Tips for Engineering Managers to Improve Team Dynamics

Do you feel part of a real team? Or are there moments when you feel isolated, uncertain, and disconnected, even though you're surrounded by colleagues? In the early stages of my career, I had the simplistic view that bringing together a bunch of high achievers would naturally create an outstanding team. However, the reality was quite different. Instead of creating synergy, there was noticeable discord. The team didn't seem to gel; it was akin to cogs not aligning in a machine. Every top performer, exceptional in their own right, appeared to follow their own path, often pulling in different directions. The amount of energy and time lost to internal strife was significant, and the expected outcomes? They remained just that – expected. This experience was a clear lesson that the success of a team isn't merely based on individual talent; it's about harmony, alignment, and collaboration. With today’s workplaces being more diverse, widespread, digitized, and ever-changing, achieving this is certainly challenging. So, in my quest to understand the nuances of high-performing teams, I reached out to my friend Hari Haralambiev. As a coach of dev teams who care about people, Hari has worked with numerous tech organizations, guiding them to unlock their teams’ potential. Here are his top 5 tips for developing high performing teams: 1. Be Inclusive ↳Put a structure in place so that the most vocal people don’t suffocate the silent voices. Great teams make sure minority views are heard and taken into account. They make it safe for people to speak up. 2. Leverage Conflict ↳Disagreements should be encouraged and how you handle them is what makes your team poor or great. Great teams mine for conflict - they cherish disagreements. To handle disagreements properly make sure to separate discussion from decision. 3. Decision Making Process ↳Have a clear team decision-making method to resolve conflicts quickly. The most important decision a team should make is how to make decisions. Don’t look for 100% agreement. Look for 100% commitment. 4. Care and Connect ↳This is by far the most important tip. Teams who are oriented only on results are not high-performing. You need to create psychological safety and build trust between people. To do that - focus on actually knowing the other people and to make it safe to be vulnerable in front of others. Say these 4 phrases more often: ‘I don’t know’, ‘I made a mistake’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I need help’. 5. Reward experimentation and risk taking ↳No solution is 100% certain. People should feel safe to take risks and make mistakes. Reward smart failure. Over-communicate that it’s better to take action and take accountability than play it safe. Remember, 'team' isn't just a noun—it's a verb. It requires ongoing effort and commitment to work at it, refine it, and nurture it. Do give Hari a follow and join over 6K+ professionals who receive his leadership comics in his newsletter A Leader’s Tale.

Great engineering leadership isn’t about solving everything. It’s about creating the conditions where your team can. In my early leadership days, I thought I had to walk in with the answers. Over time, I learned something better: Most engineers don’t need hand-holding. They need clarity, context, and trust. Here’s how I lead now (and what’s worked): 1. Present the problem, not a pre-baked solution. → Engineers are problem-solvers. Don’t rob them of that. → Instead of “We need to use Kafka here,” say: “We need async processing at scale. Thoughts?” 2. Share constraints early. → Be open about deadlines, budget, team bandwidth, or tech debt. → Constraints help the team make realistic design choices. 3. Make room for trade-off discussions. → Your job isn’t to rush decisions. It’s to ensure good ones. → Let the team think through latency vs cost, monolith vs microservices, etc. 4. Guide the decision, don’t dictate it. → Ask: “What risks do you see?” or “What’s your fallback plan?” → Step in only when clarity or urgency is needed. 5. Protect builder time. → Cut unnecessary meetings. Shield them from noise. → Innovation dies in a calendar full of status syncs. Leadership is knowing when to speak and when to listen. You don’t earn trust by having all the answers. You earn it by helping your team find better ones.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗧𝗿𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀. I once managed an engineer who was nothing short of brilliant. Technically outstanding, incredibly productive… but he preferred working alone. He wasn’t rude. He wasn’t disruptive. He just avoided collaboration whenever possible. As a manager, I had two options: 1️⃣ Force him to work like everyone else (which would likely push him away). 2️⃣ Find a way to integrate him into the team on his own terms. I chose the second. 🔹 𝗜 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. I didn’t micromanage. Instead, I focused on setting clear expectations and ensuring he stayed in sync with the team’s direction. 🔹 𝗜 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀. When teamwork was necessary, he had a say in who he worked with. This small freedom made a big difference in his willingness to engage. 🔹 𝗜 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀. I showed him I trusted his work, and I helped the team see the value he brought—even if his style was different. Over time, mutual respect grew. 🔹 𝗜 𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲.I didn’t pretend everything was perfect. I was upfront with the team: Yes, it’s not always easy, but we’re working on it. This transparency helped reduce friction. Over time, something interesting happened. He didn’t become the world’s most collaborative engineer, but he did start engaging more. He saw the value in teamwork—not because I forced him, but because I created an environment where he could experience it himself. Dale Carnegie said, “𝘈𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵.” That’s what leadership is about. You don’t push people—you help them want to grow. Have you ever worked with someone like this? How did you handle it? #Leadership #EngineeringManagement #HighPerformers #Teamwork

You want alignment? Then STOP avoiding disagreement. I was on call with a Sr. Engineering Manager and she said, "My teammate is pushing back on my idea. I don't want to fight. I just want buy-in." I’ve heard this countless times. And I’ve said it myself. But think about it: We want agreement without debate. Buy-in without pushback. Alignment without conflict. Why? Not because it helps us grow, but because it feels safe. Lack of disagreement isn't a sign of alignment or great culture. It's often a sign that we're avoiding hard conversations as a team. We avoid the messiness that real collaboration requires. I told her: ↳ Conflict is not confrontation. One is progress. The other is ego. ↳Disagreement isn’t dysfunction. It’s where the real work happens. If you want better ideas and stronger outcomes, invite tension early. 3 ways to do it: #1 Make debate part of the agenda: Ask your team to poke holes on purpose. #2 Sketch before you sell: Visuals force clarity and spark real discussion. #3 Bring in skeptics early: Instead of building in an echo chamber, invite dissenting voices (from sales, support, marketing, and other teams) *before* you finalize a direction. The best teams don’t avoid hard conversations. They make space for them. Do you agree? ——— 🔔 Follow me, Bosky Mukherjee, for more insights on breaking barriers for women in tech leadership. #leadership #womenleaders #cxos #womenintech #womeninbusiness

I've had the pleasure to work with hundreds of managers across Fortune 500s, startups, and solo ventures. Among the best ones I've seen, 5 traits consistently stand out. 1. They run meetings like pros Meetings are their Olympic sport. The most effective managers treat them like high-stakes performances: - They send the agenda early. And make sure everyone sticks to them like a contract. - They warm up the room with questions like: "What's one win from this week?" or "One word to describe how you're feeling?" - Afterward, they thank people, assign action items, and review what worked. — 2. They handle difficult employees fast - They set expectations upfront. The best managers clarify their communication style, how they define success, and what kind of culture they're building. - They address issues fast. The moment something feels "off," they name it with kindness. I've heard them say: "I noticed X—can we talk about what happened?" - They use a simple 1:1 formula: "What's working? What's not? What do you need from me?" They ask this regularly to avoid blind spots. — 3. They manage in every channel The smartest managers have mastered communication across channels: - They share their preferred channels: "Slack for quick stuff, email for context, call to brainstorm" - They map their team's preferences too. If someone hates phone calls but thrives on docs - they honor that. - For remote teams: They turn updates into energy checks - "Where are you stuck? How can I support you?" — 4. They use a 60-minute team builder This is my favorite management tool I've witnessed - ever. They block 60 minutes at their next offsite or Friday stand-up and ask their team to write down: 1. One skill they love using 2. One task they dread 3. One strength they think no one knows they have Then they share and reflect. I've watched them spot hidden talents, reduce burnout, and spark better collaboration. — 5. They manage up The most successful managers start by managing their own manager effectively. They've learned to: - Decode their boss's style: Are they fast or reflective? Data-first or story-first? They watch how their manager communicates and match their rhythm. - Proactively share wins—before they're asked. They use subject lines like "Quick Win" or "Here's what's working." - Ask their manager for preferences: "How do you like to be updated?" "What's the best way to flag something urgent?" What strikes me most about these managers is how intentional they are about everything - from the words they choose in meetings to the way they structure feedback.  They've turned management from reactive firefighting into proactive relationship building.