Name: Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager
ISBN: 9781680507249

What Hacker News says

groby_bNov 2024

There are a number of decent books.

"Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager", "The Manager's Path", "Becoming a Technical Leader", "An Elegant Puzzle", "Resilient Management".

But your best bet is either finding an experienced manager who's willing to coach you, or working with a management coach.

(There's a number of folks blogging as well. Gergely Orosz, Laura Hogan, Camille Fournier,...)

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mindcrashJul 2024

The Managers Path is mentioned earlier.

Can also recommend:

- The Art of Leadership by Michael Lopp (aka Rands of Rands in Repose fame)

Which tackles situations he encountered (and are all too familiar) while managing in various roles at Apple, Netscape and Slack.

- The Engineering Leader by Cate Hudson

What I think is absolutely great about this book is that it isn't just about how to deal with the people you are responsible for but also how to deal with _yourself_

- The Engineering Executive's Primer By Will Larson

This one is meant more for "Head of Engineering" types, but still contains tons of handy information to turn yourself into a effective leader.

And last but not least:

- Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager by James Stanier

Subtitle of this book says it all. Highly recommended!

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strife25Feb 2022

Everyone recommends The Manager's Path, but I don't think it's a good book to explain HOW to become a manager. The book's goal is to explain the career path of a manager from tech lead to CTO.

My #1 recommendation these days is "Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager" by Jamies Stanier. This book explains how to approach the work a manager is involved in and what you can expect from the day to day. Planning, hard conversations, performance reviews etc.

Also, look for general management books. Leadership is something all humans do – software management is about managing creative people. Some other books I recommend are:

• Creativity, Inc by Ed Matmull • Crucial Conversation • Team of Teams

For email newsletters, I recommend Software Lead Weekly (https://softwareleadweekly.com/) and Better Allies (https://betterallies.com/more-content/).

Lastly, I also write a blog called Build the Stage (https://www.buildthestage.com) about managing SWEs. I've got posts about performance reviews, team meetings, how to give feedback, etc. It'll help you out.

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mjoksimovicMar 2021

Hi folks,

I just wanted to share a book (and a source where I found it) that actually somehow managed to convince me to explore the management (the dark side as I call it).

But first a short intro on myself - I've been programmer FOREVER and I was pretty damn certain that I'll never want to move towards management. Primarily because I assumed I sucked at it (which, I did lol). And yet, lo and behold, here I am today, working 80% of time with people and 20% with code itself. So I guess I "converted".

The book that actually helped me make a switch is "Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager" (link: https://www.amazon.com/Become-Effective-Software-Engineering-Manager/dp/1680507249/ref=sr_1_1) and I think the source where I found it is worth mentioning as well (https://blog.pragmaticengineer.com/become-and-effective-software-engineering-manager-my-book-review/). I can actually highly recommend both the book and blog (this guy writes about his journey from Dev to Manager).

Now, as for the book itself, I was actually looking for a "How to be a manager" book for ... well for quite a while. And yet, this one happened to cover all of the questions that I had; plus it gave some good recommendations as well (e.g. High Output Management by Andy Groove).

I'm pretty much happy to answer any questions about the book or my personal experiences ;)

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jstanierOct 2021

Hey all.

Today the book on remote working that I wrote for The Pragmatic Bookshelf has gone into beta.

It's called Effective Remote Working.

I didn't plan on writing a second book, but 8 months ago during a conversation with the publisher we agreed that it was the right time for a book like this.

My first book was Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager, which I did a Show HN on before: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22033129

That book has so far been successful with lots of great reviews and over $100,000 in net sales.

A beta book with PragProg means that you get DRM-free access to the first 9 chapters, and the following 6 chapters will be delivered to your inbox as they're finished off, along with any fixes.

It's available with free excerpts here: https://pragprog.com/titles/jsrw/effective-remote-work/

I'd love to hear your feedback, and if there are any bugs or errata then they can all be ironed about before the thing goes to print.

Once again, I've had a great experience writing for PragProg, and would highly recommend them for anyone who wants to write a book for our industry.

Thanks again, everyone.

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