This last week has been exciting, finishing a short vacation in Florida and starting last Monday as an Engineering Manager at Grubhub. Most of my reading has been focused on finishing the The First 90 Days and with work documentation, I still had some time to read some nice articles from newsletter I’m subscribed to.
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The importance of of 1-on-1s to Retain Talent, with Justin Schiefner of Arkose Labs: It still shocks me when people think that 1-on-1s are not necessary, or that an open door policy is enough. 1-on-1s are the ideal scenario for individual contributors to get real-time feedback from their manager. I loved the idea of encouraging skip-level meetings in an organization, as it’ll give you a broader vision for both sides, probably with the skipped person benefiting from the interaction.
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The Benefits of Mixed Seniority in Engineering Teams 👩👦: Another well written article by Luca Rossi, explaining the benefits of mixed seniority. My take on this is that it all comes to diversity, and seniority is a pretty specific diversity factor. New engineers can bring fresh ideas, excitement, and a push to more senior engineers to become even better through mentorship.
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An Interlude: Will Larson, the writer of An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management and Staff Engineer writes and reflects about his recent stroke experience and how returning to a normal life has helped him through the process. I’m really happy to hear that he’s good and enjoying a new pace at work/life.
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Podcast: Work, Family, and Fitness: Balancing Life with Tri Training: Since my daughter was born, I’ve been struggling with my own fitness, I love being in shape and participating in long distance events, marathons and Ironman among others. This podcast was an interesting one, although the co-hosts are lucky by having their job related to their passion. The goal is making sure that you have the people surrounding you involved in the “lifestyle”. I’m looking forward to reading/listening more in this subject, and maybe writing about it.