Score an Engineering Manager's coverage across all 12 cells of the EM Grid based on their calendar and Slack. Use this skill whenever someone wants to understand where they're spending their management energy, find blind spots, get a monthly self-reflection on their EM focus, or hear phrases like "score my EM grid", "where am I spending time as a manager", "what are my blind spots", "analyze my calendar as EM", "which EM areas am I neglecting", "how balanced is my management focus", or "check my EM grid coverage". Always pull live calendar data — never ask the user to describe their week manually.
Prepares agendas, diagnoses struggling 1:1 relationships, and gives frameworks for running effective 1:1 meetings with direct reports. Use when the user wants to prepare for, run, improve, or follow up on a 1:1, or says "1:1 agenda," "prepare for my 1:1," "1:1 notes," "what should I talk about with," "my direct report," "check in with my report," "make my 1:1s better," "1:1 template," or "my 1:1s feel like status updates." Do NOT use when the user needs to deliver specific feedback (use feedback) or discuss performance reviews (use performance-reviews).
Explains business financial terms and frameworks for engineering managers — produces term definitions (ARR, COGS, CAC, LTV, gross margin, burn rate, EBITDA, AARRR), translation formulas for making engineering work visible in business language, and a three-layer framework for building business credibility. Use when the user says "business terms," "EBITDA," "burn rate," "CAC," "LTV," "gross margin," "ARR," "how do I speak to business people," "I don't understand finance," "make the case for engineering work," "connect engineering to business outcomes," "talk to the P&L owner," or "business impact." Do NOT use when the user wants to connect engineering metrics (DORA, velocity) to business metrics — use developer-productivity instead.
Helps engineering managers support direct report growth — produces a stage-by-stage model of engineering impact (Circles of Influence), a framework for non-linear career planning (Tarzan Method), diagnostic signals for stalled growth, conversation scripts for career talks, and a promotion readiness vs. timing distinction. Use when the user says "career growth," "promotion," "career path," "this person wants to grow," "career conversation," "what's next for this person," "career ladder," "IC vs manager track," "how do I help my report advance," "help someone grow," or "engineer wants a promotion." Do NOT use for formal written performance reviews or underperformance — use performance-reviews instead.
Guides managers out of the bottleneck role — provides the Team Rep pattern, Epic Ownership model, Task-Relevant Maturity framework, kingdom ownership, and three-layer assignment strategy. Use when the user wants to delegate work or says "I'm doing everything," "team isn't taking ownership," "I can't let go," "team rep," "project ownership," "I'm the go-to person," "bus factor," "I work weekends," "how do I delegate," or "engineers don't take initiative." Do NOT use for managing a specific underperformer (use performance-reviews) or deciding what work to prioritize (use roadmap-planning).
Helps engineering managers measure and improve team delivery — produces a history of why common metrics fail, the DORA four-key-metrics framework (deployment frequency, lead time, change failure rate, MTTR), DevEx's three dimensions (feedback loops, cognitive load, flow state), a translation layer from engineering metrics to business outcomes, and a list of measurement anti-patterns to avoid. Use when the user says "how do I measure productivity," "DORA metrics," "velocity," "cycle time," "developer experience," "DevEx," "how do I show our team is performing well," "metrics for engineering," "team is slow," "engineering performance," or "connect engineering to business." Do NOT use for managing an underperforming individual — use performance-reviews instead.
Provides situational playbooks for high-stakes edge cases that don't fit the standard management toolkit — produces step-by-step guidance for inappropriate team behavior, an engineer badmouthing your manager, letting someone go when circumstances are hard, manager quitting guilt, and handling layoffs (for both those leaving and those staying). Use when the user says "don't know how to handle this," "someone said something inappropriate," "engineer said something offensive," "developer talks badly about my manager," "letting someone go when their situation is hard," "I feel guilty about leaving my job," or "handling a layoff." Do NOT use for standard underperformance management (use performance-reviews) or giving direct feedback (use feedback).
Foundation skill for engineering managers. Use when setting up context about your team, org structure, management philosophy, and current priorities. All other EM skills read this first. Also use when creating or updating a direct report profile. Trigger phrases: "set my team context," "update my EM context," "here's my team setup," "my team is," "my org is," "add a report," "update report profile," "create a profile for."