S1 - Episode #3: Rashid Shobaki - Engineering Manager at Forto
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About Rashid:
Rashid Shobaki is a technology entrepreneur and Leader. His passion is helping individuals and companies succeed and achieve their goals. He has over 10 years at tech companies, start-ups and including most recently in management positions.
He is currently an Engineer Manager at Forto, leading multiple teams responsible for transforming the way supply chain processes operate and nurturing engineers so that they become the best they can.
Synopsis:
During this episode Rashid describes his personal journey working in Berlin, starting as a Team Lead and developing into an Engineering Manager. He discusses his experience at Forto and the importance of managing a team not only in a professional capacity but also safeguarding their mental health. He talks about how he is currently growing his team and supporting his staff in their personnel and professional goals as well as his advice on motivating Engineers.
Key Takeaways:
Balancing the management of multiple teams at once
Supporting your team’s personnel and professional goals
The importance of looking after the mental health and wellbeing of your team
The value of passion and enthusiasm over pure tech skills in driving success
Substantially growing your team in a remote situation
Building a friendly recruitment process that makes candidates feel comfortable during the interview process
Creating a positive onboarding experience and guiding new starters in their first few weeks
Keeping engineers motivated, using OKR’s and progressive achievement criteria to development talent
Bringing the team together during hack-days and the added bonus of creating new internal tools
Episode Outline:
[00:38] Introduction to Rashid
[01:35] Why Rashid joined Forto and what he believes is unique about the company
[03:20] The challenges of the last 18 months
[06:51] The triggers for Rashid’s concerns for his team’s wellbeing
[09:00] Recent changes to his team and structure
[11:25] Approach to managing multiple teams
[16:38] Strategically adapting recruitment strategy during the Covid pandemic
[20:19] Remote hiring and the importance of making candidates feel comfortable
[28:19] Remote and virtual on-boarding
[39:00] Managing remote teams and keeping them engaged
[43:40] Developing and motivating Engineers
[55:00] How hack-days can help team learn new skills and the bonus of creating new tools
[59:40] Rashid’s view on what makes a good engineer and his views on important non-technical skills
[01:05:33] Key challenges facing engineering now and in future
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