StaffPlus London 2023

I recently attended StaffPlus London 2023. This was my first time at a “real” (i.e. non–internal) conference, and overall I felt like it was a really worthwhile experience. The Staff+ technical track is a long journey and it’s tough at times. Spending two whole days thinking about almost nothing else was a welcome shot of inspiration!

Nearly three weeks have passed since then and I’m still feeling refreshed, so I’m fairly convinced that attending had a significant effect on my motivation and mindset.

In this article, I’ll share some thoughts on my favourite talks.

Filling the jar of impact and trust as a Principal Engineer

One of the things we hear over and over again as we progress through our careers is “you should be doing the highest-impact work”. This often seems at odds with the reality of our jobs, where we sometimes have to take on tasks that are aimed at keeping the show on the road rather than creating high impact - because someone needs to do them. This talk, from Nayana Shetty, changed how I think about these less-exciting pieces of work.

Nayana described three categories of task - rocks, pebbles, and sand - and used this model to explain her work as a Principal Engineer. The purpose of the “sand” (the low-impact tasks) is to build trust. This might be with an individual upon whom you’ll need to rely for sponsorship of a more-valuable “rock” in the future, or with another team so that you can lay the foundation for a cross-cutting project down the line.

This was the key insight for me - you don’t take on this type of work because you’re the only one who can do it, but instead because you need to use it to build trust that will allow you to take on something more valuable later. Framing things as opportunities, not toil, is a positive mindset shift and something I’ll definitely be making use of going forward.

Solving the puzzle of Staff+ time management

Time management is a recurring theme when discussing Staff+ engineering. There’s always too much work to do and not enough time to do it, so you have to consciously decide where you’re going to invest your time.

One of the ideas Blanca Garcia Gil presented in this talk was that you should be managing your energy, not your time. I really liked this - it’s an acknowledgement of the fact that your output level varies naturally due to a whole load of external factors, and that sometimes you’re just not going to have much energy to invest.

Each task you undertake will have some impact on your energy levels - e.g. low-impact toil work might drain your batteries, while experimenting or working on a pet project might recharge them - so taking that into account when planning your time will lead to much more realistic expectations of what you’re going to get done in a given week.

On the specifics of planning, Blanca’s closing question really spoke to me:

“How are you going to be more intentional with your planning?”

I’ve spent years iterating on a to-do list system that works for me (probably one for another article!), but this is mostly aimed at laying out what I’m going to do on a given day and making sure I can handle all the new tasks that make themselves known throughout the day. I’ve not really put as much effort into the way I plan my weeks, or my months, or my years for that matter!

I liked Blanca’s system where she starts by blocking out the “non-negotiables” (lunch, exercise, and so on); adds time for planning and reflection; and then blocks out time for specifc tasks. This is something I’ve started doing - in particular, I’m creating purple “focus block” appointments in my calendar as a signal to myself that I intend to get something meaningful done in that time, whether that be writing a document or getting stuck in to some deep coding.

This also fed nicely into the very final talk of the conference…

Setting goals as a Staff+ Engineer

The previous talk focused on weekly planning - this talk from Sabrina Leandro covered planning at the macro level - i.e. “what I’m doing this quarter” through to “what I’m doing this year”.

I really liked Sabrina’s methodical approach to laying out her goals - creating a spreadsheet detailing what she was committing to, the expected impact, the relative priority, and how it tied in to her company’s career ladder. The actual process of creating this document has clear value in itself, as it should make it clear that you’re having the highest possible impact.

I was more interested in what happens to the document after it’s written - it gets shared around with her manager, her stakeholders, and the teams with whom she interacts. Having a concise statement of what you’re going to be doing over a given time frame and why it matters is something hugely valuable to all those people. It sets clear boundaries with other teams; assures your stakeholders that you’re going to be delivering business value; and allows you to work with your manager to grow your career in a direction that aligns with their expectations of you.

I’m currently seeking feedback on the first draft of a similar document for myself. I’m already feeling the benefits of increased focus and motivation - just from laying out what I’m going to do over the next few months, and why I’m going to do it. I get the feeling this is something that will evolve and grow with me as time goes on!