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How Google Sold Its Engineers on Management

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Since the early days of Google, people throughout the company have questioned the value of managers. That skepticism comes from a highly technocratic culture. As one software engineer, Eric Flatt, puts it, “We are a company built by engineers for engineers.” (View Highlight)

And most engineers, not just those at Google, want to spend their time designing and debugging, not communicating with bosses or supervising other workers’ progress. In their hearts they’ve long believed that management is more destructive than beneficial, a distraction from “real work” and tangible, goal-directed tasks. (View Highlight)

In 2002 they experimented with a completely flat organization, eliminating engineering managers in an effort to break down barriers to rapid idea development and to replicate the collegial environment they’d enjoyed in graduate school. That experiment lasted only a few months: They relented when too many people went directly to Page with questions about expense reports, interpersonal conflicts, and other nitty-gritty issues (View Highlight)

And as the company grew, the founders soon realized that managers contributed in many other, important ways—for instance, by communicating strategy, helping employees prioritize projects, facilitating collaboration, supporting career development, and ensuring that processes and systems aligned with company goals. (View Highlight)

It’s not uncommon to find engineering managers with 30 direct reports. Flatt says that’s by design, to prevent micromanaging. “There is only so much you can meddle when you have 30 people on your team, so you have to focus on creating the best environment for engineers to make things happen,” (View Highlight)

Google downplays hierarchy and emphasizes the power of the individual in its recruitment efforts (…) It screens candidates’ résumés for markers that indicate potential to excel there—especially general cognitive ability. People who make that first cut are then carefully assessed for initiative, flexibility, collaborative spirit, evidence of being well-rounded…

How do you turn doubters into believers, persuading them to spend time managing others? As (View Highlight)

Project Oxygen, a multiyear research initiative. It has since grown into a comprehensive program that measures key management behaviors and cultivates them through communication and training (View Highlight)

Engineers hate being micromanaged on the technical side but love being closely managed on the career side.” (View Highlight)

we actually ended up trying to prove the opposite case—that managers don’t matter. Luckily, we failed (View Highlight)

the high-scoring managers saw less turnover on their teams than the others did—and retention was related more strongly to manager quality than to seniority, performance, tenure, or promotions (View Highlight)

Employees with high-scoring bosses consistently reported greater satisfaction in multiple areas, including innovation, work-life balance, and career development. (View Highlight)

What Google’s Best Managers Do

By examining data from employee surveys and performance reviews, Google’s people analytics team identified eight key behaviors demonstrated by the company’s most effective managers. 

A good manager:
  1. Is a good coach 
  2. Empowers the team and does not micromanage
  3. Expresses interest in and concern for team members’ success and personal well-being 
  4. Is productive and results-oriented 
  5. Is a good communicator—listens and shares information 
  6. Helps with career development 
  7. Has a clear vision and strategy for the team 
  8. Has key technical skills that help him or her advise the team

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