Category: management

Avoiding Mistakes with your Manager README

mattn1 Comment
Why I stopped using Manager READMEs and no longer recommend them
NOTE: I no longer recommend writing a Manager README at all. Click through to read why.

It’s been over a year since I wrote about my version of Manager READMEs and it’s been great to see READMEs and discussions about them crop up all over the internet. I shared some tips about successfully sharing information through documents on Twitter and here I’ll apply them to a Manager README to help you avoid some common pitfalls that can lead the document to hurt more than it helps.

As a reminder, my intent of a Manager README had two parts:

  1. Share expectations
  2. Build trust

A year later, I think it’s better to focus on the recipient’s value of this document, hence this new and improved intent:

  1. Share expectations to reduce their anxiety
  2. Build trust as they get to know you
Continue reading “Avoiding Mistakes with your Manager README” →

2017 in Review

mattn1 Comment

2017 has been quite a year. Looking back at my 2016 in Review post, here were my two biggest goals for 2017 and a mini retrospective:

  • Give away my Legos so that I can work with new ones.
    • Despite having the same title, I had a very different job at the end of 2017 than at the beginning. Sometimes it feels like I went from this to this.
  • Keep learning…
    • About my slice of the industry by hosting more meetups.
      • This didn’t happen at all.
    • About management via the Rands Leadership slack.
      • This was a triumph, and my network is stronger than ever.
    • About parenting and my kid by using my parental leave.
      • I spent a lot of time with my kiddo, using 26 days in 2017, up from 16 in 2016.

What follows are the stories behind these snippets, and a few other things that happened. Continue reading “2017 in Review” →

[Update: Don’t] Share your Manager README

mattn12 Comments
Why I stopped using Manager READMEs and no longer recommend them
NOTE: I no longer recommend writing a Manager README. Click through to read why.

As a manager, on-boarding is both tough and really important whether you’re joining a team or they’re joining yours. My very short list for on-boarding in either direction is:

  1. Share expectations
  2. Build trust
Continue reading “[Update: Don’t] Share your Manager README” →

2016 in Review

mattn1 Comment

Let me just start with: Wow.

It’s been a huge year for all of us, full of changes and growth.

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Beginnings

At the beginning of the year, I was looking for a new job in software engineering management. My wife was 5 months pregnant, and I was trying to figure out how rapidly I needed to get a paycheck. I was very lucky to be able to sell some stock options from my last company to tide me over for six months and allow me to find the job I wanted rather than settling for the job I needed. That has not been my experience in the past, and I don’t count on it being the case in the future.

Finding a management job can be tough.

Continue reading “2016 in Review” →