Sarah Drasner’s “Engineering Management for the Rest of Us” is a practical and easy-to-read guide to the world of managing engineers. The central theme of the book revolves around the transformation of technical professionals into successful managers. Ideas around understanding team members values, motivating team members, encouraging collaboration, managing conflict, working with management, managing yourself and so on are well-thought out and placed in the book. Learn to Balance People Management and Technical Leadership: As an engineering manager, you’re required to manage both people and technical aspects of a project.

She’s an award-winning speaker, author of SVG Animations from O’Reilly, Vue core team emeritus, and co-organizer of ConcatenateConf. I read it slowly but with great attention, took lots of notes and pondered over it, went back and forth, reread specific sections when they were particularly relevant to me.As a manager, it is crucial that you're prioritizing your own time well to best drive big impacts, and also to be aligned with what you feel is important. I confess that some advices in part 3 (the one more into "engineering") sound horrible to me, quite misaligned with the way I understand product development based on software.

Throughout the pages, the author references numerous insightful articles and recommends several valuable books, including "Culture Map", "Drive", "Accelerate", and "The Happiness Advantage". Engineering Management for the Rest of Us” is an excellent primer for engineers looking to transition into management roles.The book is too basic and lacks depth in technical topics that would be useful for those with a background in engineering. As for key points and advice, I gained: align personal values, embrace curiosity, and strive to create clarity.

While the book may be helpful for non-technical managers new to managing engineering teams, it is unlikely to provide any new insights or strategies for those already experienced in the field. It's not just important, it's crucial that we iterate on our own skills as managers so that we can properly support everyone around individuals, peers, leadership, and the business. Overall this book can be valuable to someone new to leading people and/or software projects and thus probably delivers on the promises of its title.It's not just important, it's crucial that we iterate on our own skills as managers so that we can properly support everyone around us: individuals, peers, leadership, and the business. This doesn’t mean you need to be an expert in every technology, but you should understand the high-level concepts and be able to make informed decisions. I always wondered why regular leaders treat so hard their people, forgetting about human values and just asking for output and results without knowing context of every team member. The text artfully balances anecdotal evidence, factual data, and actionable steps, weaving a narrative that is as engaging as it is informative. The topics described feel relatable and palpable, as if they're directly taken from your own workplace.

If you're looking for an introduction into engineering management, start with The Manager's Path, Camille Fournier. Many of the thoughts here enforced what I had learnt from reading blog posts about who a senior developer is, like . Engineering Management for the Rest of Us" neatly packs common themes that are part of manager's everyday reality, whether that manager is a freshly minted one, or one that has years of experience. It’s imperative that we as managers learn as much as we can and work on ourselves, so that our teams may enjoy a healthy working life and strong relationships.

Encourage team members to update their skills and knowledge and provide opportunities for them to do so.