Re:Ask HN: How do I help an underperforming team get on track
by badsprintteam on Sunday September 27, 2020 @03:13PM
(#24609340)
I just left a position where the lead engineer was misleading the team manager and would threaten to get folks fired for stumbling upon the deception. I think team managers need a modicum of technical knowledge, or else there's room for this sort of dysfunction.
Re:Ask HN: How do I help an underperforming team get on track
by eatonphil on Sunday September 27, 2020 @03:20PM
(#24609392)
Definitely. I consider myself a pretty technical guy. But my job is to be a manager and I cannot focus on good technical decisions when I have to pick between them and getting something done.
My point is that it's not just about skills but which slot you fit in to make sure everyone is representing all the various aspects that lead to good overall decisions.
And as you say, I'm only even talking about the best case where everyone is competent and reasonable.
If you've got a technical manager who's trying to be the senior engineer, you'll have a conflict of interest in long term quality vs. meeting commitments.
If you have only a dedicated senior engineer you'll have worse relationships with stakeholders and communication out in general.
A senior engineer will help you meet deadlines. A manager will help commit appropriately (to keep same worklife balance).
But you also can't just have two folks on the team because they'd both burn out. So you need these two roles but then you also need another 2-4-6 developers, a mix of senior and junior.