Engineering Manager Playbook
Building high-performing eng teams
Who This Is For
Engineering managers, tech leads, VPEs
Any stage, especially growth-stage
You're responsible for engineering team output and health
Your job is not to write code—it's to build a team that can sustainably ship great software. The best EMs create an environment where engineers can do their best work, then get out of the way.
1. Build the Team
Hiring is your highest-leverage activity. Get it right.
Conducting Interviews
Improving hiring success requires transforming vague 'gut feelings' about candidates into structured...
View Skill → →Evaluating Candidates
Hire for team balance and complementary skills rather than searching for a single candidate who exce...
View Skill → →Onboarding New Hires
Publicly documenting your philosophy and mental models acts as a passive onboarding system for futur...
View Skill → →2. Create the Culture
Engineering culture is what happens when you're not in the room.
Building Team Culture
Successful high-stakes partnerships (like co-founders) require clear domain separation and a commitm...
View Skill → →Engineering Culture
A high-performance engineering culture can be built around extreme experimentation frequency and tig...
View Skill → →Designing Team Rituals
The guest argues that rituals are the 'engine' of a great team and discusses several specific ones (...
View Skill → →3. Develop Your People
Your job is to grow engineers into better engineers.
Running Effective 1:1s
1:1s should be used to monitor an employee's 'recovery' and joy to ensure long-term high performance...
View Skill → →Having Difficult Conversations
Managers often avoid giving sensitive but critical feedback on presence and perception, which can st...
View Skill → →Delegating Work
True delegation (leverage) occurs when a report drives their own department's progress without const...
View Skill → →4. Manage the System
Balance shipping features with maintaining system health.
Managing Tech Debt
When a technical solution lacks the operational flexibility required by the business, a full rebuild...
View Skill → →Technical Roadmaps
A written strategy is essential for organizational alignment and provides a baseline that can be cri...
View Skill → →Planning Under Uncertainty
Managing through a crisis requires 'wartime' humility to accurately diagnose problems before attempt...
View Skill → →5. Partner with Product
The PM/EM partnership is the foundation of product development.
Cross-functional Collaboration
In content-heavy organizations, cross-functional teams should include subject matter experts (like e...
View Skill → →Stakeholder Alignment
Growth leaders must bridge the gap between rapid experimentation and product craftsmanship to gain o...
View Skill → →Scoping & Cutting
Shift the focus from 'Minimum Viable Product' to 'Minimum Lovable Product' to ensure the initial rel...
View Skill → →Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Still writing production code (you're blocking someone's growth)
- Shielding the team from all business context
- Letting tech debt accumulate until it's a crisis
- Treating the PM as the boss instead of a partner
- Hiring fast instead of hiring right