Are you Micromanaging in the name of Visibility?

Software engineering leadership's view on visibility isn't set in stone. There's no single definition; it’s heavily shaped by their specific role and what they need to see from their position.

For some, visibility is like a live dashboard showing what's happening right now. It helps them keep track of projects and see if things are on track. Others think of it more as a big picture thing. They see visibility as important for making sure what teams do every day actually helps reach the company's big goals.

It's more than just watching what's going on. It's about understanding how all the pieces your team works on connect and how they help or hurt your projects in the end.

Visibility: Not the Same as Hovering (aka Micromanagement)

It's easy to get visibility and micromanagement mixed up. People sometimes think wanting to know what's going on means you're trying to control everything. But they're really not the same thing at all.

Think of it this way: visibility is about getting a good understanding—like checking in to see:

• "What's everyone working on right now?"
• "Which projects are they tackling?"
• "Are they running into any roadblocks?"
• "Is there anything I can do to help things move faster and smoother?"

It's about being supportive and helpful. It's you trying to clear the path so your team can do their best work.

Micromanagement, on the other hand, is like... well, imagine someone looking over your shoulder all day, every day! It’s like:

• Every tiny decision needs their okay.
• You have to give them updates about every little step.
• They're focused on the small stuff all the time.

Micromanagement gets in the way. It can make people feel like they're not trusted, and it can actually slow things down because everyone's waiting for permission all the time. It can even kill creativity because people stop trying new things.

The real difference? Visibility is about making sure everyone's got clear goals and then giving them what they need to succeed. Micromanagement is about controlling every little detail, which just doesn't work in the long run.

Okay, So How Does Visibility Actually Help?

Let's break down how getting a clear view of things can make life easier and better for you, whether you're managing a team day-to-day or leading the whole engineering department.

If You're an Engineering Manager... (Keeping Your Team on Track)

Think about what you juggle every day. Visibility can be like having a superpower for a few key things:

• Knowing if Your Team is Moving Forward (Team Progress)
• Spotting if Your Team is Doing Okay (Team Health)
• Giving Real Project Updates (Project Updates)

If You're an Engineering Leader... (Seeing the Big Picture)

As a leader, you're thinking about the whole engineering organization and how it fits into the company's bigger picture. Visibility helps you at this level too:

• Putting All the Pieces Together (Centralizing Information for a Holistic Picture)
• Working Better Together Across Teams (Visibility Unlocks Collaboration)
• Staying on Course (Maintaining Direction, Steer Your Team)

In short, visibility isn't just about looking at pretty charts. It's about giving you, as a manager or leader, the understanding you need to make smart decisions, support your teams, and drive your engineering organization towards success.

How Do We Actually See Things?

You'll often hear that visibility is all about metrics—like DORA scores, SPACE framework, cycle time, and all that. And yeah, numbers are part of the story. We often use them to try and measure how visible things are.

Metrics are really just tools to help us see. They're not the whole view themselves. They can tell you what is happening, maybe how much, but they often don't tell you why.

Real visibility is more about getting the right info to the right people at the right time – and in a way that actually makes sense to them.

Evolvedev takes visibility a step further by making it proactive, not just reactive. With our notification feature, you can set up exactly what you want to know, where you want to be alerted (like Slack, email, etc.), and what kind of info you need to see. It’s like having your own personalized early warning system before your workday begins to stay ahead and tackle issues before they become fires.

Get visibility without micromanaging with EvolveDev.

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