technology department

Management & Technical Career Growth Tracks (v3)

In follow-up to earlier work on a) versions one and two of these technical and related career tracks, b) pathways for career development in product engineering, c) job titles, and d) employee evaluation & career development, here is an updated version three of the career growth tracks. This version 3 includes software engineering & architecture,… Continue reading Management & Technical Career Growth Tracks (v3)

How to be an effective CTO

A CTO’s job combines Culture, Technology, and Operations. Each of the three is necessary; a field of knowledge, experimentation, and learning in itself; and interdependent with the other two. To be successful as a CTO, you need to work on and continually master all three areas. If you’d like to see the responsibilities of a… Continue reading How to be an effective CTO

CTO Mind Map: Culture, Technology, Operations

In the role of chief technology officer, you have to be concerned with many topics. Some relate to functions you have direct supervisory responsibility for and some in areas that are managed by others but you still need to share responsibility for. To keep all of a CTO’s concerns organized, I created this mind map using XMind. The items are classified under… Continue reading CTO Mind Map: Culture, Technology, Operations

Dear Makers, On Fridays My Office is Yours — An Experiment

Some senior leaders choose to work alongside their teams in cubicles, eschewing private office rooms. New York City’s former mayor Michael Bloomberg is an example. Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is another. Intel’s former CEO Andy Grove is often credited for setting this example. As I’ve worked at various news media companies, I have… Continue reading Dear Makers, On Fridays My Office is Yours — An Experiment

3 Dimensions of a Technology Team

Organizing Software Engineering Teams to Balance Products, Partners & Professions This organizational design for a technology department aims to optimally blend the need for the technology team to be an engine of innovation, a customer-service organization and technically excellent. It views the staff, roles and responsibilities in three dimensions: products, partnerships, and professions. Products and projects… Continue reading 3 Dimensions of a Technology Team

3 Roles of a CTO: Culture. Technology. Operations.

This is a guide for CTOs, VPs of Software Engineering and other technology managers responsible for a software engineering organization. The purpose of this checklist is to help the CTO cover the areas of culture, technology and operations in their teams. It is presented in the form of a memo to direct reports. Dear Tech… Continue reading 3 Roles of a CTO: Culture. Technology. Operations.

Posted Signs for Productive Meetings

You can post these slides as signs in your meeting rooms and offices or include them at the start of your presentations. You can also open the original Google Slides document to print or leave comments.

Suggested Template For Requesting a Meeting

Every time someone calls a meeting, they should consider using this simple template. [ meeting-invitation-template begins ] The desired outcome of this meeting is: e.g. Come to agreement on solution for issue X e.g. Make a decision about Y. e.g. Share announcements about topic Z. e.g. Continue to grow a good working relationship with each… Continue reading Suggested Template For Requesting a Meeting

Templates for Replying to Meeting Requests & Polite Ways to Decline Meetings

By default, we should only attend meetings where we are active participants, not passive attendees with not much to contribute to the desired outcome of the meeting. There are some exceptions to this like training sessions, educational presentations or others where the purpose for attendees is to learn something. When I receive a meeting request, I… Continue reading Templates for Replying to Meeting Requests & Polite Ways to Decline Meetings

When to have and when not to schedule meetings

Companies should, by default, avoid scheduling meetings that start before 10am or end after 5pm. If an employee comes to the office at 8am on some days, it is often to use the two hours of the morning before meetings to catch up and/or get a head start on the day. Meetings that start before… Continue reading When to have and when not to schedule meetings