What was the problem?

One of the squads was lacking an active EM and the engineers were mostly left alone, only supported from time to time by other EMs. This meant all of them felt no trust in leadership or management.

What did I do?

I took the mantle of standardizing periodic calls with them, to help them progress and bring them security.

How did I do it?

  1. I was approached by my manager, saying that he and the other interim EM that had been keeping an eye on these other engineers were not able to take care of them anymore.
  2. I met with them and the squad Manager to understand their current statuses and desires. Sadly the output was mostly empty at this stage.
  3. I started to meet with everyone in the other team individually, creating some rapport and understanding not only their past situations but also their future expectations.
  4. I first tried to unblock any issue they had: missing software licenses, devices or unapproved courses.
  5. I scheduled calls at the best pace for each one (first every week, then updated to whatever felt necessary for them and myself).

What did I achieve?

Their percieved safety was higher and their trust increased, to the point many of them shared their concerns with certain situations or approached rather constantly for advice.