Why business goals vary by engineering level

What you'll learn

C-Staff Members (CTO) / Executives

Technical Directors

Engineering Managers

Engineering Employees

Employees at all levels of the company need to set an progress against various business goals. These goals have a very different background depending on the level of the employee. For example, both the CTO and a junior engineer, have to make and set goals. their goals will be relative to their tasks and responsibilities. The tasks that the CTO and the junior engineer are focusing on our very different and as a result are driven by very different needs.

C-Staff Members (CTO) / Executives

C-Staff members are those such as the CTO. These individuals have to focus on company strategy, business profitability, industry competition and other influences that drive the company as a whole.

Business goals at this level often span several years, although shorter timeframe goals can exist as well. Example goals for a CTO may include but are not limited to:

1. New technologies from the industry to adopt.
2. Areas of the company that are not operating at a profitable level.
3. Outdated technologies in the company to deprecate.
4. Identifying technology risks to the business and creating mitigation plans.

Technical Directors

Corporate executives are those that are often in charge of a specific division, product or strategic portion of the business. These individuals have to focus on the plan for their area of influence, maintaining profitability, reducing expenses and forecasting for future growth.

Business goals at this level often span a year or more, although shorter and longer goals are not uncommon. Example goals for a technology director may include but are not limited to:

1. Reducing overhead and expenses.
2. Forecasting for future use and requirements.
3. Improving employee morale.
4. Execution plan for the division or product.
5. Profitability and viability of the product or division.

Engineering Managers

Engineering managers are those that are in charge of the specific team. These individuals have to focus on the execution of the team and the tasks assigned to it. At this level the greatest responsibility is related to the team members and their stability and morale.

Business goals at this level often span a  regular development cycle, whether that cycle is a two-week sprint a month-long  project or a quarterly roadmap. Goals can be longer and shorter depending on the team and their development. Example goals for an engineering manager may include but are not limited to:

1. Building team members careers.
2. Managing assigned tasks.
3. Timelines around executing required tasks.
4. Quality of the executed tasks.
5. Measuring success for the team as a whole as well as individual team members.

Engineering Employees

Employees are those that are entrusted with completing a specific task or requirement. These individuals have to focus on the assigned task given to them and executing it to completion.

At this level the business goals relate to building relationships growing skills and the overall contribution being made.Depending on the level of the employee the goals may only spend a day or two or they may be several quarters long depending on the skill set. Some example goals for an employee may include but are not limited to:

1. Providing value back to the company.
2. Ensuring stability of tasks required (working long hours).
3. Growing individual skills.
4. Building relationships.
5. Receiving recognition and compensation.

Wrap Up

Business goals vary greatly across different aspects of the business. Regardless of which level you are at understanding the business goals of the other levels will help you to communicate with them effectively.