What My Engineers Taught Me

I’ve been fortunate to have the privilege of working with some fine talents in the industry. While managing them, they have taught me some great lessons as well:

1. Free lunch alone is not enough to keep them happy. Add desserts!
2. If I’m flexible with their working hours, they will be flexible with working late nights and weekends
3. Coming in late doesn’t mean they’re slacking off. Look at their deliverables.
4. Never set a meeting at 9.00am. Not even 9.30am.
5. Technical people appreciate technical managers. Talk their language. Talk the same level.
6. You’d need at least one person in the team to be the 'glue' – this person will initiate events, coordinate collections, etc. If you don’t have someone like this, you’d have to be this person.
7. You’d need at least one person to be the ‘calmer’ – someone who can provide peer-to-peer motivation, guidance, and calm people down when tension peaks. If you don’t have someone like this, you’d have to be this person.
8. Annual performance feedback are taken to heart. Write meaningful feedback. Don’t ask them to write their summary for you.
9. When an engineer is not performing, there’s a good reason behind. Ask quickly & listen. Get input. Don’t pre-judge.
10. If you’re open for feedback, they would talk to you. If you’re not, they’d talk behind you - good or bad. Or to your boss.
11. A simple but sincere ‘thank you’ really does go a long way. A ‘thank you’ in front of their peers goes even further.
12. Make time to talk about things outside work. Invite your team to tea breaks at 4pm. It’s a win-win for you. If they go, you’ll have a good time chatting about work casually. If not, you know that they are working hard