People Management & Team Building Mastery
Performance Management Frameworks
Performance management is where EM interviews separate good managers from great ones. Interviewers want to see that you have a systematic approach to setting expectations, measuring progress, delivering feedback, and making difficult decisions about promotions and performance improvement plans.
Setting Expectations with OKRs
OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) were originated at Intel by Andy Grove and later popularized by John Doerr in his book Measure What Matters. They provide a clear framework for aligning individual work with team and company goals.
How to structure engineering OKRs:
- Objective -- A qualitative goal that is inspiring and time-bound. Example: "Dramatically improve API reliability this quarter."
- Key Results -- 2-4 measurable outcomes that prove the objective is met. Example: "Reduce P1 incidents from 8/month to 2/month" and "Achieve 99.95% uptime for the payments API."
Common mistakes EMs make with OKRs:
- Setting OKRs that are purely output-based ("Ship feature X") rather than outcome-based ("Reduce customer churn by 15%")
- Creating too many OKRs -- three objectives with three key results each is the maximum for a team per quarter
- Failing to connect individual OKRs to team OKRs, leaving engineers unclear on how their work matters
Performance Review Cycles
Most companies run semi-annual or annual review cycles. As an EM, you own the process for your team:
| Phase | Timing | Your Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Goal Setting | Start of cycle | Collaborate with each engineer to set 3-5 goals aligned to team OKRs |
| Mid-Cycle Check-in | Midpoint | Assess progress, adjust goals if priorities shifted, deliver early feedback |
| Self-Review | 2-3 weeks before end | Engineers write self-assessments; you review them for calibration |
| Peer Feedback | 2-3 weeks before end | Collect 360-degree input from collaborators |
| Manager Review | End of cycle | Write your assessment synthesizing all inputs |
| Calibration | After reviews written | Align ratings with peer managers across the organization |
| Delivery | After calibration | Deliver review in a 1:1 conversation with clear next steps |
Calibration Sessions
Calibration ensures consistency across teams. You will bring your ratings to a room of peer managers and your director, then:
- Present each person's case in 2-3 minutes with specific evidence
- Defend or adjust ratings based on cross-team comparison
- Align on the distribution -- most organizations expect a rough bell curve, though forced ranking is increasingly falling out of favor
Interview tip: Be ready to describe how you prepared for calibration and how you handled a case where your rating was challenged.
The SBI Feedback Model
The SBI (Situation-Behavior-Impact) feedback model, developed by the Center for Creative Leadership, is the gold standard for delivering clear, actionable feedback:
- Situation -- Describe the specific context. "In last Thursday's sprint planning meeting..."
- Behavior -- Describe the observable action. "...you interrupted two teammates while they were presenting their estimates..."
- Impact -- Describe the effect. "...which made them hesitant to share concerns for the rest of the session, and we missed a critical dependency."
Why SBI works:
- It removes judgment ("you are aggressive") and replaces it with observation ("you interrupted twice")
- It gives the recipient specific behavior to change
- It connects behavior to consequences, making the feedback feel fair rather than personal
Example of poor vs. strong feedback:
| Poor Feedback | SBI Feedback |
|---|---|
| "You need to communicate better." | "In Monday's cross-team sync (S), you sent the design doc 10 minutes before the meeting with no summary (B), so the partner team could not prepare questions and the meeting ran 30 minutes over (I)." |
Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)
PIPs are a last resort after coaching has not produced results. A well-structured PIP includes:
- Clear statement of the gap -- What specific expectations are not being met, with examples
- Measurable success criteria -- What "meeting expectations" looks like in concrete terms
- Timeline -- Typically 30, 60, or 90 days with weekly check-ins
- Support offered -- Pairing, mentoring, reduced scope, or training resources
- Consequences -- Explicit statement of what happens if criteria are not met
Interview framing: Never describe a PIP as a punishment. Frame it as: "I wanted to give this person every opportunity to succeed, so I created a structured plan with clear milestones and weekly support."
Building Promotion Cases
Strong EMs actively develop promotion cases for their engineers rather than waiting for review season:
- Start 6 months early -- Identify the promotion criteria and create opportunities for the engineer to demonstrate them
- Collect evidence continuously -- Keep a running document of impact, scope increases, and peer recognition
- Write the packet in their voice -- The best promotion cases read like a story of growth, not a list of tasks completed
- Pre-socialize with calibration peers -- Before the formal calibration, ensure other managers know your candidate's cross-team contributions
Next, we will tackle conflict resolution and coaching -- how to handle interpersonal friction, technical disagreements, and the art of developing engineers at every level. :::