Leadership can get lonely at times. You are the only one with your role in your direct team(s). Your manager is quite hard to reach. And you are also restricted in what you can share with the team, and talking about your struggles is almost always inappropriate. So how can you work through them? And how can you benefit from the knowledge that other people with the same role have in your company?

Regular 1-on-1s are to this day my favorite management tool, and it has transitioned remarkably well from working with Software Engineers to now working with other Managers. It’s probably the one constant factor in a sea of learning over the last few years, but I believe I also got a little bit better at running them. I collected something close to a Field Guide to share my current state of knowledge - This can be useful for Managers and Engineers alike because you can also use this to improve the 1-on-1 you have with your own boss.

A while ago I told one of my new Engineering Managers that I expect them to develop a strategy for their team. And oh my, were they confused by this ambiguous ask. I failed to explain this concept and my wish multiple times until we got it right, so this is both a lesson for me and for everyone else watching: As an Engineering Manager, how can you develop a strategy for your team?

Having your manager change is never easy - even in the best case, you will lose someone who was rooting for you and had your best interest in mind, only to start the whole journey anew with a stranger. Re-building a shared context and a trust relationship after a handover is significant work. I collected a few ideas from performing more than 20 handovers to make that process a bit smoother.