What are good Topics for Engineering All Hands?

Bringing together an engineering team is something we all can agree we should be doing. But how do make sure it’s not a waste of time?

We might ask many questions that will guide us in the direction to find topics for engineering all hands.

• What updates are value for the team?
• What topics should be presented?
• What makes the teams feel involved or appreciated?
• What information might the team not get elsewhere?
• What would help align the team in a shared vision?
• What formats make the most sense to present in?
• What might excited the team?

Your team will be unique and will always be evolving to find new patterns of topics that gel well and are provide the most value. Ask your team what they would find valuable, experiment and try new things.

Here are several ideas of my ideas for topics for engineering all hands to get you started in running great engineering all hands.

10 Great Topics for Engineering All Hands

1. Impact of what has been built

This could be backed with numbers like sales, hours saved, etc.

Customer stories how they using what the team has been building. This could even involve bringing in real customers to meet the team and share their real life usage of the product.

2. User Feedback about what we’ve been built.

Similar to impact, however this might be reviews, tweets, emails, or feedback of what users are saying about the product we’re building.

3. Vision of why and what we’re building across teams at high level.

What are the business goals that we’re trying to meet?
How are team roadmaps satisfying those business needs?
What sort of things will be building over the next 3, 6, or even 12 months?

4. Light technical deep dive

Share big picture technical demos. This could be big projects, or ones that are good general knowledge sharing. Even though the Engineering All-Hands will mostly have technical folks, refrain from deep-diving too far, that might be better for a technical show-case. We have so many other things to share during the All Hands!

5. Updates around pay / careers / hiring

Are we planning on hiring team members?
What level are we hiring for and for which teams?
Are there updates about how careers are evaluated/structured?

6. Vision of how we want to be structured and grow as a product org

What are the Engineering Orgs vision of who we want to be, what our values are? How do we better ourselves and improve so that we might be one of the best Engineering Ors.

7. Opportunities to make an impact

Share needs that are across the entire Engineering organization as opportunities to get involved.

Are you forming a think tank group about coding standards? Want to form a team to plan an Engineering Off-Site Outing? Looking for volunteers to brainstorm a new product?

8. Recognition across all teams

What wins do teams have? Some may be customer facing, others interesting technical accomplishments. It’s important to recognize an entire team, not just individuals.

9. Promotion announcements

Celebrate team members who are growing! Promotions aren’t handed out lightly, with a good career band system they are tangible accomplishments. We should be proud and celebrate them!

10. New hire intros

This may have been also done at the Company wide level or at the team level. This is an opportunity to have fun intro at a technical level and across the entire Engineering organization.

Further Thinking

Who should be presenting at an Engineering All Hands?
How might presentation roles be shared?
How might an Engineering All Hands be interactive?
How do you Host a Great All Hands?