Advice for new managers
Recent threads recommended that new engineering managers stop solving problems solo, publish an explicit “How to work with me” document to set expectations, and build momentum via repeated wins. Other posts urged involving engineers early through joint discovery spikes with product to reduce handoff friction. (x.com) (x.com)
New engineering managers are getting a more specific playbook: stop being the team’s fastest problem-solver, write down how you work, and rack up small wins early. (x.com) One recent thread argued that first-time managers lose leverage when they keep solving problems alone, because the job shifts from individual output to setting direction, unblocking others, and making tradeoffs visible. The same post recommended a written “How to work with me” note so engineers know expectations for decisions, feedback, and escalation. (x.com) A second thread pushed the advice upstream: bring engineers into product discovery before requirements are handed off, using short joint “spikes,” or time-boxed investigations, to test scope, risks, and feasibility together. The post said earlier engineering input cuts rework that usually shows up after a product plan is already set. (x.com) That advice lines up with established management guidance. Gergely Orosz wrote in a 2021 checklist for first-time engineering managers that the role often feels “lonely” and underspecified, and he recommended explicit expectations and regular check-ins to turn “be a good engineering manager” into concrete work. (blog.pragmaticengineer.com) The “How to work with me” document is a manager-specific version of a broader team practice. Atlassian says working agreements help teams define what teammates should expect from each other, and its Teamwork Lab found 74% of employees who ran that exercise felt more empowered to speak up about changes they wanted on their team. (atlassian.com) The push to stop solving everything solo also fits Google’s long-running research on team effectiveness. Google’s re:Work guide says psychological safety — a shared belief that people can speak up without punishment — is a core condition for effective teams, which makes a manager’s response to questions, mistakes, and dissent part of team performance, not just style. (rework.withgoogle.com) The repeated-wins idea is about pace, not theatrics. First-time managers are often asked to prove themselves quickly, and small visible improvements — cleaner planning, faster decisions, clearer one-on-ones, fewer blocked projects — are easier for a team to absorb than a full process overhaul in month one. (review.firstround.com) The joint-discovery advice targets a common software handoff problem. When product managers define work first and engineers see it later, technical constraints, missing dependencies, and simpler alternatives often surface after the plan is already socially “done,” which makes changes slower and more political. (x.com) Other management guides make the same shift in different words. LeadDev advised new managers in December 2023 to build relationships with senior engineers through one-on-ones and collaboration rather than trying to be the technical expert in every room. (leaddev.com) Taken together, the advice describes a narrower first 90 days than many new managers expect: publish your operating manual, invite engineers into discovery, and make enough steady improvements that the team stops waiting for you to have all the answers. (x.com)
