What is the role of managers

Principles

• Managers exist to grow people and establish goals, not to approve work.
• They do everything a Team Lead does, plus people management.
• This role is expected to be your main focus.
• Becoming a Manager is a title change.
• They still ship, but people are their main contribution.
• They care more about the how and who than the what.

Why Managers exist

Team Leads keep a team focused and moving in the right direction, but there are questions beyond the Team Lead's scope:

• Is this person performing, and how do we know?
• Who do we hire next, and why?
• What does this team look like a year from now?
• What foundational org changes could help us reach our maximum output?
• How well are we caring for the personal needs of each team member?

Founders used to hold these questions for every team. Managers exist so that Team Leads can stay lightweight, and founders are not the only ones thinking about people and the org.

Where Managers sit

Managers sit at the team level or above. Reporting lines run through Managers: people report to a Manager, and Managers report to the founders. A Manager may lead one team directly, or several teams that each have a Team Lead.

Becoming a Manager comes with a title change.

Today, no team has both a Manager and a Team Lead. When there is no Team Lead, the Manager carries those Team Lead duties.

Time allocation

Managers spend around 20%-40% of their time on individual contributor work, enough to stay close to the product and the users. The other 60%-80% is managing, developing, and planning for the team. This is largely dependent on team size.

If a Manager stops shipping entirely, they lose touch. If a Manager ships most of the time, the team is not being managed.

What a Manager does

Team Leads and Managers may see the same situations. This is what the Manager adds.

Someone is not pulling their weight

• Actively trains, enables, and inspires the team to greatness.
• Defines the performance bar for clarity and fairness.
• Assesses the person's performance against a clear bar.
• Attempts to uncover personal factors contributing to performance.
• Puts a written plan in place when needed, with expectations and a timeline.
• Holds the performance and termination conversations when required.

A decision needs to be made

• When a Team Lead is in place, defers to the Team Lead first.
• Steps in only when the Team Lead escalates or is stuck.
• Escalates to the broader leadership team when required.

The team is burnt out

• Looks past the current cycle at the longer-term direction of the team.
• Asks whether the team is the right size and has the right skills.
• Plans for expansion, new skill sets, or reshaping the team.

The team needs to grow

• Is the default hiring lead for the team, and consults the Team Lead.
• Owns the hiring plan with Operations and holds the hiring decision.
• Can delegate the hiring process once they have trained others to run it.
• Every candidate still meets the founders, and the founders can veto.

What Managers are not

Managers do not:

• Approve every decision
• Micromanage execution
• Override a Team Lead's day-to-day calls
• Replace the Team Lead's coaching
• Decide compensation or promotions without the founders

Founder relationship

Founders:

• Still skip-level regularly
• Still review work occasionally
• Still meet regularly with Managers

But:

• Are no longer the default escalation path
• Are not the sole source of truth for decisions

Cadence

• Regular check-ins with each team member (at least bi-weekly).
• Heavier investment into Team Leads that report to them.
• Ongoing pulse on performance, so they can always answer "how are they doing?"
• Quarterly check-in with founders on performance, capacity, and hiring.
• Annual hiring and org planning.