An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management

by Will Larson

Membership is the precondition to belonging. The programs I’ve found most impactful here: Recurring weekly events allow coworkers to interact socially. These are held during working hours, are open to folks from many different teams to attend, and are optional. One of my personal favorites is hosting a paper-reading group.3 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) create opportunities for folks with similar backgrounds to build community. Team offsites once a quarter or so are a good chance to pause, reflect, and work together differently. Spending a day together learning and discussing is surprisingly effective at making individuals feel like a team. This is particularly true for groups of managers, whose daily cadence is typically more in tune with their teams than with their peers. Coffee chats, perhaps randomly assigned by Donut,4 get folks from different teams interacting when they don’t need something from each other. Team lunches give folks time to relax a bit and interact socially. Held once a week or so, they can become a pleasant ritual. These can be a bit risky, at least for folks (like early hires) who feel uncomfortable in their team. Navigating the social mores of an entire team can be much more difficult than in a one-on-one.