How to Work With Software Engineers

How to Work With Software Engineers

How to make engineers do what you tell them to do. Or more to the point: how to get engineers to do what they tell you to do, and how to make them do it. Here’s a ten-step plan for working with engineers that has earned me a place among the three greatest product managers of all time

Absorb praise

Be vigilant when being celebrated, you are the one who is being celebrated and you deserve all of the glory

Never tell the reasons

Maintain an air of mystery when decisions are made to keep them on their toes

Interrupt at any time

Whatever an engineer is working on is less important than what you need right now

They’re always lying

Nothing in engineering is impossible if you set your mind to it.

Involve them late

Bring them in once all of the strategizing and synergizing is done and all that’s left is the programming.

Afterword

Strive for the opposite

Add process

Schedule update meetings, daily briefings, and all-day reviews

Commit for them

Show your ambition by committing to project schedules without consulting your team.

Deflect Blame

Make sure to redirect accusations when they are aimed at you, and to preemptively sow blame whenever possible.

Don’t bother with the details

You can’t change the world if you know what’s hard and what’s easy.

Be ambiguous

Aim to be as vague and imprecise as possible

Source

Get in