Managing Tech Teams (Dev StackUp)
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This document outlines best practices for managers at Squarespace based on a talk given by Franklin Angulo. It includes a proposed Manager SLA with expectations for 1-on-1s, feedback, team meetings, and roadmaps. Angulo provides insights for managing individuals, other managers, hiring processes, onboarding, 1-on-1s, team meetings, retrospectives, offsites, and developing a vision. The document aims to establish consistent expectations for managers and provide tools to develop teams.
Managing Tech Teams (Dev StackUp)
- 1. Dev StackUp Managing Tech Teams Franklin Angulo (@feangulo)
- 2. 01 Scaling the Organization 02 Manager SLA 03 Manager @ Squarespace Insight 04 Wins & Frustrations AGENDA Franklin Angulo @feangulo Director of Engineering
- 9. Manager SLA
- 10. A set of goals that we expect all of our leads and managers to strive toward. It’s not a directive, but rather a framework to enable managers to build motivated and healthy teams. Manager SLA
- 11. ● Team Lead: “What are my responsibilities to my team members?” ● Engineer: “What should I expect from my manager?” ● Joint vocabulary for what defines success as a manager at Squarespace ● Consistent experience between managers and direct reports across the org ● Enable new managers to quickly get up to speed on management practices Manager SLA
- 12. Direct Reports: ● Weekly or bi-weekly 1-on-1s ● Semi-annual Feedback for You Team: ● Semi-annual strategy offsites; present clear roadmap / task list ● Quarterly team lunches and team outings New Hire: ● First day: personal roadmap defining success in their role ● First week: onboarding exercises and team lunch Manager SLA
- 14. Personal Roadmap Manager SLA ● After 1 week, I will have… ● After 3 months, I will have… ● After 1 year, I will have...
- 16. Manager @ Squarespace Insight
- 19. Invest in Your Team Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Celebrate: team lunches, team outings outside the office ● Read: your email and pull requests ○ Is there tension that needs to be surfaced for discussion? ● Read: your meetings ○ Who is not participating?
- 20. Invest in Yourself Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Influence: have coffee or lunch with managers across the company ● Mentor: find someone to discuss issues you’re encountering (and to vent?) ● Read: ○ Books: The First 90 Days, Multipliers ○ Magazines: Harvard Business Review, First Round Review ○ Other Tools: Jhana, Learning Labs
- 21. Hiring Process Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Understand team’s needs, agree on the profile of candidates ● Process: clearly define it from sourcing all the way to extending the offer ● Decisions: communicate at every step of the hiring process to your team ● Develop your team’s interviewing skills, establish hiring “bar” & stay true to it
- 22. Onboarding Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Before first day: develop a plan with the team for the new hire ● First day: ○ Present personal roadmap and definition of success ● First week: very important! ○ Opportunities to meet people in the team and other teams ○ Understand architecture and the Squarespace way of working
- 23. 1-on-1s Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Manager SLA: follow structure until rapport is built, then it’s more natural ● Career development: once a month, set goals and track them ● Be social: talk to your team outside of 1-1s, be aware of team dynamics ● Explore: have them outside of the office; walk, coffee, lunch
- 24. Team Meetings Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Tailor them to your team’s level of comfort and then iterate ● Negotiate a lightweight way to understand progress of tasks and any blockers ● Keep all status updates in JIRA ● Encourage open discussion through an agenda document ● As the week progresses, team members add topics to the agenda
- 25. Retrospectives Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● Once a month or after a big project ● Three columns: happy, “meh”, and sad ● Discuss each item one by one and have a conversation with the entire team ● Note down any action items; keep track of items moving into the sad column
- 26. Offsites Manager @ Squarespace Insight ● HPT Sessions: very valuable, help your team find its purpose and develop itself ● Vision: engineers value leaders with vision, who have an idea of what needs to be built months in advance ● Offsites are a great way to have conversations along these lines
- 28. QUESTIONS?