Change Agents: How Experienced Engineering Managers Use Triage, Advocacy and Implementation to Drive Transformation Cycles

Abstract

Engineering managers’ experiences provide a unique and important window into how software teams overcome failure and achieve lasting change. 465 experienced engineering managers were recruited to a mixed-methods study, of which 465 shared quantitative responses and 87-112 shared in-depth qualitative open-text responses to behavioral vignettes. Managers ranked project requirements and project timeline failures as the biggest risks to software projects. Managers’ responses to behavioral vignettes on team failure show they use specific process and people strategies 1) for diagnosing potential causes of delivery failure on a software team 2) for advocating for investment in upskilling with leadership, and 3) in their real-life examples of implementing changes on software teams. This study investigates how engineering managers reason through three key focus areas in executing their strategies for team change, acting as diagnosticians, advocates, and change conductors, and qualitative analysis shows that managers suggest common strategies to help a struggling team, such as team-level diagnosis and investment in well-scoped technical upskilling. These findings are discussed in the context of management science, developer wellbeing and experience, and potential for manager burnout.