Tag

engineering management

2 playbooks on engineering-management.

Process4 criteria

Setting a tech-debt budget

Two-way

How much of next quarter to spend on debt — without writing a manifesto, and without backsliding the quarter after.

Default pick

20% of engineer-weeks for the next two quarters, ring-fenced and reported on like feature work. Pick the top three items. Stop adding new ones until the three are done.

People4 criteria

Hire, contract, or stretch the existing team

Two-way

A piece of work has shown up. Three honest shapes for staffing it — and a default that's right more often than you'd think.

Default pick

If the work is bounded and the skill is non-core, contract. If the work is unbounded or the skill is core, hire. Stretch the existing team when there's an internal candidate who'd grow — and put real coaching around them.