Chen Y.
Sample Honest and grounded
No grand leadership theories, just situations I face every week and what to do about them.
First time engineering manager: lead a team with confidence
Make the move from engineer to manager: one on ones, feedback, delivery, hiring, performance and working with your own manager
Created by Samuel Mensah
- Updated September 2026
- English
- Beginner
What you will learn
- Describe how the manager role differs from the engineer role
- Create a 30, 60 and 90 day plan for a new team
- Run effective one on ones with a clear structure
- Give specific, timely feedback using a simple model
- Keep delivery predictable with lightweight planning and rituals
- Run fair hiring loops and onboard new engineers well
- Handle performance reviews, promotions and underperformance
Course content
From engineer to manager
Leading people
- Article: One on ones that matter 10 min
- Article: Giving feedback that lands 11 min
- Article: Setting clear expectations 9 min
- Article: Spotting and preventing burnout 8 min
- Article: Difficult conversations 10 min
Keeping delivery predictable
- Article: Planning and estimation 10 min
- Article: Team rituals that earn their time 9 min
- Article: Managing technical debt 9 min
- Article: Incidents and on call 9 min
Building the team
- Article: Running a fair hiring loop 11 min
- Article: Onboarding new engineers 9 min
- Article: Psychological safety 9 min
- Article: Working agreements and team norms 7 min
Growth and performance
- Article: Career conversations 9 min
- Article: Performance reviews without surprises 10 min
- Article: Promotions 8 min
- Article: Handling underperformance 10 min
Working up and across
- Article: Managing up 8 min
- Article: Partnering with product and design 9 min
- Article: Looking after yourself 7 min
- Quiz: Final check 6 min
Requirements
- Experience working on an engineering or technical team
- Current or upcoming responsibility for people
Description
Most engineering managers are promoted because they were good engineers. Then, almost overnight, the skills that made them successful matter less, and a new set of skills they were never taught matters a lot. This course is a practical guide for that transition, written for your first year in the role.
What you will learn
- What actually changes when you become a manager, and what to let go of
- A plan for your first 30, 60 and 90 days
- Running one on ones that build trust and surface problems early
- Giving clear, kind feedback, including the difficult kind
- Keeping delivery predictable without micromanaging
- Hiring, onboarding and building a healthy team culture
- Career conversations, performance reviews and handling underperformance
- Working well with your own manager, product partners and other teams
How the course works
Each lesson focuses on a situation you will meet, with scripts, agendas and templates you can adapt. We follow a fictional new manager, Rui, who takes over a team of six engineers he used to work alongside. His mistakes and recoveries make the advice concrete.
Who it is for
New engineering managers, tech leads taking on people responsibilities and senior engineers considering the move. The examples come from software teams, but most of the advice applies to any technical team. If you are deciding whether management is for you, the first section will help you understand what the job really involves before you commit.
Who this course is for
- New engineering managers in their first year
- Tech leads taking on people management
- Senior engineers considering the management path
Instructor
Samuel Mensah
Engineering manager teaching practical leadership for engineers who now lead people
- 4.4 instructor rating
- 22 reviews
- 8,440 students
- 3 courses
- Sample
I was a backend engineer for years before moving into engineering management, and I still remember how unprepared I felt in my first month. Since then I have managed teams, managed other managers and helped many engineers make the same transition.
I teach leadership as a set of learnable habits: one on ones, feedback, delegation, hiring loops, technical decision records and running a team rhythm that protects focus. I try to be specific. Instead of abstract principles you get scripts, agendas and templates, plus the reasoning behind them.
My courses are for new managers, tech leads and senior engineers who want to grow their influence without losing touch with the work.
Student reviews
Daniela V.
Sample Wish I had this a year ago
Every mistake Rui made in week one, I made too. The delegation lesson alone would have saved me months of stress.
Ahmed S.
Sample Feedback finally feels natural
Small, frequent feedback using the simple model made my one on ones far more useful.
Kwame O.
Sample Practical scripts for hard talks
I used the difficult conversation opener almost word for word. It went much better than I feared.
Ingrid L.
Sample Very useful calendar audit
Tracking my time for a week was eye opening. I cut eight hours of meetings without anyone complaining.
Rebecca T.
Sample Good for tech leads too
I am a tech lead without direct reports. Most of the delivery and people sections still applied.
Lucy W.
Sample Great on hiring
The structured interview and debrief lessons improved our hiring loop. I wanted more on remote teams.
Mateus C.
Sample Some advice depends on company
Good principles, but promotion and performance processes vary a lot. The course acknowledges that, which helps.
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