What Engineering Departments Would Look Like with Great Managers

The following is an AI summary of the event.

This Agile Alliance webinar, hosted by Christina Dzingala with co-host Stan Ponder, featured Gitte Klitgaard as the main speaker. The session focused on the essential role of great managers in engineering departments and challenged common Agile assumptions about management.

Key Themes and Highlights:

• Reframing Management in Agile:
  Gitte emphasized that the tech industry has spent the past two decades undervaluing or eliminating managers, labeling them as “overhead.” She argued that not only are good managers necessary, but we may need more of them—especially those trained and supported to do the job well.
• Organizational Trends and Challenges:
  Gitte identified three concerning trends in today’s industry:
  1. Short-termism: A focus on immediate ROI, cost-cutting (like mass layoffs), and the resulting negative long-term consequences.
  2. Overloaded Autonomous Teams: Teams are increasingly expected to do everything—from UX to product strategy—without adequate support, time, or expertise.
  3. Overreliance on AI and Contractors: Reductions in junior hires and growing use of AI and consultants undermine long-term talent development and organizational stability.
• The Myth of Magic:
  Gitte used the metaphor of “magic” to describe how organizations often promote people into management without training or support, assuming they’ll somehow figure it out. She highlighted that it takes years (an average of nine) before managers receive relevant training, while they’re still expected to lead, coach, and support others effectively.
• The Role and Skills of Great Managers:
  According to Gitte, great managers:
  • Balance responsibilities across the organization, their teams, and themselves.
  • Translate abstract strategies into actionable, relatable guidance.
  • Support team autonomy by setting clear frames and boundaries.
  • Create environments where people can thrive, collaborate, and grow.
  • Practice self-reflection, care for their own well-being, and model healthy behavior.
• Supporting Evidence:
  Gitte referenced Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, showing increasing levels of stress, sadness, and disengagement among employees. Notably, managers influence 70% of employee engagement variance—highlighting their critical impact.
• Organizational Accountability and Support:
  She called for systems that encourage two-way accountability, ongoing support, psychological safety, and deliberate investment in learning—especially in communication, collaboration, empathy, and leadership skills.
• Catalyst Leaders vs. Expert Managers:
  Gitte contrasted “expert managers” (who focus on personal knowledge and control) with “catalyst leaders” (who empower teams, model collaboration, and focus on team success over personal recognition). She emphasized the need to value and support these quiet leaders.

Q&A and Discussion Points:

• Participants discussed the challenges of managing teams with many contractors, the undervaluing of people skills, and the difficulty of quantifying the ROI of empathy, communication, and collaboration.
• Gitte acknowledged that while soft skills are hard to quantify, there is research-backed correlation between engagement (driven by great management) and improved business outcomes like revenue, retention, and innovation.

Closing Thought: Gitte concluded with a call for kindness—not just toward others, but also toward oneself. She stressed that being a great manager is hard, but possible, and worth investing in—for the good of individuals, teams, and organizations alike.