Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager: How to Be the Leader Your Development Team Needs

Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2020

I'm an experienced engineering manager, and I manage frontline managers. This book is one of the two books I give as required reading for new managers in my team - together with the Manager's Path. I've gotten several actionable ideas on the second part of the book on more advanced topics.

What I most like about the book is that it is a "modern", 2020 take on engineering management - with the focus being on the "hard to get right the first time" parts. I have yet to read a book on engineering management that covers 1:1s, performance reviews, hiring and laying off, diversity & inclusion, workplace politics, remote work, and the need for managers to relax. I have definitely not seen all of these in one place. As I read, I kept nodding along with the experiences and advice. It's similar advice to what I'd give to anyone wanting to build a great team with a strong developer culture, being a thoughtful manager.

I strongly recommend this book to people just starting - or about to start - their first engineering management role. There is a wealth of practical and genuinely good advice written. It is the kind of advice you get in your first two years as a manager - assuming you have one or two great mentors and are surrounded by multiple peers who continuously give you well-intended feedback. Which is not the case for many people. How do you manage your perception? How do you decide what information to broadcast? How do you do good 1:1s? Do perf reviews? Hire? Let people go? I also find myself looking these topics up when I am mentoring less experienced managers, drawing inspiration on activities to suggest for these managers to take on to grow.

More experienced managers like myself can also take away good parts, especially in the second part of the book. How do you manage high-stakes "The Eye of Sauron" projects? How do you get the news through the grapevine? How do you make workplace politics work for you? What are ways to communicate well within a larger group? How should you design career ladders? What about diversity, inclusion, remote working and work-life balance?

20 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Everyone in tech can benefit from this book, not just managers

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2020

I was an engineering manager at an early stage startup and helped take it from ~20->200 employees before switching over to senior technical track. I have to say: I would have loved to have this book when I started being a manager. There's a lot of great tactical advice about how to actually run day-to-day manager responsibilities.

However, I benefitted from reading this even though I'm not a manager anymore. It helped frame my relationship with my manager better, and it gave me more respect for managers on my team. One of my favorite sections is on coaching, as I think it's something that everyone can become skilled at and it will bring value to their role.

One person found this helpful

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Marco Talento

The title says it all: "Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2022

Verified Purchase

I have recently transitioned to a leadership role and this book has been my "bible". The author managed to engage me from the beginning by giving real examples and great tips. This is definitely an amazing book that covers modern engineering managers.

One person found this helpful

Ng'ang'a

Practical and relevant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

The book is clearly written and gave me some practical steps that i could implement. Depending on the level of experince and the specific organization there might be some that do not apply but the ones that do are quite helpful and practical.

One person found this helpful

christopher walsh

Excellent book for any first time manager

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 15, 2021

Verified Purchase

Provides advice and a strong framework for managing teams. Could not recommend more.

abi

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book is great for those new to management, and also for those wanting to sharpen their skills.

Ethien Salinas

Not just for new IT Managers, it’s for anyone who wants to manage properly

Reviewed in Mexico on May 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

One of my favorite parts of the book is the chapter about managing yourself, as a manager you'll want to "delegate" many tasks, but if you do not know how to manage yourself will be a really difficult task.
In general, this book can help you to understand what to expect from your day to day as an IT manager, and also gives you some tasks to start doing it properly.

M. Strand

Great book for both new and accomplished leaders

Reviewed in Germany on January 31, 2022

Verified Purchase

I bought a copy of this book for all leaders in my team as well as a copy for myself. Some of them are new leaders, some of them have been leading team of engineers for some time. I've got 15 years experience as a leader. Everyone found something useful in this book, and it sparked a lot of interesting discussions in my leadership team. Highly recommended!

Gilles D. G

Convenable à 100%

Reviewed in Canada on November 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

Ce livre était un cadeau qui a été très apprécié. Il a été reçu rapidement et dans un excellent état.

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krishna chaitanya

What's the role of enigneering manager is in a technology company

Reviewed in India on December 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I can't imagine reading a book like someone talking to me directly and addressing my pain points precisely. Coming from technology background, I was struggling to understand the scope and role of ideal engineering manager is. This book addresses exactly that gap. Every aspiring technology leader should read this book atleast once in your career.

2 people found this helpful

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