References
Templates and Resources
This section provides links to practical templates, frameworks, and resources for engineering managers. Many are available as open-source repositories or public templates you can adapt for your organization.
Performance Management
Performance Reviews
- Lattice Performance Review Templates - Comprehensive templates for various review types
- Culture Amp Review Examples - Examples of effective performance reviews
- GitLab Performance Review Template - Open-source 360 review process
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
- What Matters OKR Resources - Official resources from the OKR framework creators
- GitLab OKR Guide - Real-world OKR implementation
- Google’s OKR Playbook - How Google uses OKRs
- Awesome OKR - Curated list of OKR resources
Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)
- Performance Improvement Plan Template - SHRM template and guidance
- PIP Best Practices Guide - Step-by-step guide
Leveling and Career Development
Engineering Leveling Frameworks
- progression.fyi - Collection of career progression frameworks from top companies
- levels.fyi - Compensation and level data across tech companies
- CircleCI Engineering Competency Matrix - Open-source competency matrix
- Rent the Runway Engineering Ladder - Detailed engineering ladder
- Dropbox Engineering Career Framework - Interactive career framework
Decision-Making Frameworks
RACI/DARE Models
- RACI vs DARE - McKinsey’s comparison
- RACI Chart Guide - Atlassian’s RACI overview
- Decision Matrix Template - Visual decision-making tool
Meetings and Communication
Meeting Templates
- Team Meeting Templates - Various meeting types
Retrospective Frameworks
- Fun Retrospectives - Collection of retrospective formats
- Atlassian Retrospective Playbook - Step-by-step guide
- Miro Retrospective Templates - Visual retrospective boards
Hiring and Interviews
Interview Guides
- STAR Method Interview Guide - Behavioral interview framework
- Topgrading Interview Questions - Comprehensive interviewing approach
- GitLab Interview Process - Complete hiring handbook
Team Management
Team Health
- Atlassian Team Health Monitor - A structured self-assessment for team health across eight dimensions
- Atlassian Team Playbook - Field-tested “plays” for team problems (retrospectives, DACI, working agreements, etc.)
- Skyscanner: 5 Leadership Behaviors of Great Culture - Practical writeup of culture-setting leadership behaviors
Vacation and Time-Off Tracking
- Use your HRIS system (BambooHR, Rippling, Gusto, etc.)
Code of Conduct
- Contributor Covenant - Widely-adopted open-source code of conduct
- Mozilla Community Participation Guidelines - Comprehensive example
- GitHub Community Guidelines - Another strong example
Remote Work Policies
- GitLab Remote Work Handbook - Comprehensive remote-first guide
Technical Debt and Engineering Metrics
Technical Debt Assessment
- Riot Games: Taxonomy of Tech Debt - Impact, cost-to-fix, and contagion — the clearest treatment of how tech debt spreads
- Technical Debt Quadrant - Martin Fowler’s framework
Engineering Metrics
- DORA Metrics - DevOps Research and Assessment metrics
- SPACE Framework - Developer productivity framework
- Jellyfish on DORA Metrics - Practical look at the DORA framework
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
DEI Resources
- Project Include - Comprehensive DEI recommendations for tech
- Paradigm IQ - DEI strategy firm with research, articles, and guides
- Inclusive Leadership Resources - Research-backed practices
Team Workflow Examples
Engineering Team Workflows
- Shape Up by Basecamp - Complete product development methodology
- GitLab Development Process - End-to-end workflow
- Linear Method - Modern software development workflow
- Spotify Engineering Culture - Famous team organization model
Recommended Books and Articles
Essential Reading for Engineering Managers
Management Fundamentals
- The Manager’s Path by Camille Fournier - The definitive guide for tech management career paths
- An Elegant Puzzle: Systems of Engineering Management by Will Larson - Systems thinking approach to management
- The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo - From IC to manager
Leadership and Culture
- Radical Candor by Kim Scott - Framework for effective feedback
- The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni - Building cohesive teams
- Multipliers by Liz Wiseman - Amplifying team intelligence
- Turn the Ship Around by L. David Marquet - Intent-based leadership
Team Organization and Scaling
- Team Topologies by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais - Organizing teams for fast flow
- Accelerate by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim - Science of high-performing organizations
- The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim - DevOps novel (surprisingly good)
Strategy and Decision Making
- Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt - What makes strategy effective
- High Output Management by Andrew Grove - Intel CEO’s management wisdom
- The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins - Transitioning into new roles
Key Articles and Papers
Foundational Concepts
- Conway’s Law - “How Do Committees Invent?” by Melvin Conway (1968)
- Servant Leadership - Leadership philosophy centered on serving others
- The Imposter Phenomenon Revisited - Research on imposter syndrome
- Goodhart’s Law - “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure”
- Peter Principle - The tendency to rise to one’s level of incompetence in hierarchies
- Parkinson’s Law - “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”
- Brachistochrone curve - The classic physics problem showing the fastest path from A to B is often not a straight line
Management Research
- Google’s Project Oxygen - What actually differentiates great managers from bad ones (Google internal research)
- First, Break All the Rules - Gallup’s research on what the world’s greatest managers do differently
- SPACE Framework - Developer productivity framework (ACM)
- DORA Metrics - DevOps Research and Assessment
Management Philosophy
- Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule by Paul Graham - Understanding different work modes
- The Wetware Crisis - The human element in software
- No Silver Bullet by Fred Brooks - Essential difficulties in software
Modern Engineering Management
- The Pragmatic Engineer - Industry newsletter by Gergely Orosz
- LeadDev - Community and resources for tech leads
- Rands in Repose - Michael Lopp’s management blog
- Irrational Exuberance - Will Larson’s engineering leadership writing
- Charity Majors: do we need engineering managers? - A sharp defense of the engineering manager role
- a16z: The first rule of leadership - “To be a great leader, you must be yourself”
- Altos VC: Foxes and Hedgehogs - On the different cognitive styles of leaders
- O’Reilly Radar: How I failed - Tim O’Reilly’s public retrospective on mistakes he made as a leader
- HBR: How to push your team to take risks and experiment - Why static best practices are their own kind of failure
Managing in the AI Era
- The Pragmatic Engineer on AI - Ongoing coverage of AI’s impact on engineering teams
- Simon Willison’s Weblog - Practical writing on coding with LLMs and agents
- AI Engineer - Latent Space podcast and community on AI-augmented engineering practice
Online Communities and Resources
Communities
- Engineering Managers Slack - Active community of engineering managers
- Rands Leadership Slack - Leadership discussions
- LeadDev Community - Technical leadership community
Newsletters and Blogs
- Software Lead Weekly - Curated newsletter for tech leads
- Level Up - Pat Kua’s engineering leadership newsletter
- The Pragmatic Engineer - Engineering management insights
Podcasts
- Manager Tools - Practical management advice
- Soft Skills Engineering - Q&A on non-technical topics
Framework and Tool Resources
Management Frameworks
- Manager README Generator - Create your management style document
- Manager Resources by Lara Hogan - Comprehensive collection
- Canopy (formerly Know Your Team) - Practical management guides and tooling
Compensation and Leveling
- Pave Compensation Data - Real-time compensation benchmarking
- OpenComp - Compensation management platform
- Carta Equity Learning Center - Understanding equity value