Management checklist
This list isn't meant to be exhaustive, nor is every item listed here applicable all the time. It's meant to give a basic framework to help managers, particularly less experienced ones, think about balancing their responsibilities.
Section 1: Managing the team
- every member of the team knows what they should be working on
- every member of the team knows what to do if they finish a task, or get blocked
- every member of the team has had a meaningful career conversation within the last six months
- every member of the team receives timely, meaningful, actionable performance feedback
- work that needs to get done aligns with work that is rewarded by the promotion process
- performance reviews never contain surprises
- team members are able to express ideas for new projects or changes to the way the team works
- the team is able to give input on roadmaps and plans
- the team is staffed adequately and work is evenly distributed
- the team, overall, has the level of functional expertise required to do the work, and a reasonable number of stretch goals are available
- conflicts are resolved in a fair and respectful way
- diversity is represented and embraced; a broad spectrum of views are considered
Section 2: Managing peer relationships
- Key team peer relationships are identified and regularly maintained through regular healthy, productive meetings, and effective written communication
- groups dependent on team's work can trust the commitments the team makes
- key peer teams have a clear idea of how they can request work to be prioritized by your team, with transparency into what the tradeoffs are
- team is able to get work required from dependency teams prioritized with a reasonable expectation that commitments are honored
- agreements are documented in writing
- progress and set backs are reguarly communicated to key stakeholders
- when collaborative projects are completed, credit is shared among the contributors
- there is a clear, mutually-respectful escalation path for issues that cannot be resolved between peer managers/engineers
- managers are able to discuss issues privately in a psychologically safe manner
Section 3: Managing senior management relationships
- direct management has clear visibility into the progress of the team
- direct management/management chain is appropriately involved in issues requiring special attention
- you are able to advocate for specific prioritization decisions; priorities are set with transparency
- clear agreement on goals and definition of success
Section 4: Managing yourself
- Your own work-life boundaries are respected
- Your immediate and long-term career goals are documented in writing
- You are not stagnating, even if your immediate career goals don't involve a promotion
- impact is primarily expressed in achievements of the team and the growth of the team members