Once in a while, I see someone struggling to get a promotion at work. They are frustrated and can’t figure out why they haven’t got the promotion. Questions like, “Why does it take too long? Why are they not promoting me even though I’m doing the job already?” fly in their heads. I was in that same situation before....
A manager may micromanage a subordinate because they most probably don’t trust the person or they have control issues (which also relate to trust). The manager doesn’t believe that the task will be done right or in the way that they would do it to high standards. Many managers feel that they are responsible for the...
When you join a new team, focus on three aspects to understand its state. Audit to learn what’s right and what’s wrong. Process Technology People For each, try to analyze what you can change or influence and understand what you can’t change but are concerned about. Related Note(s): Don't fall into monitoring people...
If you would like to improve your relationship with someone, compliment them on their good traits. Your compliment will open the doors for someone to like you. The compliment doesn’t even have to be true. But be careful when you give compliment to your boss. Try to do it via third person, like sharing your...
When someone gets compliment on something they are doing good, they try to perfect it. For example, if an engineer writing a good Pull Request description 80% of the time, compliment on how they care about doing these things that bring clarity and thank them. You’ll see that they will start doing it 100% of the...
When making an investment decision, try to understand why. Do you like someone working there? Do you like the leadership or the culture of the company? Maybe someone famous you like recommended the business? Do you know someone working there? If your friend is working there, you have a higher chance of liking a...
Increase your physical attractiveness when you work. People give more social advantages to the physically attractive. You should not only dress nicely but also take care of yourself. Exercise to stay in shape and take care of yourself. In your organization, you may not be required to dress nicely; people may go to...
Similarities create comfort; we like people who are similar to us. When someone we admire and consider, as they know everything, says, “I don’t know,” it creates a familiarity, showing that they are like us; they don’t know. Creating familiarity and similarity brings people closer to you. Regardless of where and how...
While working as a leader, you have better chances to get compliance when people genuinely like you. Work toward offering your team and stakeholders fair judgment and being liked. Your stakeholders will especially try to go the extra mile to help you if they like you. Establishing this likeness early on will help...
“It’s the product manager’s job to write Jira tickets.” “I need to get full requirements before starting the implementation.” What’s missing here? It’s the partnership between engineering and product—a lack of product mindset and learning culture. Engineers often don’t feel responsible for the product they are...
In all engineering problems like tech debt, focus on business case first. Telling executives (like CEO) or product management that tech debt has to be worked on will not work. You have to understand the business first and then find the impact of tech debt to the business. If people are complaining that the team...
Track capacity allocation in retrospective rather than for future. This way you know what the team spent time on the last month(s). Categorize the work in three categories: tech debt, product improvements, and new features. Once you accumulate some data around how much time the team(s) spend on each category, you...
