Technical debt is a common challenge faced by engineering teams, requiring deliberate efforts to manage and pay it down. In this blog post, we will explore different approaches to tackling technical debt and building a long-term technical strategy. We will also highlight the importance of involving senior individual contributors (ICs) and engineering managers (EMs) in shaping the strategy, while considering the alignment with business and product goals.

Crunch periods are a reality in many industries, and sometimes they are necessary to meet an immovable deadline. However, working under high-pressure situations for an extended period can lead to burnout, and it’s essential to provide support for the team after the crunch is over. In this blog post, we will discuss different approaches for formalized recovery time after a crunch period.

As a manager, you’re responsible for ensuring that the software your team creates is of the highest quality possible. This means reducing the number of bugs and improving code quality. But how do you measure these improvements? And what strategies can you implement to achieve them?

When it comes to software engineering roles, experience in the tech stack you’re going to be working in is valuable but not specifically required. A good engineer can ramp up and learn new stacks. However, someone experienced in the tech stack can contribute quickly to key development initiatives, while also bringing outside experience using the stack.

I was speaking to a friend who works at a startup with a team of around 14 engineers. 80% of them are mid level engineers with 3-4 years of experience. They all work in product squads covering specific areas.

The article “Engineering Leadership Principles” by Hugo Dias outlines six principles that he believes are crucial for effective engineering leadership:

Note: This is a proposal I put together with one of the engineers in my organization for a peer-directed mentorship program. I’ve removed names and fudged numbers but I hope it will serve as a valuable template. All other numbers quoted here are from outside studies, with links to the studies provided.

Note: This is a compliment to the previous article I wrote about the Technical state of a Team, and explains the concepts in depth.

All the previous project planning articles summarized into a checklist.

Note: This is a series of project planning talks I gave my team.