A Manager’s Guide: How to Build a High-Performing Engineering Team

Introduction

Effective management is a crucial skill that can make the difference between success and total failure. As an engineering manager, your role goes beyond technical expertise; it requires exceptional leadership, communication, and people management skills. In this article, our senior development manager, Valerio Muzi, shares tips on managing a high-performing engineering team.

Navigating Complex Technical Decisions and Fostering Growth

I’ve been with Agoda since 2015 and currently lead a team of 34 engineers with 18 direct reports, while the remaining 16 report to managers under me. Managing many reporting lines is easy when each member understands their role and mission within the organization.

This can be achieved through well-defined OKRs, standard processes, scrum ceremonies, and clear reporting. The role of a manager at Agoda is diverse. The primary responsibilities are empowering the team by making complex technical decisions and guiding the professional growth of all individual contributors through mentoring, coaching, and constantly challenging them to tap into their potential.

Staying Current with Industry Trends and Emerging Technologies

As a manager, staying up to date with emerging technologies is important. I strive to remain up-to-date by reading technical blogs and engaging in conversations with team members. For my team, I employ various strategies to help them stay current:

• I encourage cross-team collaboration, allowing them to sync with successful teams that have adopted new technologies.
• I introduce engaging side projects that pique their curiosity and incorporate their desired learnings and innovative ideas into our plans.

Facing Challenges and Finding Solutions

Navigating complex projects is always a challenge. Recently, my team tackled a strategic project aimed at serving the mobile web booking form in an embedded browser to native clients.

The scope expanded unexpectedly, requiring us to reverse-engineer differences between products with over ten years of distinct development. We initiated a “shadow experiment” to simulate the “real” experiment’s impact on users, ultimately identifying 200+ parameters for analysis and resolution.

It’s rare to see one’s entire team — which in this case is more than one scrum — work towards a collective goal and make daily progress, no matter how big or small. This experience showcased the team’s dedication, from the most junior members to experienced tech leads.

Advice to New Managers

First-time managers often struggle to transition from being individual contributors and adapting to their new roles. A common mistake that strong ICs tend to make is to keep doing the job of an IC: it’s tempting to get that one task done yourself because it will be done faster and with higher quality. This is okay if the team really needs the extra help (always be ready to get your hands dirty when needed). However, this approach will ultimately take away opportunities for the team to grow and learn on their own.

Another mistake is to take a defensive approach when receiving constructive criticism from their manager or the product manager. The manager’s role is not just to defend the team but to identify the team’s issues, prioritize, and build a plan to address and solve them.

I advise new managers to put their egos aside and work hard to empower their team. Their job is no longer to make themselves “look good”; it’s to make their team members become good, and then great, at their job. A manager should never take merit on behalf of the team and, conversely, should always take responsibility for what doesn’t work well.

A great manager can empower their team to become more self-sufficient or establish a structure that doesn’t demand continuous supervision. This approach enables the team to make technical decisions, enhance visibility into their quarterly plans, and implement necessary adjustments when necessary.

Supporting Professional Growth and Development of Team Members

There are two aspects to professional growth: first, having the ambition and motivation to grow, and second, having a path to follow. Every person is different and requires a different approach. For instance, some engineers are naturally ambitious and motivated, while others are happy to stay in their comfort zone.

While the first group is easier to work with, the second is a more interesting challenge; I normally try to find something that sparks their interest. I generally follow a framework that starts from having my direct report and myself assess their current level and skill set, identifying a few areas to focus on improving in the next 3–6 months, and offering frequent feedback.

When appropriate, I work with them to set up personal OKRs for which they are entirely responsible: they choose their objective, and I help them to think of key results and how to measure their success. I also give them tasks or projects that are challenging enough but achievable. Since failure is an integral part of learning and growth, I like to set up what I call “controlled failure scenarios”:

• Explain in advance what will happen if things don’t go as planned.
• Work together on a plan B.
• Overall make sure that they will own not only their successes but also their setbacks.

Ensuring Alignment with Agoda Values

Being a good match to Agoda values is a crucial factor when I’m hiring for an open position. Among our values, I consider ownership, doing things the right way, and willingness to learn as the most important ones. Anyone who has strong ownership and is humble enough to understand they are on a never-ending learning journey has what it takes to be successful. I continuously reinforce Agoda values by setting examples through my actions and creating an environment that promotes these values.

Maintaining Team Motivation and Engagement

Keeping a team constantly motivated and engaged is a tremendously hard task, especially when the team runs into a few setbacks, fails to achieve the planned goals, or runs into other kinds of problems. I think that it’s important to accept that no one can be highly motivated all the time; we all have personal lives with their ups and downs.

A good manager must have empathy and build a safe environment for everyone. It’s also crucial to build a sense of accomplishment, make the team see their progress, and take ownership of what they build. Once a team understands the value of what they’re building, they will start engaging their stakeholders, challenge product decisions, make suggestions on how to improve, and actively look for roadblocks to remove. These are all sure signs of high engagement and a sense of ownership.