, and shared ownership. Lead like a gardener, not a general – nurturing belief so your teams deliver lasting change with conviction. We hope you enjoyed this episode. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it. You are welcome to read Manju’s guidance on the driving lasting change in engineering organizations as a web article.

We are featuring a guest, Jeremy Franzen, an Operations expert with over 30 years of experience running Ops at public companies and startups. Jeremy shares his expertise in building strong collaboration between software engineering and operations teams through open communication, shared goals, feedback loops, joint automation and monitoring, shared security practices, knowledge sharing, and coordinated approaches to incident and change management, all tracked by common performance metrics. In the end, Jeremy provides a checklist that our listeners can start using today to build and run quality production environments together with their Operations teams. We hope you enjoyed this episode. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

In this second episode of three, we continue with a practical introduction to AI for engineering managers. We share possible impact of AI and Large Language Models, or LLM on the jobs. In the end we provide a checklist for engineering managers to help to stay ahead of the AI curve. We believe better managers will build a better world. We provide consulting services that include customized training for new managers, training on effective engineering management to help companies accomplish more with less, and the fundamentals of building teams from the ground up. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions or topic suggestions.

In this first episode of three, we provide a practical introduction to AI for engineering managers. We share that value AI and Large Language Models, or LLM, offer to engineering managers and their teams. In the end we provide a check list for engineering managers to start get value from AI today. We believe better managers will build a better world. We provide consulting services that include customized training for new managers, training on effective engineering management to help companies accomplish more with less, and the fundamentals of building teams from the ground up. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions or topic suggestions.

In this episode, we talk about what causes tough times for companies and how being smart with money and saving up can help keep the business healthy during downturns. We focus on how leaders can boost team morale when things get tough, using tools like one-on-one meetings, positive feedback, kudos programs, and team outings. We also cover the importance of strong engineering leadership, coaching, and career development when facing changes in the organization. Tune in for practical tips and strategies to keep your team motivated and resilient through the rough patches. We believe better managers will build a better world. We provide consulting services that include customized training for new managers, training on effective engineering management to help companies accomplish more with less, and the fundamentals of building teams from the ground up. Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.

We dedicate this episode to managing hyper performers. We define who the hyperperformers are, what distinguishes them from the rest of the team and how to manage hyperperformers for the maximum results while retaining them. We share management practices to avoid. In the end provide a checklist that our listeners can use to manage hyperperformers effectively. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you liked it. Please contact us at [email protected] with suggestions or feedback.

We present the essential components of developing and communicating a strategy in engineering management, emphasize the need for strategies to be documented, measurable, and aligned with business needs. We share the importance of having a strategy as an engineering manager aspiring to drive change and innovation. We emphasize the need for a clear vision, meaningful goals tied to business value, and continuous iteration. We stress the importance of buy-in in the success of a strategy, highlighting the need for the team to be fully supportive of the strategy, as well as the importance of obtaining buy-in from higher management. Finally, we provide a detailed checklist to allow engineering managers developing a well-aligned and challenging yet achievable strategy, covering aspects such as building a strong foundation, aligning with business goals, leveraging lateral relationships, and maintaining effective communication with stakeholders. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

We are featuring a guest, Tim Wenzel, who is a Silicon Valley native, an expert in startup recruiting, including building early teams at PayPal and Tesla, and a founder and an executive recruiter at The (A)Lyst Group. Tim shares practical recommendations on feedback, candidate experience, and building teams in dynamic startup environments. In the end, Tim shares a checklist that our listeners can start using today to build exceptional teams. We hope you enjoyed this episode. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

We dive deep into the importance of trust in engineering management, and how it impacts productivity. We share that trust is built and reinforced over time. We highlight the different layers of trust, including organizational, team, and individual trust, and emphasize the need for consistency and building trust through actions. We explore the subtle distinction between expectations and trust. We also discuss the emotional toll of mistrust caused by broken trust. In the end we provide a checklist that allows our listeners to start cultivating trust in their organizations. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

We share how to manage project dependencies in a way that brings results. We are going to define what a dependency is and how to manage your dependencies to ensure that the projects you are a part of are delivered on time and with quality. In the end we will provide a checklist that our listeners can use to ensure that their project dependencies are always satisfied. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you liked it.

We offer an effective way of introducing innovation to an engineering team and getting results regardless of the organization size. In the end we offer an actionable checklist that engineering managers can use to start innovating today.

We are starting a series on managing up. In this episode we talk about how not to communicate work issues to your boss. We define what complaining is and why complaining is ineffective. We provide a checklist that our listeners can use to see if their upward communications are in the complaining territory. You know that you are complaining when bringing an issue to your boss Without offering a plan that you and your partners would like to execute, Without asking for resources Or without asking for an approval. Reach out to us if you have suggestions or would like us to present on the topics of effective engineering management at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

In this episode, Adam and Slava discuss the new normal of the remote workplace. We discuss the challenges in working remote, key benefits to being remote, and provide guidance for managers to effectively manage remote teams and maximize healthy productivity.

We offer an approach to escalating work issues that brings results without destroying relationships. We share what the escalations are, the impact of escalating unskillfully, and how to escalate professionally and effectively. In the end we provide a checklist that our listeners can use to escalate work issues effectively.

It’s that time of year again for managers and directs to start planning goals and executing on them for the new year. In this episode, we will discuss the challenges with goal setting and provide guidance for making the goal setting process more effective.

We share the effective way for taking time off. In the end we offer a check list that consists of Designate a substitute Prepare your substitute Set up the Out of The Office response in your email client Have a sync up meeting with your direct report after you come back

We share what staff meetings are, why they are important for keeping your team accountable for their deliverables and how they help you to stay on top of everything the team is doing. We provide guidance on how frequently you should run them and how to make them effective. In the end we provide a checklist that our listeners can use to start running effective staff meetings. Please reach out to us if you have suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

Wrapping up the ‘becoming a manger series’ with guidance and steps on what new engineering managers can do once their training completes and they are now officially a manager. Guidance includes: Managing introductions and the first couple of weeks Planning your first 30-60-90 days Setting up foundational items like 1-on-1s Building key lateral relationships Creating space for the team to get to know you and your plan Please reach out to us if you have suggestions or would like us to present on the topics of Effective Engineering Management at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

In this episode we present a practical, step-by-step implementation guide for transitioning engineer’s career to the engineering management track. These steps include: Confirm that the engineer has right motivation. Confirm with your boss and HR the feasibility of training a new manager. Tell them that you will announce their career transition to the team. Talk to the team on 1:1 basis and share the transition. Share why they will be a good fit. Share the same in the public forum such as staff meeting. Prepare and share the implementation plan with your direct. Drive your direct’s guided self-study for 8-9 months, see resources. Manage their practice for the remainder of the year. Officially complete transition with HR during company’s official promotion period. You can find the resources for guided self-study, and post-transition, continuous management study materials here. Please reach out to us if you have suggestions or would like us to present on the topics of Effective Engineering Management at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We share how to build a success-oriented strategy by taking care of four management pillars, organization, people, product, processes and tools. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We share what the role of the engineering leader means and how to approach leading from both the back and the front. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at the Contact Us page.

Our guest speaker, Anand Safi, shares how transitioning a career from an engineer to an engineering manager is not a promotion. Also, Anand shares a checklist on what to do first 90 days as a new engineering manager. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at the Contact Us page.

We share blameless Root Cause Analysis, or RCA, as one of the most powerful tools available to engineering managers that help to eliminate production incidents and resolve quality challenges. We go over what an RCAs is, the benefits, the process of doing RCAs using “5 Whys” technique, and the best practices. In the end, we provide a checklist to help engineering managers to implement the RCA effectively. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We share the key reasons and motivators for pursuing a engineering leadership position. Before you take on transitioning someone’s or your own career to engineering management, check if you have the right motivations and strengths needed to take on the role. These include: Initiative Emotional Intelligence Education Readiness to work more Consistency Desire to help others Desire to accomplish more with the team Strong interest in building people Interest in solving problems and challenges Focus on getting things done

We share a low-effort, highly effective approach to creating great performance reviews that we call Engineer’s Diary. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at the Contact Us page.

We continue our Team Building series and talk about knowing how to identify what you need based on the team you currently have. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We provide a do-or-die checklist for an effective SDLC that allows teams building software that customers love to use and engineers never have to worry about. Here is a quick overview: Documented user stories and use cases Version Control Issue tracking Unified IDE Code style Build automation Iterative development Design reviews Unit and integration testing Static code analysis Code reviews Continuous Integration Continuous deployment Gradual production rollouts Automatic rollbacks High fidelity monitoring and alerting Listen to the episode online for a deep dive: Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We provide guidance on how to understand and avoid building All-Star Teams. In the end we share a checklist that engineering managers can use to build complementary teams, not all-star teams. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We provide practical guidance on avoiding risks associated with 1:1s with a new boss. This continues the series on the Effective One-On-Ones. Previously we discussed structuring 1:1s with your direct reports in the episode Effective One-on-Ones: Structure”. We also recommend checking out our Observe and Absorb that will help you to plan and implement a strategy for managing 1:1s with your new boss. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We provide a practical guidance on how to build engaged teams by implementing a Kudos program. In the end we share a checklist that engineering managers can use to implement the Kudos program immediately. Listen to Building Teams: The Kudos Program online: Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

This podcast focuses on practical suggestions on structuring 1:1s. We recommend structuring your 1:1s as 20 minutes to be your directs’ and 10 minutes to be yours. Let your direct reports decide what they want to talk about. Avoid assigning work during your 1:1s. This episode continues the series of short notes on the Laws of Effective One-On-Ones. Listen online or subscribe: Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We provide recommendations on two powerful yet easy to implement approaches to maintain the human connections and the spirit of camaraderie in a team, celebrating birthdays and going to lunches. This is the first episode in the series dedicated to the most important activity any engineering manager is responsible for, building and maintaining effective teams. Listen to “Building Teams: Birthdays and Lunches” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

As many of our listeners discovered, the more 1:1s you miss, the longer will be your next one. The first episode in the series The Laws of Effective One-On-Ones we talk about the impact of skipped 1:1s and practical techniques to avoid missing 1:1s, for managers and their direct reports. Listen to “Effective One-on-Ones: Don’t Skip Your 1:1s” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

We provide guidance on how to effectively manage remote teams in an Agile environment. In the end we share a checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are managing their remote teams effectively. Listen to “Effective Agile: Remote Teams” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

Gap Analysis is an effective approach to identifying challenges in the areas of engineering processes, people and tools. Gap Analysis allows engineering managers to address challenges that prevent the team from delivering high quality software on time. In this podcast we provide a step-by-step guidance for conducting Gap Analysis and resolving the identified gaps. Gap Analysis includes 5 key steps: Identify a problem area that needs to be addressed. Create an empty Gap Analysis document from a template. Populate Challenges, then Impact, then Proposed solutions, then Expected results. Assign importance and Effort. Define order of execution. Once Gap Analysis is complete, build a plan, launch, execute and land the solutions to the gaps. Check out our Think-Plan-Execute podcast to learn how to effectively execute the plan. Listen to “Engineering Process: Gap Analysis” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com. Resources Here is the Excel template for Gap Analysis that we mention in this episode.

Daily standups are one of the most important practices in Agile. We share our recommendations and experiences towards running effective Agile standups. The most important Agile event, standups provide a means to build a culture of consistency and focus on making progress on the team’s priorities for that sprint. In the end we share a succinct checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are running effective standups. Listen to Effective Agile: Standups Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

Think-Plan-Execute is an effective technique for getting things done. In this podcast we discuss how Think-Plan-Execute helps engineering managers and software engineers to deliver working software on time and provide practical examples of how to implement Think-Plan-Execute. Listen to “Project Management: Think-Plan-Execute” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

In this podcast we continue in our podcast series on Effective Agile and discuss the importance of estimation and how it is a fundamental building block for effective teams. We share tips and techniques to help teams become better at estimating and also share practical experiences with estimation. In the end, we provide a concise checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are applying the best techniques for estimation.

In this podcast we share the practice of guided self-study, discuss how it helps busy managers to elevate team’s skills, and provide practical recommendations on how to run the guided self-study practice. In the end, we share an approach to install the guided self study at your team and provide a checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are executing guided self-study effectively. Listen to “Developing Skills: Guided Self-Study” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.

In this podcast, we start a four-part discussion on Agile teams. We share key best practices for building and effectively managing Agile teams, discuss why these practices are important, and provide tools to implement them easily. In the end, we share a succinct checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are building and managing Agile teams effectively. Listen to “Effective Agile: Best Practices” Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you have feedback or suggestions.

In this podcast we share the practice of effective software design reviews, discuss why they are important and provide practical recommendations to engineering managers on how to run design review meetings that deliver high quality software architectures. We provide guidance for executing one-on-one reviews, accommodating input, running team reviews and public reviews, and sharing the final designs. In the end, we share an approach to install the effective design reviews and a checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are running their design reviews effectively. Listen to “Effective Agile: Best Practices” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected].

In this podcast we define the concept of “observe and absorb”, discuss why it is important and share practical recommendations to engineering managers on how to use this tool to unlock and build stronger working relationships. In the end, we share a checklist that engineering managers can use to start practicing “observe and absorb”. Listen to “Practicing Observe and Absorb” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at: [email protected].

In this podcast we define effective effective engineering meetings, discuss why they are important and share practical recommendations to engineering managers on how to run meetings that deliver results. We provide practical guidance for setting meeting goals, defining agendas, preparing participants, building invite lists, managing the meetings and sharing the results. In the end, we share a checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are running their meetings effectively. Listen to “Effective Engineering Meetings” Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected].

In this podcast we define the effective time management, discuss why it is important and share practical recommendations to engineering managers on how to make most out of their time. In the end, we share a checklist that engineering managers can use to self-check that they are using their time in the most effective way. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected].

In this inaugural episode we share why we decided to start the Effective Engineering Manager podcast. Our motivation was to share 25+ years of our combined engineering management experience in getting stuff done. We provide proven solutions and best practices to software engineering managers who are responsible for building and maintaining effective engineering teams that allow them to deliver software on time and with quality. Practices we share apply to all levels, from frontline engineering managers to directors and above. Please reach out to us if you have feedback or suggestions at [email protected] or visit us at https://www.effectiveem.com.