Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#1

Post by jamram82 » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 4:21 AM UTC

I recently took a position of team lead, managing a team of 8 tech people. I managed projects not people before. Could you suggest any books or blogs on how to manage tech teams.

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#2

Post by nevster » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 4:35 AM UTC

Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#3

Post by Zev » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 5:04 AM UTC

Rands. At the very least, his blog: http://randsinrepose.com. But, his book - Managing Humans - is great as well: http://www.managinghumans.com.

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#4

Post by the100rabh » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 5:09 AM UTC

http://www.manager-tools.com/ is good resource too

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#5

Post by alanthonyc » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 5:38 AM UTC

You should read Drive, by Dan Pink.

It's not a management book, per se, but it's great for gaining undersanding into why people work and what truly motivates them.

EDIT: His talk at the TED conference:

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#6

Post by BANSAL » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 5:39 AM UTC

For me Paul Graham's essay are real worth inspiration and teachings. I just follow his essay more than any other readings. I prefer to explore you his essays, can give you a nice insight. http://www.purchase.com/blog/fundraising/3-tips-for-startup-... this is here his essays you can find. http://paulgraham.com/

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#7

Post by anonymouslambda » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 5:41 AM UTC

http://joelonsoftware.com/

Scroll down, check out the articles in the "Reading Lists" column.

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#8

Post by tkaemming » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 5:57 AM UTC

The Mythical Man Month — it's a fairly popular read, and it's topic lies somewhere between managing projects and managing people and focuses on the "human element" of software engineering: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#9

Post by nevster » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 6:39 AM UTC

nevster wrote: post #2

Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

BTW Here's the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peopleware:_Productive_Projects...

Re: Ask HN: What books or blogs do you suggest to manage a team of techies

#10

Post by MaysonL » Mon, Oct 25, 2010, 7:11 AM UTC

Gerald Weinberg's The Psychology of Computer Programming is a classic, well worth reading. Also second the recommendations for The Mythical Man Month and Peopleware