Engineering Manager README Template

# Working With [Your Name]

*Last updated: [Date]*

Hi! If you're reading this, we're probably going to be working together. This document is meant to help you understand how I work, what I value, and what you can expect from me. It's a living document—I update it as I learn and grow.

## About Me

### My Role

[Describe your role and what you see as your primary responsibilities]

### My Background

[Brief professional background and what shaped your management style]

### Outside of Work

[Optional: A bit about who you are as a person]

## My Job

### What I'm Here to Do

1. [Primary responsibility 1]
2. [Primary responsibility 2]
3. [Primary responsibility 3]

### What Success Looks Like

[How you measure your own success as a manager]

## My Values

### [Value 1]

[Explanation and how it shows up in your work]

### [Value 2]

[Explanation and how it shows up in your work]

### [Value 3]

[Explanation and how it shows up in your work]

## How I Work

### Communication Preferences

**Best ways to reach me:**
- [Channel]: [When to use it]
- [Channel]: [When to use it]

**Response times:**
- [Channel]: [Typical response time]
- [Channel]: [Typical response time]

### My Schedule

[Your typical working hours, meeting preferences, focus time blocks]

### Decision Making

[How you like to make decisions, when you delegate vs. decide]

## One-on-Ones

### What to Expect

[Frequency, duration, format]

### What 1:1s Are For

- [Purpose 1]
- [Purpose 2]
- [Purpose 3]

### What 1:1s Are NOT For

- [Anti-purpose 1]
- [Anti-purpose 2]

## Feedback

### How I Give Feedback

[Your approach to giving feedback]

### How I Prefer to Receive Feedback

[How you want people to give you feedback]

### My Commitment

[What you promise regarding feedback]

## Things I'm Working On

### Growth Areas

[Areas where you're actively trying to improve]

### Quirks and Potential Bugs

[Known issues in your operating system that people should be aware of]

## What I Expect From You

### The Basics

- [Expectation 1]
- [Expectation 2]
- [Expectation 3]

### What Earns My Trust

- [Trust builder 1]
- [Trust builder 2]

### What Erodes My Trust

- [Trust erosion 1]
- [Trust erosion 2]

## What You Can Expect From Me

- [Commitment 1]
- [Commitment 2]
- [Commitment 3]

## Helping Me Help You

### If You Need Something

[How to get your attention, escalate issues, or ask for help]

### If You're Struggling

[What you want people to do when they're having a hard time]

### If You Disagree With Me

[How you want people to push back]

## Frequently Asked Questions

### [Common question 1]

[Answer]

### [Common question 2]

[Answer]

---

*This document is a starting point, not a rulebook. Every person and situation is different. If something here doesn't work for you, let's talk about it.*

# Working With Sarah Chen

*Last updated: October 2025*

Hi! If you're reading this, we're probably going to be working together. This document is meant to help you understand how I work, what I value, and what you can expect from me. It's a living document—I update it as I learn and grow.

This is NOT meant to be an excuse for bad behavior ("well, my README says I'm blunt!"). It's meant to accelerate our working relationship and give you insight into how I think.

## About Me

### My Role

I'm an Engineering Manager at Acme Corp, leading the Platform team. I see my role as:

1. **Building a healthy, high-performing team** - Hiring well, creating an environment where people can do their best work, and helping everyone grow
2. **Ensuring we deliver value** - Making sure our work matters and that we're executing effectively
3. **Representing the team** - Being our voice in the organization and bringing context back

I'm not here to tell you how to do your job. You're the expert. I'm here to help you be successful.

### My Background

I've been an EM for 5 years, preceded by 8 years as an IC (senior engineer, tech lead). I've worked at startups and larger companies, and I've been on both high-functioning and struggling teams. Those experiences shaped my belief that team health and psychological safety are prerequisites for great work.

I got into management because I found that I got more satisfaction from helping others succeed than from writing code myself. I still love technology and try to stay technical enough to be useful.

### Outside of Work

I have two kids (7 and 4), so my mornings and evenings are family-focused. I'm an avid reader, mostly non-fiction about leadership, psychology, and history. I run to stay sane—you might see me on Strava. I'm also slowly learning to play guitar, emphasis on slowly.

## My Job

### What I'm Here to Do

1. **Create clarity** - Ensure you know what's expected, how you're doing, and where we're headed
2. **Remove obstacles** - Clear blockers, get you resources, shield you from organizational chaos
3. **Develop people** - Help you grow your skills, expand your impact, and progress your career
4. **Build alignment** - Connect our work to company strategy and other teams

### What Success Looks Like

I measure my success by:
- Whether my team members are growing and engaged
- Whether we're shipping valuable work reliably
- Whether the team would want to work with me again

If any of these aren't true, I'm not doing my job well.

## My Values

### Psychological Safety

I believe people do their best work when they feel safe to take risks, ask questions, and make mistakes. I work hard to create an environment where you can say "I don't know," "I made a mistake," or "I disagree" without fear.

This means: I won't shoot the messenger. I'll admit my own mistakes. I'll encourage healthy debate. If you see me failing at this, please tell me.

### Transparency

I default to sharing information. I believe people make better decisions with more context. If I can't share something, I'll tell you that I can't share it rather than making something up.

This means: I'll share the "why" behind decisions, even unpopular ones. I'll tell you where you stand. I won't surprise you in performance reviews.

### Ownership

I believe in giving people autonomy and accountability. I'd rather you make decisions and occasionally get it wrong than wait for permission and always get it right.

This means: I'll delegate real responsibility. I'll back you up when you make reasonable bets that don't work out. I expect you to own outcomes, not just tasks.

### Growth Mindset

I believe abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. I hire for trajectory, not just current capability. I expect everyone, including me, to be learning and improving.

This means: I'll invest in your development. I'll give you stretch opportunities. I'll celebrate learning, not just success.

## How I Work

### Communication Preferences

**Best ways to reach me:**
- **Slack DM**: Day-to-day questions, quick check-ins, async discussions. I check frequently during work hours.
- **Email**: Longer-form communication, things that need documentation, external stakeholders.
- **Calendar invite**: If you need a synchronous conversation. Include an agenda so I can prepare.
- **Walk up / call**: Urgent issues. If something's on fire, interrupt me.

**Response times:**
- Slack: Within a few hours during work hours (faster for urgent)
- Email: Within 24 hours, faster if time-sensitive (mark it in subject)
- Calendar: I check daily, try to give 24hr notice for meetings

**Pro tip**: If it's urgent, say so. I don't expect you to read my mind about priority, and I'll extend you the same courtesy.

### My Schedule

I work roughly 9 AM - 6 PM Pacific, with breaks for kid drop-off/pickup.

- **Mornings (9-11 AM)**: I protect for focus time. I won't schedule meetings here if I can help it.
- **Afternoons**: Meeting-heavy, good time for 1:1s and collaborations.
- **Evenings/weekends**: I sometimes work, but I don't expect you to. I might send messages but don't expect responses until work hours.

I'm not a morning person. If you need creative thinking, afternoon is better.

### Decision Making

I try to push decisions down to the people closest to the work. For most decisions, I want you to decide and inform me. For bigger decisions (significant architecture, hiring, process changes), I want to be consulted but you still own the decision.

My preferred model:
- **You decide, inform me**: Day-to-day work, tactical choices
- **You decide, consult me first**: Larger scope, reversible
- **I decide, consult you**: People decisions, budget, strategy
- **We decide together**: Team norms, major pivots

If you're unsure which bucket something falls into, just ask.

## One-on-Ones

### What to Expect

We'll meet weekly for 30-45 minutes. This meeting is for YOU. I'll have topics sometimes, but your items come first.

I keep a shared doc where we both add topics beforehand. Please add yours—it helps us use time well.

### What 1:1s Are For

- Career development and growth conversations
- Feedback in both directions
- Concerns, frustrations, or things that aren't working
- Relationship building
- Strategic discussions about your work
- Anything you want to talk about

### What 1:1s Are NOT For

- Status updates (unless you want to discuss something about them)
- Things that could be a quick Slack message
- Detailed project problem-solving (though we can schedule time for that)

If we consistently have nothing to talk about, that's a signal something's off—either we're not communicating enough elsewhere, or there's something we're avoiding.

## Feedback

### How I Give Feedback

I try to give feedback close to when I observe something, rather than saving it for reviews. I prefer specific, actionable feedback over vague praise or criticism.

I use SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) when giving constructive feedback:
- **Situation**: "In yesterday's design review..."
- **Behavior**: "...when you interrupted Dave twice..."
- **Impact**: "...it made it hard for him to finish his thought, and I noticed he stopped contributing."

I'll always try to have these conversations privately unless the situation warrants otherwise.

### How I Prefer to Receive Feedback

Please give me feedback! I can't improve without it. I prefer:
- **Direct and specific** over hints I might miss
- **Timely** over saving it up
- **Private for critical feedback**, public for praise

You can give me feedback in 1:1s, over Slack, or by grabbing me for a quick chat. If you're not comfortable giving it directly, anonymous feedback is better than no feedback.

### My Commitment

You won't be punished for giving me feedback. Even if I disagree or can't act on it, I'll thank you for sharing it. The worst that happens is we have a conversation.

## Things I'm Working On

### Growth Areas

Things I'm actively trying to improve:

1. **Patience in meetings** - I sometimes jump to solutions too quickly. I'm working on asking more questions and letting conversations develop.

2. **Delegation** - I occasionally swoop in on problems I should let others solve. If you catch me doing this, call it out.

3. **Written communication** - My Slack messages can be too terse. I'm working on adding more context upfront.

### Quirks and Potential Bugs

Things you should know about how I operate:

1. **I think out loud** - When I'm processing, I might say things that sound like decisions but are really just thinking. It's okay to ask "is that a decision or are you thinking out loud?"

2. **I can seem intense** - When I'm focused on a problem, I might come across as more serious than I intend. It's not personal.

3. **I'm bad at small talk** - I tend to jump into substance quickly. I'm not unfriendly; I just default to directness.

4. **I forget to celebrate** - I tend to move on to the next thing without properly acknowledging wins. Please help me remember.

## What I Expect From You

### The Basics

- **Do good work** - I trust you to do your job well. If you need help, ask.
- **Communicate proactively** - Tell me about problems before they become crises. No surprises.
- **Be reliable** - Do what you say you'll do. If you can't, tell me early.
- **Help your teammates** - We succeed or fail together.
- **Keep learning** - Stay curious. Improve your craft.

### What Earns My Trust

- Following through on commitments
- Raising concerns early instead of hiding problems
- Giving me honest feedback
- Taking ownership of outcomes
- Helping others succeed
- Admitting mistakes and learning from them

### What Erodes My Trust

- Telling me what you think I want to hear instead of the truth
- Not communicating when things go wrong
- Blaming others instead of taking responsibility
- Consistently missing commitments without explanation
- Creating drama or politics

## What You Can Expect From Me

- I'll be honest with you, even when it's uncomfortable
- I'll advocate for you and your career
- I'll give you context about what's happening in the organization
- I'll make time for you when you need it
- I'll admit when I'm wrong or don't know something
- I'll back you up when you make reasonable decisions that don't work out
- I'll tell you where you stand—no surprises in reviews

## Helping Me Help You

### If You Need Something

Just ask. Slack me, put time on my calendar, or grab me. I may not be able to help with everything, but I want to know what you need.

For urgent things, say it's urgent. I won't always know.

### If You're Struggling

Please tell me. Whether it's work-related or personal, I want to help. We can talk about it, adjust workload, find resources, or just acknowledge it. You don't have to share details you're not comfortable with, but please don't suffer in silence.

I won't think less of you for struggling. I will think less of the situation if I find out you struggled alone when I could have helped.

### If You Disagree With Me

Please push back. I have strong opinions loosely held. I'd rather you tell me I'm wrong than silently disagree.

Best approaches:
- "I see it differently because..."
- "Have you considered...?"
- "Can you help me understand why we're doing X instead of Y?"

I promise to listen. I might not change my mind, but I'll explain my reasoning.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What if I want to talk about something personal?

I'm here for that too. You don't have to share anything you're not comfortable with, but I care about you as a person, not just as an employee. If something outside work is affecting your work, let's talk about it.

### What if I want to transfer to another team?

I'll be sad to see you go, but I'll support you. I'd rather you stay at the company in a role you're excited about than stay on my team out of obligation. Let's talk about what you're looking for and how I can help.

### How do you handle mistakes?

We all make them. I care more about how you handle them than the fact that they happened. Own it, learn from it, and move forward. I'll never punish you for an honest mistake. I will have a conversation if mistakes become patterns.

### What's your management style?

I've been told I'm "structured but warm" and "high expectations, high support." I give a lot of autonomy but I also pay close attention. I try to hire great people and then get out of their way, while staying close enough to help when needed.

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*This document is a starting point, not a rulebook. Every person and situation is different. If something here doesn't work for you, let's talk about it. And if you'd like to create your own README, I'd love to read it.*