Navigate performance reviews with interim Engineering Manager
I recently joined a new company and will have my Dev Talk in a couple of weeks. I'm a mid-level software engineer and rather new in the industry so much of this is new to me (we use a 360 kind of perf review process.) The focus (in my upcoming Dev Talk in a couple of weeks) will be on my goals for the upcoming year rather than my historic performance since I have only been at the company for a month. However, in about 6 months, my EM will go on parental leave for roughly 9 months ~. There will be an interim EM taking over during the leave, and they will start looking for this person in a couple of months.
While I'm very happy for my EM, I wonder what I should try to keep in mind to get the most out of my performance review cycle during the upcoming year. My EM has shown an interest in my aspirations to become a senior engineer, and I would very much like to try to reach this level as soon as possible. How can I successfully continue pushing for senior (or possibly be promoted to a senior engineer) while having an interim EM?
Discussion
(2 comments)- 2
7 months agoTeam Lead (people manager) at MistplayPersonally I have had 5 managers in the last 4.5 years at one company, so I don’t see this as too much cause for alarm as something out of the ordinary. Maybe someone could link some posts about best practices around changing managers in general - but I know in one video it’s said that great managers do not last. They become managers of managers and it’s very normal to lose them quickly if they are good.
I think there are actually a couple of benefits to a new manager. You learn from someone else’s perspective. You get a fresh start with how you present yourself to them. You can bring up asks for responsibility and increasing scope with another set of ears.
Ideally you can build a good relationship with your current manager, ask for a one on one on one to have a group huddle on goals and accomplishments at the beginning and end of the nine months and still land your promotion on schedule.
- 16 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
Wow, 9 months of parental leave is a long time! (standard in the US is between 2-4 months)
That's almost long enough to feel like you're going to completely change managers. By the time your old manager comes back, many projects and people will have changed. So all of Ryan's advice applies.
My recommendation is to ensure the handoff between the old and new manager is solid so you "pre-load" all the context in the new relationship you're developing.
