One-on-ones, motivation and retention, feedback delivery, and building psychological safety.
3 questions in Engineering Management.
One-to-ones are the engineer's time for the things that do not fit anywhere else, not a status meeting. Feedback lands when it is specific, close to the event, about behaviour and its effect, and carries a request. Growth is owned by the engineer; the manager owns opportunity, honest signal and air cover.
Act on the behaviour you can observe rather than waiting for a disclosure, open with what you have seen instead of a question they can deflect, then remove named work rather than offering sympathy. Check your own part in the load, and know the point where this stops being a management conversation.
Separate the conversation about why from any conversation about money, find out whether the cause is something you can genuinely change, be honest that a counter-offer rarely fixes a non-financial reason, and treat the knowledge and morale consequences as work that starts the same week.