Tech Leadership Weekly

Issue 80, September 6, 2017

Nikhil GargFollow
Should managers be strong technically?

Even though management is a people job, a strong technical background is beneficial. Strong technical skills help in the hiring process, enabling a manager to better discern a person's skills.  Strong technical skills help with evaluating and ranking skills on a team.  It helps to identify and shed under performers early, and promote the right people. Additionally, a technical manager can help mentor and coach.  Technical skills aren't the most critical traits of a manager, but they can benefit them.

Reading Time: 5 minutes
 

Marcel Schwantes
Why Do People Quit Their Jobs, Exactly? Here's the Entire Reason, Summed Up in 1 Sentence

Managers are the single biggest reason people leave their job.  Developing good managers is key to an effective organization. Good managers are radically transparent. They care about their people, and work to to support them. Good managers recognize individual talents within their team, and leverage those skills. Good managers are empathetic, and care about their people.  Empathy, transparency and caring are key to effective managers and healthy organizations.

Reading Time: 4 minutes
 

Allen Pike
The Principle of Least Surprise

Surprise, particularly bad surprise is the enemy of any software project. Despite this, teams tend to optimize for appearance, usually resulting in unrealistic expectations. Concerns can be often overlooked, to the detriment of the project. Try raising concerns in the form of a question that points to a potential fix. Questions makes the issue much harder to ignore, and reduce the chance of a bad surprise.

Reading Time: 4 minute
 

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