Last night, the Bay Area Engineering Managers Support Group examined the question “What are the most important qualities for an engineering manager to possess?” Each person was asked to answer the question based on their own experiences as a direct report. We went looking for the qualities that separated our best managers from the rest.

We used the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) to gather ideas, and then we sorted the results using Decision Optimizing Tiny Stickies (DOTS or Dot Voting). The result was a tiered list of valuable qualities, with ‘tier one’ being those that the group felt were most important.

A few days prior, I had run the same exercise with a different group. I’ll call them “Group X”. Below are the results from each.

September Bay Area Engineering Managers Support Group

Tier One
Delegation
Understand the product and the critical path

Tier Two
Establishes team culture
Takes ownership

Tier Three
Buffer between engineers and management
Strong decision-maker
Understand and communicate the business

Tier Four
Found ways for everyone to contribute
Good connector
Managing requirements
Plots the course to success
Runs good meetings

Tier Five
Always prepared
Available as a resource
Contingency planning
Good listener
Holds each person accountable for deliverables
Manages information flow
Motivator
Respected in the company
Sense of humor

Group X

Tier One
Smart

Tier Two
Finds ways for me to contribute
Gives constructive feedback
Goal and result oriented, not process oriented
Invites discussion
Mentor
Principled

Tier Three
Acknowledge the need for career growth
Budget conscious
Can Delegate
Grows people and promotes from within
Honest, trusted
Inspires me to believe in myself
Sets clear expectations
Shields me from BS
Team builder

Tier Four
Available, always has time for me
Believes in me
“Can do!” attitude
Clear communicator
Compassionate
Decisive and firm
Forthright, tells me what they really think
Good listener
Has my back
Humor
Lead by example
Not heavy-handed
Passion
Values learning