Learn concepts like management skills, working with different people, and working out who our team is and what they do.

Become an Effective Engineering Manager

The technology industry is facing a skills crisis. It’s because we don’t know how to manage people. This module aims at improving our managing skills. In this module, we’ll start with learning concepts like managing ourselves, interacting with humans, having one-on-one meetings with managers, and choosing the right person for the job. Next, we’ll learn how to deal with different people and projects. In the end, we'll touch upon the modern workspace concepts and life cycle of startups.

Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager

The internet has revolutionized the delivery of software, and it's also revolutionizing where we create it. The proliferation of high-speed internet connections and collaborative software for doing our jobs is creating opportunities to shed the burdens that previous generations faced, like the need to live a commutable distance from a busy city, the need to spend hours daily on commuting itself, and the preconception that the only way in which high-quality collaborative work is done is when humans physically exist in the same space.

![](/api/collection/10370001/5778138594803712/page/5542890149773312/image/5003779608412160)

At the time of writing, numerous notable software companies are fully or mostly distributed worldwide. At Mozilla 46% of their 1,000 staff members don't work in their offices, 85 to 90% of Hashicorp's 800-plus staff work remotely, and 100% of Automattic's 1,150-plus employees are remote.

It isn't just fully remote companies that are beginning to change the way they work. The demands of everyday life, especially when children or elderly relatives are present, combined with the current ease of being productive away from the office, are forcing an evolution in how even traditional companies operate. It's common to have employees working more flexible hours and working designated days from home.

You may already be used to working with a distributed team. However, supporting remote workers well, especially as their manager, is a learned skill. We'll be looking at some of the nuances in this section. Remote working is a subject that has numerous excellent books written about it, so we'll only skim the surface. If you're interested in learning more about how a remote-only company documents their culture and processes, you should check out #key# Gitlab's Handbook: Gitlab. Gitlab Handbook. Gitlab. 2019, December. #key#. If you're looking for a deep dive into the culture shift of remote working, check out _#key# Remote: Office Not Required, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Remote: Office Not Required. Penguin, New York, NY, 2013. #key#_  or _#key# The Year Without Pants: Scott Berkun. The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 2013. #key#_.

# It's not as easy as it looks

Being able to work from anywhere benefits both employees and employers. Employees gain more flexibility over where they live and how far they need to commute. Typically, fully distributed companies employ staff over multiple time zones which means that typical office hours begin to shift, and communication becomes more asynchronous. Employers dramatically widen their talent pool by being able to hire from all over the world, reducing competition for staff in small geographical areas and increasing workplace diversity.

Great, huh? Mostly. However, it isn't straightforward. Adapting to support remote working is a culture and mindset shift that many companies find challenging. It requires more effort in communication and documentation, a rethink around interruptibility and availability, and the use of clear priorities and goals to focus staff so they can operate independently rather than relying on interactions around the office.

It's unlikely that existing non-remote companies will pivot to being completely remote. Many people are happy with the status quo. However, it is likely that we'll see more companies becoming hybrids, where part of the workforce works out of company offices, part of it is fully remote, and the remainder split their time between both. This is the future that you need to prepare yourself for. How do you make it work for everyone? How can you manage people well when they're out of sight?

Learn how the current tech industry is moving toward working remotely and what its difficulties are.

The Shift Toward Remote Working

Internet and remote work