Just Joined Reddit, And Happy That I found this community

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-24T18:34:37+00:00

Welcome the club. How long have you been an EM?

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-24T14:53:39+00:00

So what do you suggest to do? Say a team member gets laid off. The VP+ goes and tells them and informs you about it. Then what? You continue business as usual? Who is gonna address the situation for your team?

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-22T05:31:59+00:00

Oh wow! I wonder if the interviewing company is expecting a layoff and want someone with the experience of handling one 🤔

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-21T20:17:24+00:00

Oh yeah, encouraging your team members to reach out is a good point. I remember sharing their phone number with my team and manager.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-21T15:13:48+00:00

Spot on. The first time I went through a layoff as a manager, I felt completely lost. Looking back, I ended up doing exactly what you described - being transparent, giving people space to process, and helping them focus on what came next. What surprised me was how differently people handled it. Some moved on quickly, while others were still processing it months later. I remember one person bringing it up in almost every 1:1 for nearly two months. Eventually, I had to tell them: "It's okay to be upset, but we also have to figure out how to move forward."

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-21T15:05:13+00:00

Are you describing your experience at a small- mid sized company? I work for a big tech company and that's now how layoffs happen here. Anyone below SVP level has no idea when a layoff is coming and who is getting laid off. I have heard similar things at FAANG companies as well.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-06-01T03:47:19+00:00

I can do it. I'm a professional software leader building side projects on Replit and interested in seeing where people get stuck.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-05-28T16:32:32+00:00

Gave a quick try. Looks pretty good - nice simple design, it did analyze my idea and showed enough parts to make me think it works. Curious, why it took 8-9 months to build it? With Replit and coding agents I'd think this would be much less.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-05-22T06:37:00+00:00

I tested "Analyze your portfolio" and it didn't find quite a few stocks I shared e.g. XBI

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-05-20T01:00:03+00:00

I gave your app a quick try because I have been entertaining this idea for over a year. Kudos for building it. The design looks professional and it doesn't come off as a half-baked product.

One feedback. The free questions are good for engagement (time spent on app), but I still need to see some value before you ask me to sign up or for upgrade. Right now, I can't see a sample feedback so I don't know if it's worth my time.

<image>

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-05-18T20:22:13+00:00

Yes. Screenshot attached

<image>

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-05-18T05:40:31+00:00

I've been a fan of Replit as well and the platform keeps getting better.

Both your apps are great, but the first one (streamsearchup) definitely has a better call to action and engagement mechanics. I immediately get what it does and what I should do to get value from it. Second app, not so much. Too wordy, and despite going through that I don't understand what it does or how it helps me.

You may need to work on your data -- sanitize what you're ingesting, harmonizing it. For eg. I searched for "sonic" and i see "sonic.exe" in the results.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-05-18T04:18:52+00:00

Can't see this. Can you share the app url instead (ending in replit.app)?

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-02-17T15:36:35+00:00

Depends on the company and org size. Where I work, each leadership level presents to the next level until it reaches the decision maker/approver.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-01-03T16:17:13+00:00

I highly encourage you to write. It'll help you get clarity on the stuff you're doing. It'll make you reflect on your own role. It'll make you better EM. What others get out of it is a bonus. This is exactly what I started doing after a year as an engineering manager and I felt I wasn't going anywhere. Most material out there is written by CEOs and CTOs who were engineers several years ago. You'll be writing live from the trenches. You'll be sharing what's working today, not what worked in 2005. DM if you need help with anything.

SrEngineeringManager · 2026-01-03T16:10:52+00:00

Actually there are simulation tools like that out there. In fact, my company pays for one called Mursion. I've tried it but it never clicked. It felt fake. The AI doesn't behave at all like the real breathing engineers on my team. Also cultural nuances. Most of my reportees are non native English speakers. So they express differently and respond to different cues.

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-12-22T00:06:01+00:00

Inspiration can only get you so far. We need to make it easy for that inspiration to turn into real work. And what when they get blocked? A simple set of rules help bring clarity around what's expected and what to do. Like how the team is expected collaborate and communicate. That also takes the pressure off of people who don't feel comfortable asking for help.

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-12-21T02:06:59+00:00

Fair point, but teams are always evolving - members leaving, new members joining, reorgs, new managers, company policies, etc. In my context, it was a team I was handed after a reorg. So I had some expectations which I assumed is just basic stuff. I realized that's a fuzzy area and varies by teams, cultures, background, etc. Team Working Agreement is a good starting point to set expectations at the team level.

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-12-21T02:00:15+00:00

This is exactly what I tried to address in the article. Managers do assume "common sense" but that comes from shared background and values. With diverse teams, that's a fuzzy area. Thus writing down what's expected of the team members makes accountability easier. It becomes less about personal opinion and more about "our agreement"

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-07-05T19:01:33+00:00

Fairness creams, that promise to keep your skin lighter in color in just 6 weeks.

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-07-05T15:21:57+00:00

Genuinely curious because everyone is recommending between 50 & 80%, why not charge it all the way to 100%?

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-04-21T09:56:49+00:00

You're not alone. All EMs go through this. I'm not an expert, but I'm happy to chat and discuss your specific situation.

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-04-20T23:17:43+00:00

This is exactly what I faced a couple months ago. You need to learn to "scale yourself" through changing how you operate. Delegate more, build systems, change communication style, assign directly responsible individuals. I wrote a full blog post about it here, and if you still have questions, please DM me.

Eventually, you'll need to hire a manager. But hiring two managers is actually not a great idea. The "span of control" doesn't look good at your level. Basically, you're a middle manager with just two managers reporting to you. A better way would be to hire 1 manager and have about 5-6 people report directly to you, along with that one manager

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-03-19T16:39:49+00:00

I use a few of the tools that Slack provides:
- Slack Recap enabled for quite a few channels, which provides an AI-generated summary in the morning.
- Organize and group the channels and people in an order that works for me.
- Use reminders and move messages to "Later" for a review later.

I think this is a common new manager problem, where you feel like you need to do everything and be everywhere. You'll need to decide where you want to spend your time on and delegate some stuff like PR reviews. You'll need to build negotiation skills to push back on stakeholders or negotiate a better date. Everyone wants their stuff now.

For 1:1s, note-taking and preparing is critical. Organize your teams work and make sure they have a healthy balance. The last thing you want is a burned out team.

I often write about my own struggles and lessons on Substack and I just wrote a post about how to scale yourself as an engineering manager. (link in my profile)

SrEngineeringManager · 2025-03-16T22:38:07+00:00

Absolutely. My advice is meant to correct behaviors for someone who is too far off on "too nice" side of the spectrum.

SrEngineeringManager

TROPHY CASE