Pillars of engineering management

Stepping into an engineering leadership role is exciting. But managing people is complex work. You’re now responsible for the performance and happiness of everyone on your team, and that comes with challenges. 

This course will take a deep dive into the core aspects of people management that every engineering leader faces daily, providing you with the knowledge and confidence to navigate your role and quickly adapt to the challenges.

Course modules

Course information

Sep 20 to Nov 29, 2022

6 bi-weekly modules

Course fees start at $699 per person 

Save up to 47% for groups of 15+

Find out more

Virtual course

Bi-weekly modules

Two streaming times to choose from

Team learning

25. hour session duration

Pillars of engineering Management

Stepping into an engineering leadership role is exciting. But managing people is complex work. You’re now responsible or the performance and happiness of everyone on your team, and that comes with challenges. 

This course will take a deep dive into the core aspects of people management that every engineering leader faces daily, providing you with the knowledge and confidence to navigate your role and quickly adapt to the challenges.

Course host

Pat Kua

Pat Kua is a seasoned technology leader with 20+ years of experience. His current mission is accelerating the growth of technical leaders through coaching, mentoring and training. He has had many years of hands-on experience, leading, managing and improving complex organisations and software systems as the CTO and Chief Scientist of N26 (Berlin, Germany) and as a Technical Principal Consultant at ThoughtWorks.

Module information

Developing your team

Coaching, sponsoring, and mentoring

CO-HOST

Danielle Leong

Senior Engineering Leader 

co-host

Danielle Leong 

Senior Engineering Leader

As a manager, part of your role includes developing the engineers in your team. And when you look for ways to do this you'll probably come across the idea of mentoring. But studies have shown that often mentoring alone doesn't help to progress people in the way that we hope. 

But there are ways we can move beyond mentoring to effectively help people grow: coaching will help them consider their own experiences and analyse their challenges, while sponsorship will provide additional growth opportunities for the folks on your team. 

You’ll leave this module with:

An understanding of the difference between mentoring, coaching, and sponsorship

An introduction to the fundamentals of active listening and how to be a good coach

An overview of sponsorship, how it can help underrepresented leaders, and how to do it well

Strategies fostering a self-sustaining ecosystem that helps engineers grow

Building culture

Understanding, creating, and sustaining team culture 

CO-host

Kathryn Koehler 

Engineering Director • Netflix

co-host

Kathryn Koehler 

Engineering Director • Netflix

Culture determines how we treat people, respond to problems, and approach our work. And culture isn’t static but something that changes with every new person that joins a team and every new policy that’s created. 

That’s why culture must continually be nurtured, regardless of the size or maturity of your team.  

So, as an engineering leader, how do you define culture, how do you set up norms, and how do you articulate it? 

You’ll leave this module with:

An understanding of your team’s current culture

Knowledge of what defines a healthy culture

The tools to identify different culture types and how to articulate them effectively

Strategies for evolving your team’s culture to achieve better outcomes

Tackling difficult conversations

Navigating difficult situations with confidence and empathy

co-host

Erica Stanley

Director of Engineering • Google

co-host

Erica Stanley

Director of Engineering • Google

Alongside all of the positives of being an engineering manager, there will always be times when you need to have difficult conversations. Managing underperformance, addressing bad behavior, and even letting people go are all possible, and likely inevitable, parts of your job.

While these conversations can be uncomfortable, it’s your responsibility as a manager to develop the necessary skills so that you can do right by your teams. In this module, we’ll focus on practical ways you can prepare for and conduct difficult conversations.

You’ll leave this module with: 

Strategies to build trust as the foundation for difficult conversations 

Frameworks for how to prepare for difficult conversations

Strategies for communicating change 

An understanding of how to resolve conflict on engineering teams 

Knowledge on how to apply these learnings onto a variety of real-world situations

Dealing with underperformance with integrity, dignity and fairness

co-host

Arquay Harris
VP of Engineering • Webflow

co-host

Arquay Harris
VP of Engineering • Webflow

For every engineering leader, there comes a time when they’re faced with engineers who are underperforming in their roles. This is always tough for the person underperforming, but also for you as a manager. Underperformance, if not addressed correctly, can have tangible consequences both for individuals and for the team.

 

So how can you tackle these situations with integrity and ensure that you’re doing all you can to help people succeed?  

In this module, we’ll help you set out a plan of action to manage underperformance effectively, taking a look at how to set expectations, manage performance, and deal with any aftershocks.

You’ll leave this module with: 

Frameworks to define performance standards

Tools for being able to manage under-performers 

Communication methods to treat the person with fairness and dignity 

The ability to make hard choices confidently

Managing up and influencing

Becoming an effective advocate for your team

co-host

David Yee
VP of Engineering • New York Times

co-host

David Yee
VP of Engineering • The New York Times

Managing up is often seen as something done by individual engineers. But as an engineering leader, you are the face of your team's work, and it’s your responsibility to manage up and make sure it's visible at the organizational level. You can't assume that your manager has the visibility into your team or your team's work, and to shape the direction, you need to be able to shift their point of view.  

Mastering the skill of managing up and influencing can be challenging to navigate. In this module, we'll help you work out how to get the message out.    

You’ll leave this module with: 

Guidelines about what not to do when managing up and influencing

Tools to understand and adapt to your manager’s personality/communication style, values and core needs

Practical strategies to increase your team’s visibility and your impact with your own projects

Knowledge around how to manage when you’re being managed up 

Personal development

Strategies for your own career development

co-host

Meri Williams
CTO and Advisor

co-host

Meri Williams
CTO and Advisor

Over the past five modules, we’ve covered the core tenets of being an engineering leader – but you can’t grow and nurture your teams without also growing yourself.

Finding time to devote to self-improvement can be a challenge, and it always seems like the easiest thing to move down your priority list. It’s also harder for senior leaders to receive actionable feedback on their own work.

In this final module, we’ll help you work out how to change that and how you can be more effective with your learning time.

You’ll leave this module with: 

Strategies for thinking about your own personal development

Frameworks for career development on an organisational and personal level

Methods of growth for both the people management and individual contributor pathways

New methods of self-reflection and how to create space to do so

How to solicit effective feedback as you increase in seniority

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