Engineering Management for the Rest of Us

by Sarah Drasner

“The leadership team decided that we need to ship at least three features this quarter, so I guess that’s what we have to figure out how to do.” versus: “One of the key OKRs (objectives and key results) this quarter is that we as a company need to double the signups to our platform. We’ve done some calculations that show we can almost certainly get there by shipping three features, so let’s all talk about what we can do within our group to make that possible. If you’re curious, we can chat through what initiatives other groups are doing to support this as well.” The first is not just passive, but demotivating. I have made the mistake of using this approach when I wanted to be liked by my employees and for them to think of me as a peer. But we’re not peers. I have a responsibility to them.