Notes on leading engineers
Practical writing on 1:1s, team health and the craft of engineering management — plus the occasional note on how we’re building CoManager.
50 one-on-one meeting questions for engineering managers
50 useful 1:1 questions for engineering managers, grouped by check-in, workload, growth, feedback, motivation, and team health.
Read articleA 1:1 meeting template that actually gets used
A practical 1:1 meeting template with sections, timing, and variations for new reports, remote teams, and skip-level conversations.
7 early signs of engineer burnout (and what to do)
Seven early signs of engineer burnout, why they are easy to miss, and how managers can respond before the situation gets worse.
How to run effective 1:1s as a new engineering manager
A practical guide to running effective 1:1s: purpose, cadence, preparation, conversation structure, and common mistakes to avoid.
How to measure team health (without a 40-question survey)
Learn how to measure team health without relying only on surveys: key dimensions, lightweight signals, and why trends matter.
The first 90 days as a new engineering manager
A practical 90-day plan for new engineering managers: what to focus on, what to avoid, and how to build team context quickly.
Skip-level meeting questions that surface real issues
How to run skip-level meetings and ask questions that surface useful context about the work, team, manager, and organization.
How to spot (and prevent) quiet quitting on your team
What quiet quitting can look like in engineering teams, why it happens, and how managers can rebuild engagement with better context.
Engineer retention: why people leave and the signals you missed
Why engineers leave: growth, recognition, burnout, manager relationship, team environment, and the signals managers can watch for.
Running a weekly team review in 15 minutes
A simple 15-minute weekly team review structure covering what changed, what needs attention, open follow-ups, and next priorities.