Photo by Ghis / UnsplashOne inevitable part of engineering management is some form of ticket management. For most, that means using Jira, and I've yet to meet someone who likes it. However, despite the distaste for Jira, everyone knows if we didn't have ticket tracking, getting things done would be messy…
Photo by Zane Lee / UnsplashIt shouldn't be surprising that as a manger, you have a lot of meetings. There are the organization wide meetings, syncs with other managers, staff meetings, 1:1s, project meetings, etc. One thing I've tried to do (and struggled with quite a bit) is running efficient…
Photo by Pope Moysuh / UnsplashOne of the hardest things going from programming to managing has been the change in output. People often write about it is challenging being a manager because you don't get those quick wins like you do as a programmer. Some challenging bug doesn't get fix in…
Photo by George Kourounis / UnsplashThe beginning of this year I made a commitment to write at least once a week. For those few people counting, that has clearly not happened. While I don't like to make excuses, I think I have some really good ones that certainly trump blogging in…
Photo by Eric Ward / UnsplashOne thing that is always hard when you're new to something is knowing how to get started. When I try to learn a new language or library, I often get analysis paralysis because I have no idea what is the right way to do things. I…
I made a commitment to write more this year. Let's see how it is going.…
Photo by chuttersnap / UnsplashThere are times in your career where you need to make some decision. Finding a new job is a great example, but there are smaller aspects such as taking on a project, doing a side projects or joining a group all can have an impact on your…
Photo by Quino Al / UnsplashOne challenge I've found is how to fail and learn without ruining plans and losing trust. In order to write up a plan you have to make assumptions. As with any assumption, you can easily get it wrong, throwing your well organized plan into a tailspin.…
Photo by Max Lakutin / UnsplashI mentioned to a mentor of mine that there are tons of resource for working with people as a manager, but there are so few resources for the nuts and bolts of the job. He mentioned that as he has moved up the organizational ladder, the…
Every so often I get tired of looking at the same old screens. It is not as if there are tons of programs I use throughout the day. There is a web browser, slack and Emacs. At some point I get antsy and want to see what is I could…