rajiv.com

Tag: staffing

  • Management & Technical Career Growth Tracks (v3)

    In follow-up to earlier work on a) versions one and two of these technical and related career tracks, b) pathways for career development in product engineering, c) job titles, and d)  employee evaluation & career development, here is an updated version three of the career growth tracks. This version 3 includes software engineering & architecture,…

  • 3 Dimensions of a Technology Team

    Organizing Software Engineering Teams to Balance Products, Partners & Professions This organizational design for a technology department aims to optimally blend the need for the technology team to be an engine of innovation, a customer-service organization and technically excellent. It views the staff, roles and responsibilities in three dimensions: products, partnerships, and professions. Organization by…

  • 3 Roles of a CTO: Culture. Technology. Operations.

    This is a guide for CTOs, VPs of Software Engineering and other technology managers responsible for a software engineering organization. The purpose of this checklist is to help the CTO cover the areas of culture, technology and operations in their teams. It is presented in the form of a memo to direct reports. Dear Tech…

  • 3-5-7 Meeting Format for Weekly Staff Meetings

    If you are the manager of a team of people at your job, here is a format we suggest for running your staff meetings. We call it the 3-5-7 format because of its convention of giving 3 to 5 minutes per person to answer 7 questions. This system assumes that you have fewer than ten direct…

  • Maker’s Schedule (For Managers Too)

    The following memo from a department head to staff is an example of how to implement a productive maker’s schedule at your workplace. This approach recommends starting with baby steps, evaluating results and making changes accordingly. Dear Colleagues in the Technology, Project Management and Product Teams, Executive Summary:1 We are implementing a maker’s schedule starting…

  • Three Pillars of a Media/Publishing Company

    Questions: Where should product be depicted? Is product an extension of the journalism (newsroom)? In this way of thinking, all products including Web, mobile and all other digital products are primarily newsroom products. Or: Is product part of technology and development? In this way of thinking, product is primarily product development. Or: Is product a…

  • HR Classification and Discretionary/Business Job Titles for Makers, Managers and Leaders in Technology

    This article presents an organization system and policy for job titles of maker, manager and leader roles in technology staffs. Separate job titles for HR classification and discretionary/business use are used at many technology organizations, ranging from medium-sized, innovative and fast-moving companies to large, established and enterprise technology companies.1 This is a well-established practice that balances HR requirements with the rapid pace of innovation and change in job…

  • Case for a Consistent, Comprehensible & Cost-Effective Vacation Policy

    Case for a Consistent, Comprehensible & Cost-Effective Vacation Policy

    This article makes a case for having a vacation policy that is simple, sane and standard across the organization. Some organizations have unnecessarily complicated vacation policies that require a lot of labor and time to implement, manage and support exceptions for. That is substandard because such vacation policies are costly for the organization, they distract from…

  • Product Maintenance vs. New Development on Web Sites, Mobile Apps and Other Digital Products

    Maintenance of a digital business product (e.g. a Web site, mobile app, or software) refers to the work that includes modifications made after delivery to production to fix bugs, address compliance/security issues, or improve scalability/performance These modifications can be to the product’s software code, configuration, documentation, hardware, or surrounding network. Maintenance is often contrasted with…

  • Management & Technical Career Growth Tracks (v2)

    This second version of the diagram illustrating technical career tracks reflects the following updates since version one: A product management track is now included. (Future updates may include other tracks like design, editorial and marketing.) There is no longer a contributor-level position on the people-management track. This is because most organizations do not have an…

  • Organizing a Digital Technology Department in a Media Company By Functional Areas

    This article presents a system to organize your digital technology department in a media company. It is written for a CTO, CIO or EVP Technology looking for suggestions on organizing or reorganizing your Digital (Web, Mobile) technology department. It is best suited for you if your organization has the following characteristics: You manage all aspects…

  • Organizing a Digital Technology Department of Medium Size in a Media Company

    There are many good ways to organize your technology department. This article presents some of them. It is written for a CTO or VP Technology leading a medium size department looking for suggestions on organizing or reorganizing your Digital (Web, Mobile) technology department. It is best suited for you if your organization has the following…