Gerard Libby’s Post

Strategies for Building a Strong Team as an Engineering Manager

Strategies for Building a Strong Team as an Engineering Manager

At Orlanda Engineering, we're more than just a team - we're a relentless force driving towards excellence in engineering. Here's what sets us apart: Persistency: We don't back down from challenges; we embrace them head-on, persisting until we achieve meaningful results. Quality: Quality isn't just a standard; it's our guiding principle. It fuels every aspect of our work, ensuring excellence in every endeavor. Education and Development: We believe in continuous growth and development. Our team is constantly evolving, striving for excellence and embracing new opportunities for learning. Simplicity and Flexibility: In a complex world, we offer simple yet high-quality solutions. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and streamlined processes, we ensure efficiency and flexibility in everything we do. Join us in shaping a brighter future through engineering ingenuity and unwavering dedication. Together, let's push boundaries, innovate relentlessly, and exceed expectations. 🚀 #EngineeringExcellence #Persistency #Quality #Education #Simplicity #Flexibility #JoinOurTeam

How to know you are working with a diverse team: -At times, you find yourself clueless about what they are talking about 👍🏽 Great example here, of me picking up tech materials for our CTO Adil, whose industry expertise in mechanical engineering continually impresses both me and Emilia. As ReMinded is currently in a full-on technical development phase for our health monitoring device and is partnering with external collaborators, having a multidisciplinary team in place is crucial for us to progress at a good pace. 💫 Find people who do the polar opposite of what you do best; having a 10-person team with the same skillset profile probably won't last very far.

As engineers (or human beings, really) we want to look smart and be proud of ourselves, and it’s easy to conflate that with building complex stuff. But simplicity is hard. It requires an elegant mental model — you can’t duct-tape simplicity. The best engineers I have known write code like a toddler. This is hard because writing simple code requires letting go some ego: you need experience and maturity to do the simple thing and not think that’s because you are dumb, or because you couldn’t figure out the complicated thing. As a team, you can nurture this spirit. Simplicity comes natural when you reward shipping value to customers, and make people own the creation of such value. In the absence of this, people may build things for the sake of it. When engineers do not participate in company goals, don’t know what they are truly working for, or just receive tickets from managers to complete, they detach. They play the game and revert to just *building stuff*.

Do you know what the biggest scourge of an effective engineering team is in my experience? Lack of skills? Budget constraints? Nope. It's a lack of communication. You see, we need to change our perspective. An engineering team isn't just a group of individuals all working on their own tasks. It's a well-oiled machine where every part interconnects and works together harmoniously. But how do we get there? A few tips from my experience: Encourage open dialogues, create a safe space for ideas and criticism, foster empathy and understanding among team members, and ensure everyone has a clear vision of the end goal. Because let's face it, even the most skilled engineer can't build a bridge alone. The health of your engineering team isn't defined by individual skills or experience - it's by the strength of their communication and collaboration. Together! Working on improving these aspects will result in not only an efficient team but also high-quality output and overall job satisfaction.

At Classygates Engineering, our best asset is our people

Struggling to expand your engineering team..? Specialist engineering talent seems to be in constant demand, attached is our guide to help you if you are looking to build your team. Hopefully there are some useful tips to help.