The Software Engineer's Guidebook

CHAPTER 11

GETTING THINGS DONE

More inbound requests, context switches, and more complex work in general, distinguish a senior software engineer’s workload from more junior positions.

Becoming seen as an engineer who “gets things done” goes beyond what’s discussed in Part II: “Getting things done.” Of course, many approaches from that section apply here, such as:

• Focus on the most important work
• Unblock yourself
• Break down the work
• Find mentors you can learn from

But at the senior level, there are extra insights and useful approaches that we dive into now. In this chapter, we cover:

1. Getting things done: perception and reality
2. Your own work
3. Your team
4. The big picture

1. GETTING THINGS DONE: PERCEPTION AND REALITY ...