Gain insights into performance management for engineering teams. Discover how to set clear expectations, design performance metrics, and provide constructive feedback to enhance team productivity and accountability.

Performance Management for Engineering Management.png

A manager is responsible for assigning tasks to the team members, keeping tabs on the progress, and analyzing their performance. A good manager must know their strengths and use them accordingly.

This course covers the essentials of performance management in engineering teams. You’ll learn the importance of setting clear expectations and the difference between individual and collective accountability. You’ll learn the importance of performance metrics and design them for your team. Next, you’ll explore ways to keep your team motivated and provide each team member with constructive feedback. You’ll learn how to decide when to let a team member go, including planning for a successor.

By the end of this course, you’ll have learned to apply processes and practices to monitor the performance of your team. You’ll be able to provide timely and constructive feedback to your team, including performance reviews. In addition, you’ll be able to balance a team with members having varying performances and competencies.

Effective Performance Management for Engineering Teams

If you *really* want to see how far along your team has come, take the Strong Team test, and go away for a while. I don't mean "don't meet with them," I mean literally *go away*. Jump on a plane, fly to the Montana Badlands, or the San Diego beach scene, or maybe Hawaii. More importantly, shut your laptop, mute your phone, and remain offline for 24, 48, 72 hours or longer.

If your team is well-organized, the processes clear, and the presumptive successor identified and (partly) trained, they should be able to function quite well without you. In fact, some managers worry that if the team is able to run *too* well, the team doesn't need the manager anymore and the senior executives will use that as an excuse to fire the manager! Personally I think this is just insecurities talking and an indication of a poor manager---and poor managers tend not to have teams that can go for long by themselves without the manager.

Let the team run without you for a while. See what happens. When you return, talk to the team about the experience: what worked, what didn't, what should've been done and wasn't, what was done and shouldn't need to (start/stop/continue). Adjust and correct. Rinse and repeat. Promote. Designate. Train and coach. Step away. Adjust and correct. Rinse and repeat....


Learn to step away from time to time, giving the team autonomy to function in your absence using the Strong Team test.

Introduction

Overview of Performance Management

The Need for Clear Expectations

Accountability

Metrics

Motivation

Feedback

Performance Reviews

Corrections

Termination/Separation

Rewards

The Development of Talent

Conclusion

Stepping Away at Times