☕ The Blend - Issue #5

Welcome to the Issue #5 of The Blend ☕!

In this issue we are going to talk about productivity tips for tech managers. I am currently a Head of Engineering. Productivity is crucial in my work, as on a daily basis I am bombarded with different notification.

There is a very powerful sentence:

So there are 2 choices… you can either make this quote become your reality (and drive you towards burnout) OR grab a bull by the horns and be the master of your time.

Throughout my career, I’ve let others schedule meetings directly on my calendar, and somehow always end up frustrated by the choice they’ve made - even though I personally let them do that! (I know how it sounds 🤦🏻‍♂️). I could have only be angry with myself that I’ve let that happen.

A lot of those meetings could have ended up being a short email. 

This was pre-covid, working on-site at the office. All those meetings were giving the sense of “doing a ton of work” - as it turned out very false sense.

When covid hit and everybody started working remotely, I knew something has to change. In the beginning every company was simply tried to replicate the communication scheme from on-site to on-line, having multiple meetings throughout the day, one right after another - which from the point of time management was more efficient, as you didn’t have to walk to a different meeting room, you’ve just clicked to a different zoom/google meet link…

This approach brought even more burnout among people in tech, and it even got it’s own name “zoom fatigue”:

Couple of months in to the covid, I’ve made the decision to change jobs. The company reached out to me for a remote Engineering Management role for their engineering team spread across Europe. Couple of interview steps, conversation with CEO, CTO… immediately one things stood out clearly for me “async communication”… 3,5 years I am in the place where online meetings are very rare, zoom fatigue does not exist, and yet we are able to communicate effectively.

There are couple of principles you have to follow in order for this to succeed:

Learn how to express your thoughts in written form

Async communication in most cases is based on written form. You and your team needs to learn how to clearly express their thoughts on ‘paper’ (keyboard 😉). This skill is essential, especially when working in the international team, where communication is not in your mother tongue.

Don’t start with just “hi 👋🏻”

I know it may sound counter intuitive, but hear me out 😉 . When working remotely, don’t just say “hi” and expect an answer. The whole point of async communication is that the other side of the communication chain can read and reply in their own time, don’t expect immediate answer.

I have to beat my chest on this one, I am still sometimes making this mistake 🙈

You should think about this communication similar to email. Write the whole message, and send it at once, so that person on the other side can reply to your need, but on their own terms. This way actually speeds up communication, not the other way around.

Don’t expect immediate answer

As I’ve mentioned in the point above, the key indicator for async communication is when a people can communicate on their own terms, in their own time.

You should not expect immediate reply, nor send one if you don’t feel like to. Of course everything depends on the priority of the issue, and when the platform is down - you might want to have more async communication - but this type should be agreed beforehand and have a separate process.

Implement video

When written form works fine in your team, you can level up your game by implementing video into the workflow. You’ve found a bug that you want to highlight, or you’ve developed the feature you’re trying to show, or maybe you have to give a feedback to the design… record a video, and send it through.

Nowdays you have a range of different tools that you can use to achieve that - Slack has this feature build in, Loom has it’s free tier that will be more than sufficient for you.

Record screen and camera preview highlighting what you want to express

Question the invite - master the meeting

This is a two way street… there are couple of good habits when it comes to the meeting to make sure it’s going to a productive one.

1. Clear agenda and objectives: before the meeting, circulate a clear agenda among the participants. This should outline the meeting's purpose, topics to be discussed, and any preparation required. Having specific objectives for what the meeting should achieve helps keep the discussion focused and productive.

2. Time management: respect the scheduled start and end times. Starting on time honors those who arrive punctually and ensures that the meeting doesn't overrun, which can disrupt participants' other commitments.

3. Engage all participants: encourage active participation from all attendees. This can be done by asking direct questions, soliciting feedback, or having different team members lead various parts of the meeting.

4. Follow-up and action items: end the meeting with a summary of decisions made and action items assigned, including clear deadlines and responsible parties. After the meeting, send these points out in a follow-up email or message.

Always promote the practice of these effective habits, and be sure to adhere to them yourself when you are hosting a meeting.

Are meetings bad?

Not at all! Asynchronus communication does not mean - NO MEEETINGS. This approach just emphasize the need of the balance.

We are people, and having a sense of belonging is one of the most important things for us. This can only be built by direct communication with others.

There is plenty of space for synchronous communication in the asynchronous world. As a tech manager you must conduct your 1-on-1’s with the team, and they should definitely be in person meetings.

That’s all folks…

Next time I will show you what tool stack I use in my everyday managerial work to boost my productivity working remotely.

I would love hear your productivity tips or challenges you have when working remotely with your teams.

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