The expectations from Engineering Managers changed again

What does it take to be a good Engineering Manager in 2026?

The answer to “What does it mean to be a good engineering manager?” really depends on when you asked that question. It was different a few years ago and it’s something else now. That’s because the tech industry itself has been changing so much.

One thing became clear to me in my 15+ years in the industry:

The role of Engineering Managers has always been defined by the market, not by individuals.

Here’s how the definition has changed over the years during my career and how we can prepare for 2026.

The Project Manager Era (Early 2010s)

When I worked at Intel as a software engineer in the early 2010s, I barely had any 1:1s with my manager. I never got any useful feedback or meaningful performance review. No clear expectations or career growth conversations.

And that was common in other companies as well. Management was about day-to-day execution. Managers assigned tasks and asked for status the next morning. The idea was to keep the “factory” running.

Engineering management was basically project management. But even that was done in a very waterfall way. There was no planning or estimation. The work was mostly in manager’s head. They assigned and checked regular status.

But it worked at that time. Teams were stable. Growth was slow but steady. The market rewarded output and reliability more than efficiency and speed.

The People-First Shift (2017–2019)

Around 2017, things changed.

My then manager focused much more on people: hiring, onboarding, retention, performance evaluation, and career conversations. I saw that managers intentionally stayed away from technical details and delegated heavily. This was when terms like “psychological safety” and “radical candor” became really popular.

This is also when I transitioned into a tech lead role and started learning this new style of management. Manager’s success was measured by how independent the team was. Advice like “Hire smart people and get out their way” and “Make yourself redundant” became overused.

This model felt more modern though. It gave a very enlightened vibe. And we went too far.

The Peak and the Crack (2020–2021)

That approach peaked during Covid.

Remote work reduced visibility. Managers didn’t know how to manage remotely so they started trusting even more. They operated people-first. But many felt increasingly disconnected from delivery and outcomes. Holding people accountable became uncomfortable. Sometimes impossible.

Besides, job opportunities were abundant. Attrition risk was everywhere. Managers were expected to support everyone, retain, and somehow still ship.

Many felt helpless but even they were not subject to accountability. Even companies didn’t know how to handle so they said stuff like “Take care of yourself first, work can wait.”

But that wasn’t gonna last forever.

The Correction (2022–2025)

The market tightened. Money wasn’t cheap anymore.

So layoffs became common. Budgets shrank. Orgs flattened. And reorgs became a routine thing.

This happened right after I stepped into formal management. (Yes, I’m the guy who buys a stock and tanks the whole company 😅)

I found myself in the middle of changing expectations. I had to learn to

• Handle layoffs

• Manage PIPs

• Work with reduced capacity

• Deal with engineers’ frustrations

• Raise the performance bar

These were skills most EMs in the 2010s never had to develop but they were table stakes now.

A lot of managers had to lose their jobs. They may have been the best managers in the previous era but they weren’t considered good now.

What’s in 2026 and beyond?

Is this the new normal now? Have we found the ultimate model? Is this how managers will operate forever?

No. I’m sure it’s going to change again. But it may get worse before it gets better. AI is already challenging everything. From how we build to how we organize to how many people we need.

So how do we prepare ourselves? What should we do to thrive?

I’m gonna focus on these four things myself. But keep in the mind the core strategy - Engineering managers exist to make the team better and provide value to the company.

1. Technical understanding

I don’t necessarily want to be a programmer again. But I want to be deeply technical. I’ll measure myself in terms of my ability to:

• Understand system designs

• Challenge designs from others

• Engage in deeper discussions without being hand wavy

• Use AI coding tools

The speed of this understanding is going to be important as well. How do you understand large complex systems?

From past experience, I can tell that can be achieved by treating certain areas as black boxes. I don’t have to understand all at once. I abstract the things I don’t understand. Like if I don’t know Apache Spark or Kafka, that’s fine. Do I understand how it plugs into our system and what role it plays? Yes? Then great start. And then gradually open the black boxes.

2. Bringing clarity

With the industry moving faster than ever, there is more chaos. With so many things going on at once, engineers are overwhelmed.

• What AI tools to use?

• How is my job changing?

• How to adapt?

• How to align to new leadership and org?

There are new problems to solve. New bars to meet.

The best thing an EM can do is help the team get some clarity. I know even you as an EM are feeling overwhelmed with the changes and have no answer. But you should be able to define the direction the team should be heading. Break it down into short-term and long-term. You may get it wrong sometimes, but that’s ok. Iterate on it. But they need some clarity today, not after the fog clears on it’s own.

3. Staying organized

Again, to keep the chaos under control, keeping everything organized will help you make quicker decisions.

Do you know exactly what the team is working on, on a given day or week? Are the projects broken down correctly? Are the design docs created and easily findable? Do you have a sense of redundancy, backup, etc.?

See where you’re getting surprises and see how you can get organized around that. A lot of times, it’d mean adding a new process. Engineers might hate you for that. But if you put the right process, they will thank you later.

One such process is a Team Working Agreement.

4. Teaching others

Now a lot of managers try coaching and giving feedback. And that works for some engineers but not for the majority.

Because feedback and coaching leave the action completely up to the individual. Like, I’d just recommend a course or a book and follow up on it. But I realized that is a long loop. They may learn something but not exactly what’s needed from them in their current role and at the right time.

In 2026, I recommend more of a teaching approach.

Teaching is time consuming but worth it. I’ve been practicing this lately. I identified a couple of skills for a couple of people and set up a daily 30 minute 1:1 for 6 weeks. I taught them “how to write effectively” and “how to be a scrum lead”. I prepared some notes and topics. I pulled up some of their past examples. For the most part, it was like feedback session but it didn’t stop there. I also showed what good looks like and how to practice it.

And in that whole process, I felt so proud to see them grow and as a bonus, I got even better at those skills myself.

That’s it folks! Not gonna summarize because this is already a long post.

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More Resources

• Great article collection written by Gergely Orosz that covers the impact of end of zero interest rates.

• The article from Will Larson that inspired my post: https://lethain.com/good-eng-mgmt-is-a-fad

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