Kate Wardin

Foundations of Tech Leadership Deep Dive

9:00 AM MDT

According to a CareerBuilder study, only 40% of new tech leaders receive formal training when they become a boss for the first time. The rest are forced to get scrappy to quickly equip themselves with new skills, techniques, and mindsets to effectively transition into their new roles.

This workshop was designed to fill this gap; providing tactical techniques and resources for both new and seasoned technical leaders!

In this full day workshop, you will learn how successfully navigate the complexities of Engineering Management. Topics include:

Purposeful leadership, emotional intelligence, self awareness, time management, prioritizing the right things, social styles, giving feedback, career conversations, 1:1s, psychological safety, recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, measuring team metrics, motivation, engagement, team building, and building sustainable relationships.

Interactive group exercises will help you practice these new ideas and techniques in a safe and engaging environment.

You will leave with new perspectives on Engineering Management, as well as handouts and plenty of resources to grow and further develop skills in your daily work.

Please download (and print if possible) the handout before joining this workshop! (located with session slides).

Emotional Intelligence for More Effective 1-1s

10:30 AM MDT

1-1s are ubiquitous in the software engineering industry, and great leaders cherish these discussions.

What makes 1-1s so valuable?
1-1s are just like any other meeting - they are used to exchange data - be it tactical project updates, personal updates, or perspectives on how a project is going. There is also implicit data exchanged, signals that are interwoven with each word that is spoken. These are our emotions.
Emotions can be felt and observed but can be difficult to interpret and process. Our brains are in overdrive when communicating with other humans as we take in these implicit signals along with the literal words being spoken. During 1-1s, this can intensify as our focus is entirely on the other person; What signals are they sending? How will I respond? What isn’t being said here?

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify, understand, and manage our emotions to communicate more effectively with others. In this interactive discussion, we will explore how to leverage the four emotional intelligence skills to facilitate more productive and enjoyable 1-1s.

How to win as a team when everything is NOT fine

5:00 PM MDT

Shifting business priorities, working from home, layoffs, and the end of the 5 star catered office lunch spread. The world around us can feel like dodging one !$%$ storm after the other as we navigate the chaos of modern software engineering.

In this 60 minute talk, we will plot a safe route for weathering the storm by focusing on what we have control over as a team (and hopefully coming out stronger!)

Attendees will leave with 3 exercises they can facilitate with their teams to improve team operational health, build stronger compassion for one another, and align on a shared mission to propel through the toughest climates.