Don't count your quiet engineers out. I have a quiet engineer that always does a great job getting their work done, but through talking to people in & outside of my team, I've learned they do waaaay more work than I ever realized. Quiet storm 💜 Quiet people, don't be afraid to talk about your work! - ThreadSky

engineeringbae.bsky.social • 9 days ago

Don't count your quiet engineers out. I have a quiet engineer that always does a great job getting their work done, but through talking to people in & outside of my team, I've learned they do waaaay more work than I ever realized. Quiet storm 💜

Quiet people, don't be afraid to talk about your work!

Comments

aliafonzy.bsky.social•9 days ago

I will never forget the director of engineer saying he don’t want wallflowers in his team and doesn’t agree with quiet engineers when I worked best in quiet

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

PS - we have a great relationship & regular one on ones. But I've found some engineers don't think the stuff they do is worth mentioning. Even though it is! They view the work as "oh, well it needed to be done" or "they needed help so I helped". Not realizing how valuable and unique that is.

infamousgrouse.bsky.social•9 days ago

yeah, I definitely fall into this category. It can get frustrating when people that are more comfortable talking about themselves get more recognition.It can help if you have a system to celebrate the work of others, e.g. we have 'big ups' that we can submit & share,but you need people participating

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

Definitely agree. We have a "Kudos" section in our Retro Board that helps bring light to some of the awesomeness.

infamousgrouse.bsky.social•9 days ago

how often do you use that? We do ours weekly but it's hard getting people to submit anything

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

Every sprint. Since it’s integrated into the process, it’s easy to get people onboard. We even have a “what I’m proud of” column that people also fill in now that psychological safety is high on the team

infamousgrouse.bsky.social•9 days ago

That sounds awesome ☺️ we used to do physical postcards as well, with different designs for different values shown, which I liked as it felt more personal if someone took the time to handwrite it. (plus I could display them on my desk ☺️)

guavajuicetherapy.bsky.social•9 days ago

I'm trying to force myself to be more vocal but I really, truly despise speaking to people who either don't know or don't really care what I'm doing. This includes Leadership.

aiila.bsky.social•9 days ago

Flying under the radar ~ just let me do the work.

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

I’m okay with my engineers flying under the radar but I want to make sure I’m properly compensating them based on the work they’ve done.

piewords.bsky.social•9 days ago

I have a great engineer who does the same thing. When he needs help, he speaks up. Otherwise he is quietly getting things done that deserve praise & recognition.

circaliz.bsky.social•9 days ago

I'm probably in that category. I'm really happy to get my work done well and then move on to the next thing.

I think many people like me aren't really comfortable tooting our own horns so it would be great if our leaders could do that for us.

andyhaskell.bsky.social•9 days ago

And if you’re a quiet engineer keep track of what you do so you know how to communicate that. It’s easy to forget it all in the weeds of the million things you do!

gaforever.bsky.social•9 days ago

Those are the people I build my team around. They are my strongest supports and best confidants. I know I can count on them, and they know they can count on me.

nekointheshell.com•9 days ago

nobody's going to make you be seen, you have to make you be seen. very good lesson to learn

unbearablebear.bsky.social•9 days ago

What if we don't want to? Recently some engineer got praised for something I did because he seeks more recognition than I. I am doing computer science, not marketing. I couldn't care lass about being patted on the head. If I get fired, I'll find another job. In the end, the loss is to the company.

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

Good for you. My engineers letting me know the value they're bringing to the company allows me to get them raises and money because they care about it. No ones patting anyone on the head.

unbearablebear.bsky.social•9 days ago

I guess that's juste me being tired of the permanent bragging culture :( I I I everywjere. So many nasty things coming out of this. We should not need people to brag about what they do in my opinion. Either it's noticed, either it's not but they do it because they feel it's the right thing to do.

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

You’re conflating the two. Simply saying what you did isn’t bragging. It’s simply stating the facts.

I agree the people who brag and make themselves and their accomplishments bigger than they actually are don’t help team culture.

unbearablebear.bsky.social•9 days ago

I never got a promotion by staying in a company that is equivalent to a salary raise I can get by changing company. I was also freelancer for a while. Some of us trully don't care about recognition. At all.

chrisunits.bsky.social•9 days ago

Took me a long time to learn this. Keep selling yourself and your accomplishments.

cpetersen-cs.bsky.social•9 days ago

"You're a developer? I thought you just sat in your cubicle and cursed all day!"

When I get quiet, it's usually a bad sign... 😈

adrienbackus.bsky.social•7 days ago

And employers, don’t be afraid to hire quiet people!

engineeringbae.bsky.social•7 days ago

Never! 💜

ranork.bsky.social•9 days ago

So true! My co-founder is like that, a true hidden gem. We need to celebrate those quiet achievers!

kellimims.bsky.social•9 days ago

I used to remind them during one on ones to write down something weekly so when the review process starts it will be easier to toot their horn. I used to have to fight tooth and nail for my quiet ones to get the pay they deserved.

engineeringbae.bsky.social•9 days ago

Big plus one on the "Brag Book"

tomboyred.bsky.social•9 days ago

Pssst...they are not afraid, they are introverts...they are very good workers unless they are in sales...lol

adamneo.bsky.social•9 days ago

This right here. 👆🏼

jptoto.bsky.social•9 days ago

I struggle with recognizing those folks a lot. Good reminder!

anthonywhitford.com•9 days ago

And it is often the loud ones that are more talk than action.

cpuguy83.bsky.social•5 days ago

It really is fear.
I don't want to boast about myself or my work but definitely understand that effectively communicating it is one of the most important things about the job.
Shit, I had a hard time even replying here.

engineeringbae.bsky.social•4 days ago

Thank you for being brave enough to reply! I always try to make sure my page is a safe space

ryanfeather.bsky.social•5 days ago

Absolutely agreed! The most skilled people tend to love what they're doing more than they love talking about it. Leaders need to be extra adept at understanding the actual impact of their people.

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