$ cat authors/alex-chen
Engineering Manager
Alex is an engineering manager who learned the hard way—managing teams through scaling chaos, tough performance conversations, and everything in between. After collecting frameworks from mentors and testing what actually works, Alex started sharing these tactics in a weekly newsletter for engineering managers.
How to measure software engineering productivity — compare output, DORA, SPACE, and outcome metrics, and why AI spend is forcing the conversation now.
Read more →40 ice breakers and energisers for software engineering teams in the office — quick standup warmups, meeting openers, retro games, and all-hands activities that don’t feel forced.
Read more →8 ways to build trust as an engineering manager — consistency, candor, follow-through, and the small behaviors that make teams actually believe you.
Read more →9 ways engineering managers can retain great engineers — growth, scope, compensation honesty, and fixing the quiet reasons people leave.
Read more →7 steps to run a fair performance improvement plan for engineers — clear goals, real support, documentation, and a decision you can stand behind.
Read more →8 tips for engineering managers working with product managers — shared priorities, healthy tension, and a partnership that ships without the blame game.
Read more →9 time management tips for engineering managers — protect maker-manager balance, kill meeting bloat, and stop living in Slack reactivity.
Read more →8 ways engineering managers can prioritize technical debt — sell it to product, pick high-leverage fixes, and stop the backlog from becoming a graveyard.
Read more →8 ways to coach senior engineers without micromanaging — grow scope, sharpen influence, and keep seniors challenged without treating them like juniors.
Read more →9 software engineering metrics managers should actually track — DORA-style delivery signals, quality, and health metrics that don’t turn into surveillance.
Read more →8 ways to resolve conflict on software engineering teams — technical disagreements, interpersonal friction, and how managers intervene without making it worse.
Read more →8 managing-up tips for engineering managers — keep your boss informed, surface risks early, and get air cover without becoming a politician.
Read more →9 ways to build psychological safety on software engineering teams — make it safe to disagree, admit mistakes, and raise risks without career fear.
Read more →8 things to do before and when you fire an engineer — fairness, documentation, the conversation itself, and how to care for the team afterward.
Read more →100 brilliant names for your software engineering team — agile, git, stack, and debugging puns that actually stick (and won’t make the exec team cringe).
Read more →7 tips for setting engineering manager OKRs that don’t suck — outcomes over output theater, team goals vs personal goals, and metrics you’ll actually use.
Read more →8 tips for managing remote software engineering teams — async defaults, trust without surveillance, inclusive rituals, and keeping culture from going quiet.
Read more →7 practical ways to stop status-update 1:1s — async updates, report-owned agendas, and questions that make engineering one-on-ones useful again.
Read more →9 ways to run effective 1:1s as an engineering manager — structure, agendas, coaching prompts, and how to stop turning them into status meetings.
Read more →8 tips for hiring senior engineers who stay — raise the bar, sell the real team, run fair loops, and close without desperation theater.
Read more →10 tips for your first 90 days as an engineering manager — listen first, map the system, earn trust, and ship small improvements without breaking the team.
Read more →How to write a strong engineering promotion packet — structure, evidence examples, impact language, and mistakes that sink otherwise ready engineers.
Read more →25 engineering manager 1:1 questions that build trust, surface blockers, and grow careers — steal the full list free when you subscribe.
Read more →8 ways engineering managers prioritize software engineering work when everything is urgent — impact vs effort, kill lists, saying no with options, and protecting focus.
Read more →12 performance review tips for engineering managers — gather evidence early, write fair reviews, calibrate cleanly, and deliver with no surprises.
Read more →12 career conversation questions for engineering managers — growth, promotion readiness, skills gaps, and sponsorship — ready for your next 1:1.
Read more →7 tips to spot engineer burnout early — calendar load, cynicism, quality dips — and what engineering managers should do before someone resigns.
Read more →9 ways engineering managers can say no without killing trust — protect capacity, offer tradeoffs, and keep stakeholders as partners.
Read more →25 engineering manager interview questions hiring panels actually ask — plus what strong answers sound like for behavioral, people, and delivery rounds.
Read more →10 signs your software engineering team is unhealthy — silent meetings, blame culture, heroics — and practical fixes you can run this week.
Read more →15 skip-level meeting questions that surface truth about managers, morale, and delivery — without turning the chat into a gossip session.
Read more →8 tips for giving difficult feedback to engineers — timing, SBI, private delivery, clear asks, and follow-through without destroying trust.
Read more →8 ways to manage an underperforming engineer — diagnose root causes, set clear expectations, document fairly, and decide with courage.
Read more →Get 15 practical tips to ace your next engineering manager interview — story banks, STAR structure, underperformer answers, and what panels actually score.
Read more →10 copy-paste feedback scripts for engineering managers — praise, missed expectations, code quality, collaboration, and reverse feedback — using SBI.
Read more →9 software engineering retrospective tips — psychological safety, sharper prompts, action owners, and how to stop retching the same issues every sprint.
Read more →10 common engineering manager mistakes — micromanaging, skipping 1:1s, being a yes-manager — and exactly how to avoid each one.
Read more →10 tips for onboarding new engineers successfully — first-week setup, buddy systems, early wins, and a 30/60/90 plan that actually sticks.
Read more →9 delegation tips for first-time engineering managers — outcomes not tasks, air cover, check-ins, and growing seniors without dumping work.
Read more →9 things every new engineering manager should know — from letting go of IC heroics to running 1:1s, feedback, and your first 90 days without burning out.
Read more →Engineering manager vs tech lead explained — scope, success metrics, career paths, and how to choose (or partner) without role confusion.
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