Creating efficient frameworks to benefit managers and individual contributors

Stepping into a managerial role is a significant change in anyone’s career. But what happens when you step away from a managerial position and back into an individual contributor (IC) role?

Lessons learned as a manager can easily transfer to an IC role. While you may no longer be leading people in a well-documented manner, your experience can be a boon to overall success and growth.

Giuliano Bossi, Principal Engineer for Applications Platform at Shopify, joined the most recent episode of Level-Up to discuss his career transitions from IC to manager and then back as a Principal Engineer. He shares how he still uses what he learned as a team manager in his current IC position to increase productivity and achieve team success.

Join us as we discuss:

• The great potential of the AAA Framework
• The shared benefits of switching from a managerial role to an IC position
• Imposter syndrome and how to conquer it

Aim, Assemble and Achieve: A powerful framework across IC and management 

When you shift from an IC position to management, you’re often placed in situations where you focus less on a position's technical and operational aspects and more on how people interact and do their jobs. Unfortunately, according to Guiliano, this can result in the pitfall of managers solely focusing on optimizing people.

“Some managers fail to see how a team collaborates and what defines them,” he says. “It's not just a bunch of people in a room — you have to create a culture and define values around which the team can operate.”

When managing people, there are three sides of function that should be looked into, according to Giuliano. Each of these fits into a category of Shopify’s AAA framework — aim, assemble, or achieve.

Within the AAA framework, aim means identifying the right problems to solve and collaborating in a multidisciplinary way. This allows a strategy to be defined and pushed forward across a team or organization.

Assemble means getting teams together. Often, different teams and specialties must be brought together to solve a problem, according to Giuliano. The way assembly is executed matters.

Finally, achievement is based on pure execution.

“In the end, while aiming and assembly are very important, the achieving or execution side becomes predominant,” Giuliano says. “When you're a director, you’re fundamentally an execution machine. It might seem a little bit ruthless, but that's the job.”

Understanding each role’s place within this framework is beneficial for management, as they use their high-touch abilities to shape company outcomes. However, it can also be positive for IC roles to help each member of the team understand the influence they have on the organization.

The shared benefits of switching from a manager role to an IC position

According to Giuliano, one of the major differences between managerial roles and IC positions is the level of official influence you have on people and the technical side of the business.

While managers can provide direct guidance and feedback to employees via performance reviews and other formally-established communication avenues, they also are less involved directly in the technical side of things.

In his experience, Giuliano enjoyed his role as a manager but chose to step back into an IC role upon learning he found more enjoyment and fulfillment in technical development.

However, the skills gained and lessons learned during his managerial experience have been applied, even in this new position.

“The leadership aspect never completely goes away,” Giuliano says. “You help individuals on the team grow and improve by investing more time going deep into the technical problems and working with people in the trenches.”

So, while, as a manager, you have more time to influence your team members directly and less to directly influence the technology, the roles are flipped in IC positions. But you still have the ability and responsibility to communicate with each team member and provide coaching, guidance and camaraderie whenever possible.

Battling imposter syndrome as a returned IC

Returning to an IC role from management can be difficult, particularly considering the more hands-off approach to technical work — that, once again, takes over most of your working hours. 

“You feel incredibly clumsy when you first return,” Giuliano says. “And you're making rookie mistakes that you wouldn't have made 10 years ago when you were close to it.”

Luckily, the imposter syndrome doesn’t have to be long-lived, and there are many things you can do to battle it. Guiliano recommends two things:

1. Focus on the first principles

The first principles of your role do not change over time. Of course, technology evolves, management systems and strategies shift and expectations change. But, the core foundation of your responsibilities remains the same. 

“If you really master those ideas, they're going to stay with you forever, and then you're going to be able to apply them in different contexts, regardless of the other technology,” Guiliano says.

2. Define what you want, and take time for experiences

There is no guarantee that that shift back to IC will be completely successful. But defining what you want, giving yourself time and grace for trial and error and being flexible in the outcome allows you to find a place where you truly fit into the new role.

“It’s really important to have the time and space to fail in safe conditions,” Giuliano says. “That helped to recalibrate my brain. It didn’t completely remove impostor syndrome, but it did provide the opportunity to operate with success.”

‍

Want to learn more about the transition from manager back to IC, and how to apply lessons learned? Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you find your podcasts.

‍