Managing Engineering EffortsOr, Engineers are People too.Mike Krieger and Austin RachlinE140C Company Presentation 1Today at a glanceIntroductionsFoxmarks mini-caseVignettesDave’s takeawaysBreak!ActivityEngineering PerceptionsTakeaways23VEI4Rob Hallman, the head of engineering, had stopped Jim in midsentence. "I don't want to throw cold water on your plans, because your team has clearly been working hard on this. But I have 20 projects on the engineering calendar I can't do because I don't have enough engineers. We're beginning to slip behind our competition for the first time. For the additional $100,000 you want, we could hire an engineer today and get back ahead of the technology curve.5Normally in technology companies there is a constant tension between the laundry list of features marketing and sales are asking for and what engineering can deliver with limited resources and time. [The engineers need clarity] on which functionality has to be in the final product, and what can be dropped if time doesn’t allow, which it never does.6In your view, programmers just don’t understand the value that a software publisher brings to the deal. 7891011121314At a startup, you are the culture setter15How will engineering efforts be managed?16Key points:1. Engineering is not an equation2. Be one with the code, but don’t lose sight of the vision3. Motivation is a year-long goal, and creativity isn’t just for artists17=18Background600,000+ usersMozilla Add-onTens of millions of bookmarks6 devs, lead dev is CTO19Develop in parallel, or move on?20ParallelDivided engineersShiny vs oldLater reintegrationMove onEnd of growth?Focused engineersCreative input21Takeaway : Code vs Vision22“we need engineers on the new project”“But our vision is search. Search needs data. A better synchronizer would bring more users, with more data.”23Develop in parallel, because it fits with vision24Vision alignment: weekly all-hands with Mitch25Vignette Discussion26You are the VP of Engineering at a promising young startup that is set to launch your first product in 3 months at a major convention - think TechCrunch 40. Like California Vision Tools, you know that you'll be able to leverage a substantial amount of buzz if you launch at the conference. However, your latest engineering update has sent you some bad news - the engineers say that the product is 6 months out, once bug fixing time is accounted for. You're in charge of engineering - so what should you do? The CEO has been telling you that you should grow your engineering team for months - is now the right time?27You are the VP of Eng at a company that has shipped a product, and is now working on improving and iterating. You notice that the project doesn't seem to be moving at the same clip, and that there's something a bit strange about your engineers - like they all have some sort of inside joke. You finally confront the engineer you most trust, and he confesses - the engineers are "kind of sick of the current project" and have instead been developing another application on the same platform that the current product was built on, but one that doesn't particularly align with the company's vision. What does this say about the way the engineers have been managed? How can you leverage this creativity going forward?28At a startup, roles are fluid and blurry. Janet, one of your front-end engineers, was hired for her ability to build interfaces quickly using current web technologies. In doing so, however, she has acquired a great sense of user interface design, of design aesthetics, and of what's possible with the current technology. A new position for user interface designer (non-programming) is opening at your company, and you've received a great lead from your recruiter - a former Apple user interface designer with impeccable credentials. !While Janet would need a few months to transition into her new role (and fill out the gaps in her knowledge about UI design), the Apple designer would be able to jump right in. Do you follow this lead, or do you promote from within? What should the company's philosophy on employee mobility within the company be?29Activity30Engineering Perceptions31Generally, they are also very good about letting the PMs do their job.! If they disagree with some aspect of design or content, they'll mention it but not push the issue.32It seemedlike it always sucked when they didn't get things out on time or correctly...they were complimented virtually when things went right.In fact, they were never directly communicated to from the US teamsince we only interacted with the product managers in China due tolanguage barriers and org structure. 33I mainly perceived them as in charge of implementation and not really design or direction. They were just meant to make stuff work.34There was a sense that the “staff” engineers had more specialized knowledge and less perspective into a broader industry, but all the same, their knowledge was heard, valued, and respected.!35I perceive the engineering group as a raw force to be harnessed.! Very bright, but often lacking the practical business sense as it gets lost in their search for the most perfect solution. 36Takeaways37Engineering is not an equation2x Engineers != 1/2 development timeOverall importance of engineers is hard to quantifyEffort required throughout product lifecycle, not just ‘when it ships’38Be one with the code, but don’t lose sight of the visionVision and engineering not always alignedKeep engineers in the loop, get their support for major decisionsLook to the vision when faced with a difficult decision39Motivation and creativity are individual and year-longProvide opportunities for engineers to shift attention and re-focusConsider whether your companies’ set-up is segmenting creativityWhen you find what makes someone tick, there’s no stopping them40Thanks to consultants and to