Software Engineering Levels

Unlocking Potential: The Power of Clear Expectations in Software Engineering Teams

As an engineering manager, one of your most crucial responsibilities is setting clear expectations for your team members. It's a task that can make or break team dynamics, individual growth, and overall project success. How do you ensure that your expectations are clear, fair, and conducive to growth? The "levels sheet" is one such tool for engineering managers to regularly go over with their reports that lays it all out clearly.

The Levels Sheet Solution

It's a simple, yet powerful spreadsheet that breaks down the expectations for each level of software engineer in your team, from bright-eyed interns to seasoned staff engineers. This isn't just another bureaucratic document to gather dust and be forgotten about. The levels sheet is a living, breathing document. It needs to be brought up and discussed frequently to be successful.

What makes it so special? For each level, it clearly outlines:

• What the engineer needs to know
• The general theme of their role
• What's expected of them
• Example activities they should be engaging in
• People skills they need to demonstrate

Giving Managers a Framework for Objectivity

By clearly defining expectations for each level, you're creating a fair playing field. No more relying on vague impressions or who spoke up the most in meetings. Instead, you have concrete, measurable criteria to assess performance and guide growth. This reduces the likelihood of managers and their reports taking things personally as they are working with top level guidance. The manager's opinion still heavily weighs in but it provides an a way for the reports and managers to discuss at a granular level what the gaps are by having discussion points.

Reports who are self aware will automatically identify items they could better improve upon, making it even easier for the manager. Otherwise it may seem like they're doing nothing like pointing out flaws.

It's also an opportunity for managers to celebrate successes. For bullet points where the report is doing very well, they should congratulate and praise those items, encouraging repetition of desired behaviour.

Climbing the Ladder (Without Becoming a Manager)

Here's a common scenario: a brilliant software engineer feels stuck. They want to progress in their career, but they don't want to become a manager. Sound familiar? There's also the case where an engineer will say they want to become a Tech Lead or a manager but in their hearts, they just want to do more code and be closer to the tooling. They simply saw no other choices and think that they want the Tech Lead role. The levels sheet is your answer to this dilemma.

By clearly outlining the expectations and skills needed at each level, you're showing your team members that there's a clear path for growth as an individual contributor. They can see exactly what they need to do to reach that next level, whether it's deepening their technical expertise, taking on more complex projects, or developing their mentoring skills.

It's like giving them a treasure map – they can clearly see the path to that X that marks the spot of their career goals.

Bi-weekly Check-ins: From Guesswork to Growth

Imagine sitting down with your report every other week, armed with this powerful levels sheet. Instead of vague discussions about performance, you can have targeted, productive conversations about specific areas of growth.

Maybe they're excelling at their current level but have a few gaps from the previous level that need addressing. Or perhaps they're eager to start working towards that next promotion. The levels sheet gives you a framework to identify these gaps and opportunities, turning your bi-weekly check-ins from a chore into a catalyst for growth.

It's like having a GPS for career development – you can clearly see where you are, where you're going, and what route you need to take to get there.

The Bigger Picture: Supporting Performance Reviews

Let's zoom out for a moment. The levels sheet isn't just a standalone tool – it's a crucial piece of your overall performance review process. It provides a consistent, objective basis for evaluations, ensuring that your performance reviews are fair, transparent, and geared towards growth.

Think of it as the foundation upon which you build your performance review process. It sets clear expectations throughout the year, making those annual or bi-annual reviews less of a surprise and more of a natural culmination of ongoing discussions.

The performance framework here provides 3 tools. This levels document, the performance pyramid and the impact sheet.

Wrapping Up: Your Roadmap to Success

Implementing the levels sheet in your team isn't just about creating another document – it's about fostering a culture of transparency, fairness, and continuous growth. It's about empowering your team members to take charge of their own career development. It's about making your job as a manager more effective and rewarding.

Remember, great teams aren't born – they're built on a foundation of clear expectations and continuous growth. The levels sheet is your blueprint for building that foundation. Start crafting your team's levels sheet today, and watch as it transforms your team management from good to extraordinary.