An Engineering Manager you don’t want to become!

A lot, in general is spoken about what makes a software engineering manager awesome, but not a lot is spoken about what makes a bad engineering manager. We all want to be that engineering manager who gets the “World’s Best Boss” mug from their team, not buy it for themselves like Mr. Michael Scott (character from the world famous series The Office)😃

A bad engineering manager can negatively impact team morale, productivity, and the overall success of a project. Let’s look at some traits or behaviors that can make an engineering manager highly ineffective:

1. Lack of technical expertise: An engineering manager who lacks technical expertise can struggle to make informed decisions and provide guidance to their team. They may be unable to identify technical problems, provide effective feedback, or help their team to solve complex issues. This ends up becoming a huge problem and cause of frustration for not just the engineers on the team, but also other external stakeholders on the team. Lack of technical expertise or a very low level of engagement also results in this engineering manager becoming a telephone operator between the team and external stakeholders, which is neither healthy for the manager nor for the team.
2. Inconsistent behavior: A manager who displays inconsistent behavior can be challenging to trust. For…