[Book Reviews] Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

Hello everyone, Thank you for being interested in my review book blog. This is another blog from the series related to my recently completed to read a book called “Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager” and this blog will give my feedback, recommendation, etc.

Disclaimer: I’m not the manager title, I’m just the mid-level engineer who is interested in this book and hopes it will give me the valuable information

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

The book has 3 sections separate including

1. Getting Oriented: The section for preparing yourself for your work as an engineering manager.
2. Working with Individuals: The section for giving the information to the handling person on your team.
3. The Bigger Picture: The additional information that might occur if you become the engineering manager. That might not happen right now but sooner or later it will occur.

My Summary of the book

As of my reading, I try to think more in case I’m not the engineering manager but I also think in terms of as an individual person. how can I grow in my field? how can I manage myself? what is my passion? what am I up to?

• The book creates a hypothetical situation for you as a person who has just been promoted to Manager level in one of the companies, so you will need to think like you are in that situation and the book has covered the approach and example with detail.
• Firstly, As an engineer who didn’t decide to become a manager path, I have read some and felt the stuff might not be related to me at first but I completely think wrong. The book gave me useful information to better at management in everything and well organized time.
• Getting Oriented section gives you the possibility to manage the stuff around you such as emails, meetings, batching jobs, and organizing the time.
• Give you how to recognize more in yourself such as strengths, and what time works best for you.
• Opening me for more mindset in coaching and mentoring the person as a teammate in the engineering departments.
• In the working with individuals section, It provides you with the science of humans, what is this person up for? what is the passion behind them? how to motivate them individually.
• Teach you the better way how to give actionable feedback to people.
• Overall, provides things more understandable for the human who work in the tech field as an engineering manager, not just your team but teaches you to be kind as a human to other people.
• In the Bigger Picture, give you information relating to the engineering firm such as Startup, Culture & Diversity in software engineering, the career path including individual contributors (IC) path and manager path, etc.
• And also give you the possible ways if you need to handle the many kinds of situations that might occur from the human, the projects, the organization, and how to communicate with the non-tech team.
• Teach you to plan ahead for your visions, futures, and more opportunities that have the possibility in your life.
• Last but not least, Thanks for improving me to become a better engineer in handling my day-to-day schedules and how handle different people also gave me a better way to mentor and coach as a software engineer.

The output of your team + The output of others that you influence

If you haven’t read one, I recommended you to read it even if you are not targeting to become an engineering manager (like me?) because even though you might not expect to work mostly with people in the day-to-day, not just the job. You still need to become better as a human, a person for partners, family, and friends and there also gives you the chance for you to become better at managing everything around you as a tech person.

That’s it, I hope you enjoy it so far. See you in the following review book blogs. Furthermore, You can reach me at the below links.

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