Whether you have the necessary capabilities of technical managers and the technology for solving common problems comes from the front-line, and you can never leave the front-line.

1. communication and persuasion ability: As a manager, the most important thing to do every day is communication, upward, subordinate, and horizontal communication, so that teams and projects can move forward in the normal direction, it is important to persuade others to follow your ideas.

2. Analytical judgment capability: when making technical decisions, it is essential for every technical manager to calmly and comprehensively think about and analyze and give the correct technical direction. The correctness of the direction determines the speed and quality of project development. The correct direction and excellent architecture are still new after many years.

3. product architecture capability: technical managers must have a deep understanding of the product and act as a bridge between technology and product. Otherwise, they will always be able to look at the problem from a technical perspective, however, it is impossible to judge the demand and rationality of technical implementation from the perspective of the entire product or project.

There are three common problems: uncertainty of demand, balance between demand and time and quality.

1. Demand Uncertainty: demand changes will never be predictable. There are two problems that everyone may have a personal experience.

The first is "as a product manager, what are the most technical questions you have asked ?", The answer is "Are you sure you won't change it later ?".

The second is "as an engineer, what are the most common questions you ask the product manager ?", The answer is "Can this function be put in the next version and then done ?".

Solution: uncertainty of demand leads to great uncertainty in technical implementation and risks of future changes. At this time, we must first determine the technical direction and technical framework, by splitting modules, using design patterns to accommodate changes, and segmenting story at the product level, you can reduce the risk of demand changes during each iteration.

2. demand comes from all aspects: Sometimes, in the process of achieving the goal, the demand comes from all aspects, not simply the product demand.

Solution:In this case, technical managers are required to evaluate costs, resist certain demands, or clarify expectations to the other party. In my experience, it is best to openly discuss the costs and benefits. Managers also need to consider the strategic aspect from a higher dimension. Otherwise, the overall strategy of the company may be violated.

3. Balance between time and quality: the balance between time and quality is often encountered in the process of achieving the goal. For example, the release date of a regular version has already been determined, but due to limited time, the development and testing time are seriously insufficient, which will lead to uncontrollable product quality and whether to release on time becomes a challenge.

Solution:In addition to overall control over the process, managers also need to communicate with different roles to lower the expectations of time and quality, and combine with some safeguard mechanisms. For example, core user groups and phased release can reduce risks.