How to Build Good Relationships Inside and Outside Your Engineering Team

Building good relationships with teammates and coworkers makes collaboration easier and helps avoid uncertainty and issues. The post argues that engineers who work in isolation often ask for less help, align less on plans, and end up building the wrong things.

Reading notes

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• Low-performing engineers are often described as working in isolation, not asking for help, and not clarifying their project plans with colleagues.
• Stronger engineers are described as having both a high skill level and good communication and collaboration abilities.
• Building good relationships is presented as a prerequisite for success in the role.
• Software development is described as a team sport, so relationships matter for effective contribution.
• Good relationships are said to be reciprocal: trust, respect, and care should be met with the same in return.
• The post recommends talking about personal topics, not only work-related ones, to know colleagues better.
• It also recommends finding common interests as a way to bond and collaborate better.
• For new engineers, the post says one of the first priorities should be building relationships with the team and people they work with directly.