Effective Engineering Manager

We dive deep into the importance of trust in engineering management, and how it impacts productivity. We share that trust is built and reinforced over time. We highlight the different layers of trust, including organizational, team, and individual trust, and emphasize the need for consistency and building trust through actions. We explore the subtle distinction between expectations and trust. We also discuss the emotional toll of mistrust caused by broken trust. In the end we provide a checklist that allows our listeners to start cultivating trust in their organizations.

Micromanagement is one of the most damaging patterns in engineering leadership, yet it often goes unnoticed until morale, productivity, and innovation have already been compromised. In this episode, Slava and Adam examine how micromanagement undermines trust and autonomy in engineering teams, creating bottlenecks and stifling collaboration. Rather than empowering engineers to take ownership, micromanagers overload themselves with tasks that should be delegated, leaving little room for strategic direction or team development. The discussion explores the roots of micromanagement, including a lack of delegation skills, fear of failure in front of one’s own boss, and the absence of trust that often comes from failing to build relationships through 1:1s. These drivers lead to reduced creativity, slower decision-making, and higher attrition, particularly among high-performing engineers who seek environments that encourage autonomy. Micromanagement also creates a paradox: while it appears to be over-management, it is in fact a form of under-management, as leaders become too burdened to provide guidance, mentorship, or long-term vision. Slava and Adam also address the broader organizational impact. Companies that tolerate micromanagement risk weakened culture, retention issues, and diminished innovation. Solutions include leadership coaching, support for managers transitioning away from micromanagement, or in some cases moving them into individual contributor roles where they can add value without harming team dynamics. For engineering managers working under a micromanaging boss, practical strategies such as shielding the team, focusing on positives in communication, and maintaining professional compliance can help reduce the negative effects.

Our guest, Ani Mishra – engineering manager at DoorDash – unpacks what it really means to drive cross-functional collaboration as an engineering manager. Ani’s core message: shipping products isn’t just about writing code, it’s about orchestrating diverse disciplines—product, design, data science, operations, and business strategy—so that together they deliver real customer and business value. Ani frames the engineering manager’s role as a conductor of an orchestra: engineers, PMs, designers, and analysts each play their part, but the EM coordinates, empowers, and ensures harmony. Beyond predictability and productivity, EMs must remove engineering bottlenecks, expand experimentation capacity, and balance feature delivery with tech debt and internal tools. When conflicts arise, Ani emphasizes prioritization—customer first, business second, team and partners third, and self last. He stresses that change requests should be seen as learning opportunities, with proactive communication as the key to managing shifting priorities. Escalation, too, is reframed: not as failure, but as a professional tool, especially when done jointly with product partners to present transparent trade-offs. Looking ahead, Ani sees AI transforming collaboration. As non-engineering partners gain the ability to prototype and experiment independently, EMs will shift toward building enabling platforms, treating PMs, designers, and analysts as their direct customers. Ani closes with a practical checklist for managers: hold regular one-on-ones with cross-functional partners, maintain a single prioritized roadmap, translate tech debt into customer and business terms, run plan reviews with all stakeholders, and invest in informal relationship-building. His takeaway: trust and alignment across functions are the true force multipliers for engineering managers who want to lead beyond their team.

In this episode, Manju Abraham – veteran engineering leader at NetApp, Delphix, and HPE – shares hard-earned lessons on driving real change in engineering organizations. Manju reminds us that 70% of change efforts fail not because of poor plans, but because people never truly buy in. Manju’s core message: change doesn’t start with strategy, it starts with belief. Manju emphasizes creating trust and emotional safety so teams feel heard and included. Manju blends proven frameworks like Kotter’s 8 steps, ADKAR, SMART goals, and tactical empathy into a simple playbook: co-create the vision, activate the majority, empower champions, and track progress visibly. Above all, Manju stresses consistency — showing up, role modeling, and reinforcing behaviors so change becomes culture. Manju’s closing challenge: don’t ask if your team knows the plan, ask if they can repeat the vision without a slide deck. Real transformation comes not through pressure, but through trust, clarity, and shared ownership. Lead like a gardener, not a general – nurturing belief so your teams deliver lasting change with conviction. We hope you enjoyed this episode. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it. You are welcome to read Manju’s guidance on the driving lasting change in engineering organizations as a web article.

We are featuring a guest, Jeremy Franzen, an Operations expert with over 30 years of experience running Ops at public companies and startups. Jeremy shares his expertise in building strong collaboration between software engineering and operations teams through open communication, shared goals, feedback loops, joint automation and monitoring, shared security practices, knowledge sharing, and coordinated approaches to incident and change management, all tracked by common performance metrics. In the end, Jeremy provides a checklist that our listeners can start using today to build and run quality production environments together with their Operations teams. We hope you enjoyed this episode. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

In this second episode of three, we continue with a practical introduction to AI for engineering managers. We share possible impact of AI and Large Language Models, or LLM on the jobs. In the end we provide a checklist for engineering managers to help to stay ahead of the AI curve. We believe better managers will build a better world. We provide consulting services that include customized training for new managers, training on effective engineering management to help companies accomplish more with less, and the fundamentals of building teams from the ground up. Please contact us at contact@effectiveem.com if you have any questions or topic suggestions.

In this first episode of three, we provide a practical introduction to AI for engineering managers. We share that value AI and Large Language Models, or LLM, offer to engineering managers and their teams. In the end we provide a check list for engineering managers to start get value from AI today. We believe better managers will build a better world. We provide consulting services that include customized training for new managers, training on effective engineering management to help companies accomplish more with less, and the fundamentals of building teams from the ground up. Please contact us at contact@effectiveem.com if you have any questions or topic suggestions.

In this episode, we talk about what causes tough times for companies and how being smart with money and saving up can help keep the business healthy during downturns. We focus on how leaders can boost team morale when things get tough, using tools like one-on-one meetings, positive feedback, kudos programs, and team outings. We also cover the importance of strong engineering leadership, coaching, and career development when facing changes in the organization. Tune in for practical tips and strategies to keep your team motivated and resilient through the rough patches. We believe better managers will build a better world. We provide consulting services that include customized training for new managers, training on effective engineering management to help companies accomplish more with less, and the fundamentals of building teams from the ground up. Please contact us at contact@effectiveem.com if you have any questions.

We dedicate this episode to managing hyper performers. We define who the hyperperformers are, what distinguishes them from the rest of the team and how to manage hyperperformers for the maximum results while retaining them. We share management practices to avoid. In the end provide a checklist that our listeners can use to manage hyperperformers effectively. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you liked it. Please contact us at contact@effectiveem.com with suggestions or feedback.

We present the essential components of developing and communicating a strategy in engineering management, emphasize the need for strategies to be documented, measurable, and aligned with business needs. We share the importance of having a strategy as an engineering manager aspiring to drive change and innovation. We emphasize the need for a clear vision, meaningful goals tied to business value, and continuous iteration. We stress the importance of buy-in in the success of a strategy, highlighting the need for the team to be fully supportive of the strategy, as well as the importance of obtaining buy-in from higher management. Finally, we provide a detailed checklist to allow engineering managers developing a well-aligned and challenging yet achievable strategy, covering aspects such as building a strong foundation, aligning with business goals, leveraging lateral relationships, and maintaining effective communication with stakeholders. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

We are featuring a guest, Tim Wenzel, who is a Silicon Valley native, an expert in startup recruiting, including building early teams at PayPal and Tesla, and a founder and an executive recruiter at The (A)Lyst Group. Tim shares practical recommendations on feedback, candidate experience, and building teams in dynamic startup environments. In the end, Tim shares a checklist that our listeners can start using today to build exceptional teams. We hope you enjoyed this episode. We believe better managers will build a better world. Please share this episode with your colleagues and friends if you like it.

We share how to manage project dependencies in a way that brings results. We are going to define what a dependency is and how to manage your dependencies to ensure that projects you are a part of are delivered on time and with quality. In the end we will provide a checklist that our listeners can use to ensure that their dependencies are always satisfied.

We offer an effective way of introducing innovation to an engineering team and getting results regardless of the organization size. In the end we offer an actionable checklist that engineering managers can use to start innovating today.

We are starting a series on managing up. In this episode we talk about how not to communicate work issues to your boss. We define what complaining is and why complaining is ineffective. We provide a checklist that our listeners can use to see if their upward communications are in the complaining territory.

In this episode, Adam and Slava discuss the new normal of the remote workplace. We discuss the challenges in working remote, key benefits to being remote, and provide guidance for managers to effectively manage remote teams and maximize healthy productivity.

We offer an approach to escalating work issues that brings results without destroying relationships. We share what the escalations are, the impact of escalating unskillfully, and how to escalate professionally and effectively. In the end we provide a checklist that our listeners can use to escalate work issues effectively.

It’s that time of year again for managers and directs to start planning goals and executing on them for the new year. In this episode, we will discuss the challenges with goal setting and provide guidance for making the goal setting process more effective.

We share the effective way for taking time off. In the end we offer a check list that consists of Designate a substitute Prepare your substitute Set up the Out of The Office response in your email client Have a sync up meeting with your direct report after you come back

We share what staff meetings are, why they are important for keeping your team accountable for their deliverables and how they help you to stay on top of everything the team is doing. We provide guidance on how frequently you should run them and how to make them effective. In the end we provide a checklist that our listeners can use to start running effective staff meetings.

Wrapping up the ‘becoming a manger series’ with guidance and steps on what new engineering managers can do once their training completes and they are now officially a manager. Guidance includes: managing introductions and the first couple of weeks; planning your first 30-60-90 days; setting up foundational meetings like 1-on-1s; building key lateral relationships; creating space for the team to get to know you and your plan.