{"id":26118,"date":"2021-07-14T18:46:41","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T17:46:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/?p=26118"},"modified":"2021-07-14T18:47:32","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T17:47:32","slug":"setting-prioritizing-goals-as-a-principal-engineer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/setting-prioritizing-goals-as-a-principal-engineer\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting and prioritizing goals as a principal engineer"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you\u2019re part of a team, you adopt the goals, objectives, and priorities of that team. As a principal engineer, you can effectively be operating as a team of one \u2013 and that makes it a little trickier to manage your time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At Intercom, we believe that a principal engineer should \u201cset goals autonomously and at the level of scope and ambition usually associated with a team.\u201d Before, you worked towards team targets \u2013 now you\u2019re in charge of setting and keeping track of your own goals, agenda, and personal growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How often should you set goals?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Before joining Intercom, I worked as a tech consultant and had to account for every day to the client. It helped me to become more aware of the <\/span>importance of planning<\/span><\/a> and how to <\/span>use my time more effectively<\/span><\/a>. It also meant that I started my principal engineer role at Intercom with goal-setting and time management habits already formed.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a company, Intercom sets quarterly goals (twelve-week periods) and cycle goals (six-week periods), so it makes sense for me to do the same when setting goals as a principal engineer. I share my quarterly goals with everyone I work with, then break them down into commitments for each cycle, which I share with my manager. I also set weekly goals to keep myself organized. It helps to break down large, abstract goals into achievable steps and makes it easier to track progress.<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you choose your work?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Coding is just one of the many things a principal engineer works on day-to-day. You\u2019re expected to develop a wide understanding of overall strategy and use it to decide what\u2019s most urgent and important. At the same time, because you’re overseeing these wider strategic areas, you\u2019re not part of daily team rituals like standups anymore \u2013 so you need to ensure you\u2019re keeping up with essential context for your work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere will always be an endless supply of low-effort, low-impact work to “snack” on \u2013 look past that to find the high-impact work\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Without effective organization and planning, you can end up spending your time on small, low-impact tasks that build up to fill your days. There will always be an endless supply of <\/span>low-effort, low-impact work to \u201csnack\u201d on<\/span><\/a> \u2013 look past that to find the high-impact work. There is rarely a \u201chigh-impact backlog\u201d ready to go, so you\u2019ll often have to create it yourself. Here are the four main inputs I consider when building that backlog.<\/span><\/p>\n

Business and product strategy<\/b><\/h3>\n

At Intercom, we identify teams working within the same area of focus or strategy as a \u201cgroup\u201d. For example, the “automated support group” includes a range of teams focusing specifically on optimizing every aspect of the automated customer support function within the Intercom product. <\/span><\/p>\n

As a principal engineer, it\u2019s important to understand the overall strategy for your group and what you can do to support the goals it\u2019s trying to achieve. Identify your group\u2019s focus and how it fits with that of the wider company. Explore what\u2019s coming up over the next quarter and year, and identify the risks and opportunities that may arise.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Team needs<\/b><\/h3>\n

Although you\u2019re not part of a specific team, you\u2019ll find yourself working with many teams across the business to achieve your goals. To prioritize effectively, identify the needs of the teams you work with most closely. They will already be aligned with the wider product strategy, but it\u2019s important to identify any executional challenges they might have, ambiguous projects you could assist with, or teams that need more support to achieve their goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Engineering org needs<\/b><\/h3>\n

Are there problems within the org that you could help with? For example, is the engineering org encountering recruiting roadbumps, broken processes, or operational issues? Look out for <\/span>initiatives that particularly interest you<\/span><\/a> or that could help you develop some of your growth areas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Personal goals<\/b><\/h3>\n

Finally, consider your personal goals. Identify your strengths, goals you haven\u2019t yet achieved, and areas you might need to improve, and incorporate feedback you’ve received from your manager and peers. For each strength, think about what you need to do to reach the next level and how each potential project might help you to grow in some way.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prioritizing your work<\/b><\/h2>\n

Now that you have a list of high-impact work to tackle, how do you decide what\u2019s most important? Prioritizing doesn\u2019t mean choosing what to spend most of your time doing, it\u2019s deciding the items on your list that you may need to drop everything else to work on \u2013 the <\/span>trade-offs<\/span><\/a> you\u2019re willing to make. For me, those are the business and product strategy needs. If that area isn\u2019t doing well, then other inputs will almost certainly suffer \u2013 so these are my priority.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLook out for teams that don\u2019t have enough engineering support, where your help might be incredibly valuable\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prioritize by risk<\/b><\/h3>\n

Continue to prioritize by identifying risks associated with each of your inputs. Within the business and product strategy, some examples of these risks could be:<\/span><\/p>\n