How to suck as an engineering manager
Tags: management, leadership, programming
Published: 2020-10-26 19:06:28

---
title: 'How to suck as an engineering manager'
published: true
description: 'Highlighting bad behaviors to learn better ones'
tags: management, leadership, programming
cover_image: https://bkern.dev/static/6ececbf6a03a1f1538e39b5bbd5da6b4/72e01/epic_fail.jpg
canonical_url: https://bkern.dev/how-to-suck-as-engineering-manager/
---

# The best ten ways to fail as a team lead or engineering manager

1. Miss 1 on 1's
2. Be so _busy_ that the only time your team _sees_ you is at the daily standup
3. Fail to delegate
4. Never take a team pulse or have a meeting for non-business purposes just to check in on team health
5. Listen to your direct reports/team members but do nothing on their input
6. Tell the team you understand but take no action
7. Put up with too much bullshit / fail to insulate team or reports from garbage
8. Only think of you and yourself vs. the team and/or your reports
9. Constantly double or triple book yourself so you attend two meetings at once and can't listen and participate in either
10. Consistently apologize for your poor behavior / missed meetings etc but keep doing what you are doing
11. Fail to communicate down to team so you cut them off from larger decisions etc.  **Threw in a bonus :)**


This role is difficult. We understand that but when you are struggling it is up to you to be aware enough you are not doing what you should be doing. Or that your too busy and seek help. Find a mentor. Not sure if you suck? Ask your team for some honest feedback outside of any formal processes.

 I have noticed for management and above their reviews typically fail to incorporate feedback from all levels or the feedback is cherry-picked from certain people which abandons any hope of honest and _real_ feedback. Want to know how to overcome all these? 
 > *Invert* every one of them.
 
 For example: Instead of missing 1 on 1s ..make them. If you know you cannot make today's or need to make changes then *proactively* communicate it. Proactive is *not* when the meeting is supposed to occur or 5 minutes before. Do better than that. Avoid:
 
 * Skipping
 * Scheduling and missing consistently
 * Rescheduling each one multiple times
 

 Complaining and being negative is always easier than actually doing something about the issue. However, I see a lot of value in listing negative things because I think showing people what not _todo_ is a nice way to get things going in the right direction. It is impossible though to define how to fix every issue seen above and I know with the appropriate context sometimes this shit has to occur. However, even if there is some bullshit you can be _transparent_ and open/honest and let your people know. Acknowledgment, taking responsibility as the leader, and proper communication are key when you do have to go through less than ideal times. 

 Engineering management is an odd path. It is a difficult transition from architect to _manager_. Sometimes the only way to make it on _up_ the career ladder is this route so people go for it when they should not. I hate when people choose this path for career reasons only or they have been forced this route. Every great architect cannot be and should not be an engineering manager. It is totally fine if you don't want to manage however in many businesses they fail to realize this and end up with bad engineering managers which unfortunately affects many more people.