Uploaded byDonald Sumbry
Demystifying the Engineering Org Chart
The document discusses the organizational structure of software companies, emphasizing the importance of understanding hierarchies, roles, and communication to navigate and advocate for oneself effectively. It outlines different types of organizational structures (bureaucratic, functional, divisional, matrix, flat) and operating levels (visionary, strategic, operational, tactical), as well as career paths for executives, managers, and individual contributors. The key takeaway is that one must learn the existing rules of an organization before attempting to implement change.
Demystifying the Engineering Org Chart
- 1. Demystifying the Engineering OrgChart sumbry@sumbry.com 1
- 2. About Me 2 Name: Sumbry Email:sumbry@sumbry.com Twitter: @sumbry Aliases: Sumbrizzle, Sumbrymatic, Gumby Quotes: “Never trust a skinny cook”
- 3. The Why 3 A softwarecompany’s purpose is to deliver a product. How that is accomplished varies wildly between organizations. Your success as an engineer depends on being able to navigate the org successfully and advocate for yourself.
- 4. The Agenda 4 ● Hierarchies ●Levels ● Structures ● Roles ● Ladders
- 5. A Story 5 ● Tech-Leadfor dev team ● Designed and built most systems ● Hired my own boss ● Weekly 1:1s ● Did not understand my contributions ● Told me I needed to be more strategic ● Was confused for a year ● The gap was in how I communicated You’re being too tactical!
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- 7. We Need Order 7 Theterm organizational structure refers to how the people in an organization are grouped and to whom they report. Humans have always loved hierarchies.
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- 14. The Kobe Effect 14 Youcannot change the rules of an organization unless you first learn to play by them. No one is going to listen to you if you do not play the game. Humans have always loved hierarchies … and games.
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- 16. Operating Levels 16 Visionary Strategic Operational Tactical ● Founder/ CEO - Big Picture, Creates the mission, Why (President) ● Executives - Develops the plan, executes, How (General) ● Managers - Drives process, continuously delivers, When (Sargeant) ● Individual Contributors - Builds the thing, worker bee, What (Corporal)
- 17. Communicating between Levels 17 ●Visionaries - Communicate with broad strokes and generalities - Do not dive into details ● Strategists - Paint a picture of the future and plan of attack - Do not get stuck with implementation details ● Operators - Describe the process used to accomplish work or execute - Do not ignore the worst case scenario or bike shed ● Tacticians - Talk in specifics - Do not gloss over details
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- 19. Types of OrgStructures 19 Bureaucratic Functional Divisional Matrix Flat Description Strict hierarchy with a leader who makes all decisions and minions who execute Divisions are grouped together around products or functions Self-contained group with all of its own functions necessary to ship a product Organized around Products with each Product Org having its own functions Self-organizes depending on need. No formal structure or managers Attributes Command and control Decentralized specialists and supply chains Rivalries among countries and products Product Managers rule all Everyone reports to the CEO Examples Walmart Amazon Microsoft Facebook Zappos
- 20. Types of OrgStructures 20 Flat Matrix Functional Divisional Hybrid Bureaucratic
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- 22. Organizational Roles 22 ● Executives -Devise strategies and policies to ensure an organization meets its goals - Board Members, CEOs, CTOs, Vice Presidents ● Managers - Plan, direct, and coordinate operational activities - Directors, Managers ● Individual Contributors - The only part of an organization that produces anything - Tech Leads, Engineers
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- 24. Career Ladders 24 ● Management& Executive Ladder - Career path that executives and managers follow ● Individual Contributor Ladder - Career path that individual contributors follow
- 25. The Old Days 25 SoftwareEngineer Senior Software Engineer Manager Senior Manager Director Senior Director Vice President SVP CTO
- 26. Dual Ladders 26 Software Engineer SeniorSoftware Engineer Staff Engineer Senior Staff Engineer Principal Engineer Senior Principal Engineer Fellow Senior Fellow Manager Senior Manager Director Senior Director Vice President SVP CTO Management Individual Contributors
- 27. Reporting Structure 27 Senior SoftwareEngineer Senior Software Engineer Staff Engineer Senior Staff Engineer Principal Engineer Senior Principal Engineer Fellow Senior Fellow Manager Senior Manager Director Senior Director Vice President SVP CTO Software Engineer Software Engineer Manager Senior Manager
- 28. Engineering Individual Contributors 28 ●Software Engineer - Entry level software engineer that knows a single system well ● Senior Software Engineer - Career software engineer that knows several systems well ● Staff Engineer - Tech lead who has deep domain experience that spans multiple systems ● Senior Staff Engineer - Tech lead who may influence other tech leads and direct multiple groups and systems ● Principal Engineer - When domain knowledge gets deep enough, you land here ● Fellow - The technical face of the company, you should be scared of them. CTO is just a visionary.
- 29. Different Types ofEngineers 29 ● Software Engineer ● Network Engineer ● Security Engineer ● Quality Engineer ● Systems Engineer ● Performance Engineer
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- 31. In Conclusion 31 ● Fivetypes of organizational structures: - Bureaucratic, Functional, Divisional, Matrix, Flat ● Four types of operating levels: - Visionary, Strategic, Operational, Tactical ● Three types of roles: - Executives, Managers, Individual Contributors ● Two types of career ladders: - Management, ICs ● Lots of specializations: - Systems, Software, Quality, Network, Performance, etc ● Always One Hierarchy
- 32. Don’t Forget 32 You cannotchange the rules of an organization unless you first learn to play by them. Know the career ladder of your organization. Humans have always loved hierarchies.
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