Becoming an engineering manager after being a developer? here are some tips to help the transition go smoothly

So you're used to developing but now need to manage a person/team under you? congrats for growing! it likely means you're doing something well :)

As you transition from being a developer to a manager, here are some tips to help you succeed:

• Make sure you understand where members of your team are professionally and where they want to be. Try to assign them task that help them get there, to the extent possible. For example, if you have a full stack developer that has recently done a lot of frontend but now wants to dive more into the backend, try to set them with relevant tasks.

• Don't be afraid to delegate tasks and empower your team members to take ownership of their work. At this stage you're used to doing everything by yourself, cause it may be "the fastest path". Don't be tempted to doing that, it'd make you not have enough time to make sure the team is in the right direction, and would cut your team's wings. If you always do that specific thing that only you know, no one else would never know how to do it. Now is the time to teach others how to do things you used to do. You shouldn't ever be a bottleneck.

• Communicate your expectations clearly and transparently with your team, and make sure to actively listen to their feedback. If you need something ready by some date, make sure you let them know this as you assign the task. If you want them to do something with a specific tech stack or in a specific way, let them know to help them save time and not wander in areas where you know they shouldn't go. Of course, do so while being open to their thoughts, perhaps they think of a better way? that's where their feedback is important.

• Foster a no-ego culture within the team. Make sure they know you always want to hear their opinion, especially when it contradicts yours. Let them know you know you're not perfect, no one person is always right. You want to hear it when they think you're wrong in something. In cases where you are indeed wrong you can save your team crucial time just by hearing other opinions.

• Celebrate wins and learn from failures as a team. Just finished a version? celebrate! something went wrong in production? learn what exactly lead to it and how you can improve as a team in the future to avoid this.

Best of luck on this exciting new journey! I know this transition may be overwhelming, so I am here for you if you have any questions about anything. feel free to ask questions :)

In case anyone finds it useful, I've actually created a free ebook about remote development (how to make the team more efficient, from the perspective of the team leader). So feel free to download it!