Gigstart’s Post

Simply hiring more engineers isn't the key to speeding up development. The real solution lies in addressing the root causes of delays. If your roadmap lacks strategic focus, your team might build throw away features that increase technical debt without driving business success.  Instead, focus on identifying bottlenecks, prioritising , and ensuring your team works on what truly matters. #EngineeringEfficiency #SoftwareDevelopment #TechLeadership

What is Product Engineering? Scroll to break down this crucial process, from ideation to deployment. Discover how product engineering enhances product quality and efficiency, driving success in today’s fast-paced tech landscape! #ProductEngineering #TechInnovation #Hiring

Accelerate Your Team's Output: Lower Your Delegation Costs! Are you struggling with the efficiency of your tech team? Let's dive into what could be hindering your growth: Scenario 1: High-Maintenance Engineers Engineers require detailed task descriptions and constant guidance. Leads are burdened with conceiving solutions, implementing them, and breaking down tasks. Result? Increased workload for leads and slower project progress. Scenario 2: Autonomous Problem Solvers (10X Engineers) Engineers receive a problem statement and independently develop multiple solution options. After selecting the best option with the lead/PM, they outline implementation strategies and seek feedback. Engineers test their code thoroughly before the final lead review, ensuring minimal QA revisions. These engineers use frameworks to make informed decisions, improving overall team velocity. Cost Comparison: Scenario 1 has a higher delegation cost, draining lead resources and decreasing overall productivity. Scenario 2 significantly reduces delegation costs, freeing up leadership for: Engaging in more strategic projects. Allocating time for critical introspection. Maintaining a productive and calm work environment. Tip: If you find yourself constantly burnt out, it might be time to rethink your hiring strategy to include more 10X engineers. Interested in transforming your team dynamics? Let's connect! #DTGrowthTeams #Hiring #HiringInsights #10XPerformance

🛠️ Transforming manufacturing teams starts with understanding their unique challenges and needs. Last month, we highlighted Pierre Dobrzykowski's significant impact on the industry. Now, Pierre shares his approach to grasping your hiring needs, particularly for those elusive niche specialists. 🗣️Looking for unmatched talent in manufacturing? Connect with Pierre directly or through our website and start building your dream team today → https://lnkd.in/gVh3eXPy #engineering #manufacturing #hiringtips #hiring

If your engineering team is moving slower than you would like there is a really simple, but effective thing you can do this week. So many engineering leaders or executives feel like their teams are moving "slow". I always ask them what that means and they usually ramble off something about missing the big project deadline or not hitting the metrics they wanted to hit last year or last quarter. Most people think that there is some "macro" magic solution to what they perceive to be a "macro" problem. They think that they need to hire like 10 more people or hire a new manager or something like that. Usually, they are wrong. Teams that move fast, do so on a daily or weekly basis, which adds up to macro results. I start off every one of these conversations asking: "Did your team finish what they said they would do last week?". The answer is usually no and we dig into that together. If a team isn't finishing what they said they would do every week, there is no hope for the month, quarter, or year. By solving the micro commitment issue first, you can build a team that can get into a rhythm of finishing things. Then you can start thinking bigger. #engineering #engineeringmanagement #schedules

As an Engineering Manager, hiring is a crucial responsibility. Understanding the organization's roadmap and periodically assessing the team's bandwidth are essential to give the engineering team a load expectation for the near future. Planning is necessary to avoid overloading our engineers. When I interview an engineer to join my team, I look for specific signals that indicate they are a good fit: - Skills (top priority, no compromise, not aggressive on specific programming languages) - Reliability (delivering on complex, high-priority items) - Teachability (ability to accept feedback and quickly learn new domains) - Learning pattern (proactivity in learning the ecosystem and technology) - Collaboration (ability to collaborate within and across teams) - Manage ambiguity (effectiveness in managing unclear requirements) - Get things done attitude with accountability. I direct my questions in a way that explains the specific situation the candidate has faced as it holds more weightage than abstract project-level responses. What strategies do you use when hiring for your team? Share them in the comments below. Follow Seetharaman GR to know more on my engineering leadership experience. I'm hiring for my team, apply for the jobs here https://lnkd.in/gEfF93Nr #hiring #engineeringleadership #engineeringmanager #interviewskills #buildingteams

Curious to see that a team with 3 engineers was left out, however in my experience it plays a very important role in an organization. A team with 3 devs and a Lead is a good opportunity for an individual contributor to try out a leadership role, while still having a lot of hands-on impact and a way back if things don't work out. Why is it easier for a beginner lead though? As a permanent fixture, 3 devs + a hands-on lead is a tight and fast moving unit. It can be broken down into 2 frontend + 2 backend pairs or 2 android + 2 ios pairs, enabling a stable connection between people for Pull Requests, pairing sessions and a second opinion on a tech design. In terms of growth opportunities - four has a balanced aspect to it, enabling you to have two junior team members and two more experienced ones. The size of four also enables a generous bus factor for vacations, timezones and sicknesses, effortlessly covering a monthly on-call rotation with 4 week-long shifts. In case of a service team, it facilitates a 24-hour uninterrupted delivery/monitoring cycle of 8 hour-long shifts, with an extra spot reserved for shadowing/onboarding/offboarding/emergencies. Folks, when in doubt and need to develop a fresh leader - no way you can find a better setup than 3 + 1.

“The Engineering Manager will need to have experience with our tech stack” Is what I hear a lot from clients when I am asked to help find a “hands on” functional Engineering Manager. I think every Engineering leader from Management up to C-Suite should still be able to code. Even though the higher up one progresses, one’s role inevitably becomes more strategic and hands off, there should just generally still be enjoyment from building stuff. At Individual Contribtuor level, I can absolutely see the rationale in complete alignment with the tech stack of a company. However, I’m not convinced there has to be an exact alignment with technology stacks at the management/leadership level. Keen to understand the general consensus from my engineering network, what do you think? comment below and let me know your thoughts 🤔👇🏻

When trying to change your engineering culture one critical component that is often forgotten: Your hiring pipeline. Even if you have re-aligned values, incentivize correct behaviors, and had all-hands discussions declaring these new values all of it will count for very little if your hiring pipeline negates any candidates with those new values. Consider a small company becoming a medium one. Frequently this means your top-level engineers are highly technical and code-focused which can get you over the initial hump, but will begin to deteriorate and create substantial technical debt as you scale. At this stage companies need leaders that are more socio-technical and are able to organize and communicate effectively. If the hyper-technical retain power in the hiring pipeline they will select for people like them and filter out anyone with the experience to take your company to the next level, more deeply entrenching the problem in the process. I've seen this happen at many growing companies, and only by short-circuiting or completely renovating hiring will it be unblocked.

Inception isn't just a movie, it's a critical engineering manager technique. Although the movie DOES make it seem a little bit more exciting, manipulative, and sneaky... That's not really the case for engineering management. The value is still there though! Getting tech lead buy-in is critical as a manager on a new team -- or any team for that matter. When you have ideas about driving improvements, one of the biggest roadblocks you can hit is dropping change on a team. Even if it's a great idea, people will resist it. Instead, work with the team. Get them to be part of shaping the idea. Not only will you be performing a bit of "inception" and making them think it's their idea... They'll actually make your idea better if you listen to their feedback. ---- 👀 Check out the full video on our channel! 🗣️ Share with your network! #softwareengineering #engineeringmanager #engineeringmanagement