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Best Practices Strategy & Planning Team Health


3 LEADERSHIP SKILLS ENGINEERING MANAGERS NEED TO GUIDE SUCCESSFUL TEAMS



Marilyn C. Cole
April 12, 2024

Any seasoned engineering manager (EM) knows the secret to producing high-quality
products is rooted in a content and motivated team. However, figuring out which
levers to pull to build team engagement and satisfaction can be tricky —
especially since every person on your team likely has different motivators,
likes, and dislikes.

Leading your team to success requires more than technical know-how and hard
skills. It requires a delicate dance that balances individual developer wants
and business needs.

The most successful and high-performing engineering teams are steered by EMs
with a rock-solid sense of what matters. This discernment pivots around three
critical leadership skills that every EM must possess: sound decision-making, a
coaching mindset, and strong team advocacy.


SKILL #1: FOCUS ON SOUND DECISION MAKING 

As an EM, your decisions impact team health, specific deliverables, and even
business goals. It’s safe to say that sound decision-making is one of the most
essential leadership skills you can develop. 

Consider this: Jellyfish’s 2023 State of Engineering Management report found
that the top 25% of software development teams excel in making informed R&D
decisions and can appropriately gauge staffing decisions, like who to assign to
a project. 

As an EM, it’s up to you to determine where to invest engineering resources.
When a deliverable goes off-plan, you must think on your feet and pivot at a
moment’s notice. However, you must also ensure you’re not sacrificing your
team’s health to meet aggressive business timelines. 

To make effective decisions, EMs must think independently and take into account
a range of inputs, such as tactical factors (e.g., delivery timelines), team
health (e.g., employee strengths and weaknesses), business needs (e.g., the
team’s strategic priorities), and even company core values (e.g., does our
company value someone working late to hit a deadline or would we prefer to move
a deadline to keep weekends free?).

5 TIPS FOR BETTER DECISION MAKING 

 1. Be aware of your own biases. Take a moment to self-reflect or regularly
    consult with a trusted colleague to ensure your decisions are not unfairly
    biased by race, gender, ethnicity, personality differences, work experience,
    or other factors. 
 2. Gather information from multiple sources. Acknowledging multiple
    perspectives is vital to a well-informed mindset. Consider the quantitative
    data alongside more qualitative check-ins with your team. 
 3. Align on your company — and personal — values. Your company culture — and
    the culture you want to foster within your team — should also guide your
    decision-making process. If your company has a “work hard, play hard”
    culture, pushing your teams a little more may be okay. If you don’t believe
    in working weekends, don’t ask your teams to do so.
 4. Consider the long-term consequences of your decisions. Microdecisions made
    within a sprint may seem small and insignificant but can lead to serious
    organizational changes. Think through the big-picture impact of different
    decisions and ensure you’re comfortable with the consequences of your
    choice.
 5. Be willing to change your mind. Great leaders regularly seek out feedback.
    Be willing to change a decision or shift course based on team or executive
    feedback. This can also help you build a more collaborative, trusting
    relationship with your team.
 6. Conduct a post-mortem on big decisions to identify areas of improvement. At
    the end of a milestone, gather your team to discuss outcomes and be honest
    about what went right, what went wrong, and how you can improve next time. 


SKILL #2: DEPLOY A COACHING MINDSET 

“In 2023, manager training and coaching will be paramount, as many organizations
will be faced with the challenge of having to simultaneously reduce their
workforces while also hiring, retaining, and getting the most from people in
crucial roles,” says Jon Greenwalt, SVP, Customer Transformation at 15Five. 

Coaching benefits employees at all stages of their careers and leads to more
engaged workers with higher productivity levels — even as the economy ebbs and
flows. Consider the following:

 * In 2022, 15Five found that 53.8% of workers agreed an unsupportive manager
   would drive their decision to leave their company. 
 * On the other hand, the International Coaching Federation reports that 86% of
   organizations with a coaching mindset see positive ROI on their coaching
   engagements and recoup their investment.

Rather than simply telling teams what to do, a good EM works closely with
individual team members to level up their skills and promote strategic thinking.
This coaching-first approach not only develops your team but also helps build
trust.

5 WAYS TO EMBODY A COACHING MINDSET 

 1. Remember that your team is human. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has
    different growth areas. Ask yourself how you can support an engineer when
    they make a mistake so that they can learn and grow in their career. Remind
    them (and yourself!) that they may need space to figure out and try new
    things on the path to growth.
 2. Collaborate with team members on problem-solving. Instead of telling a team
    member how to solve a problem, ask them questions that will guide their
    thinking to a solution. This way, you can offer support while helping your
    team members level up their problem-solving and strategic skills. 
 3. Practice active listening. When meeting with your team members, ask them
    about their wins and losses, acknowledge their perspectives, and provide
    supportive feedback. Listen carefully and be ready to ask follow-up
    questions or dig deeper to ensure you can read between the lines and address
    root issues (not just symptoms) if needed.
 4. Empower your team to take calculated risks. Knowing when to take a risk and
    avoid risk is vital to driving innovation without putting business
    objectives at risk. Make sure your team feels comfortable taking risks, and
    be prepared to discuss how to determine a “good” risk with them. 
 5. Provide constructive feedback. Your engineers look to you as a guide, so
    offer them clear support and direction for seeing a project through. You can
    make sure feedback is constructive by providing specific examples of things
    that did or did not go well, plus actionable tips. 
 6. Give kudos and celebrate milestones. Positive feedback is a great motivator.
    Take time to acknowledge your team’s hard work and dedication — and help
    them see their work’s impact on your organization. 


SKILL #3: PRACTICE TEAM ADVOCACY

No one wants to feel like they’re being overlooked or ignored, especially after
working hard to meet deadlines. An EM with strong leadership skills knows when
to advocate for their team and can do so effectively.

When should an EM advocate for their team?

 1. When there’s a need to secure resources. Advocacy can ensure the team has
    the necessary resources — such as funding, personnel, and tools — to
    succeed.
 2. To protect engineers from external interference. A good EM protects the team
    from external interference, such as political pressure or micromanagement.
 3. To build team morale. Advocacy can be positive and motivating for your team.
    Calling out team wins and success can build morale and create trust within
    the team.

Speaking up on behalf of your team is important, but it’s critical to discern
what does and doesn’t merit advocacy. For example, an EM that advocates for
every single team request — big or small, important or not — risks becoming
known as the boy who cried wolf. 

Leverage your decision-making and coaching skills to identify your team’s wants
versus their needs. If something is a want, you should work with that employee
to help them understand that distinction. 

5 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR TEAM ADVOCACY SKILLS

 1. Know your team’s needs and goals. Meet one-on-one with team members to
    understand their goals both personally and professionally. This can help you
    understand what drives them to do their best work. 
 2. Build relationships with key stakeholders. The products your team builds
    might be tied to another team’s goals, like sales outcomes or product
    marketing campaigns. Work cross-functionally to help establish trust between
    your teams.   
 3. Be assertive when advocating for your team’s needs. Stand up for your team
    and respectfully push back when their needs are unmet or unheard. 
 4. Always treat your team with respect. Your team will work best when your
    engineers feel psychologically safe and respected. 
 5. Stay persistent with your advocacy. Advocacy is more than just a
    one-and-done task. It’s an always-on effort to ensure your team has the
    resources to succeed. 

HOW SKILLSOFT ADVOCATES FOR ITS ENGINEERING TEAM 

The Skillsoft engineering team wanted to prove that a healthy work culture leads
to positive outcomes. The company turned to Jellyfish to better understand its
engineers’ needs and identify when to advocate for more resources.

Skillsoft can look at sprint predictability, coding days, and investment
category allocations with Jellyfish. The company has even created a template
using Jellyfish data to quantify team health and success. 

“We love the team metrics within Jellyfish. We use those to celebrate team
members,” says Kristen Maguire, Director of Program Management at Skillsoft. “We
look at each team individually to assess the overall team dynamic, which has a
massive impact on satisfaction, performance, and velocity.”  


HOW JELLYFISH SUPPORTS YOUR GROWTH AS A LEADER

Our Engineering Management Platform (EMP) is trusted by companies like
Mastercard, Priceline, and PagerDuty to keep projects on track and improve
delivery processes. 

Best of all, it serves as a central source of truth for your team’s data. You
gain a holistic picture of how to support your top talent best, whether through
decision-making, coaching them through a challenging situation, or advocating
for more resources. 

To learn more about Jellyfish, take a product tour or request a demo.


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