Great question. Thanks for asking. It is a painful experience, but everyone goes through it during our professional journey.

Please make sure your documentation capture all the data points. For example, as a new manager, If I read your promotion doc, I should get all the signals for the next level. I recommend a table where one column indicates the job role and the other indicates the evidence. **Your promotion doc should speak on your behalf, and managers and other stack holders should get the required signals out of it.**

Once you have the solid documentation, next I would recommend the followings:

1. Set up a meeting with your new manager. Share your expectation and data points you have for the promotion. Ask him to connect with your previous managers.

2. Meet with the previous manager and share your concerns. Ask him to share data points with the new manager and request him to follow up with the new manager.

With above two steps, you will get fair understanding how things are moving.

1. If you see a gap, set up a three-way meeting. Invite both your managers and drive it. Ensure you get action items to meet the promotion bar from this meeting.

Also, I recommend sharing your concern with your skip since he will play a critical role in this transition and your promotion.  

At the end, understanding and accepting what is in your control and what is not in your control is a key. New manager and org restructuring is not in your control. Documentation and facilitating the meetings are in your control.

Staff Software Engineer [E6] at Meta

Avtar Sohi

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through a tough time. However, I feel that I don't have enough context to provide you with specific actions. Moreover, taking any specific action may not help and could potentially lead to another argument with your staff engineers.

During our professional journeys, we may encounter toxic environments. However, it is essential to remember that this is just one small phase in your overall journey. Consider it a learning opportunity. Remember that everyone faces similar problems but handles them differently. Rather than focusing on winning arguments, aim to get the best out of the situation.

Please take a step back and consider the following:

1. Working backward plan: Determine the end result you are looking for and build a plan to work backward from there. Define your role expectations and see how you can meet them within the given environment limitations. Also, Identify the cheerleader for you who can recognize your efforts. Return the favor by help others.
2. Deep dive: Double-check the facts and remove emotional strings. Make a list of things that are in your control and things that are not. Focus on things in your control and see how you can achieve the end result listed in step one above.
3. Earn trust: Learn the rules of the game. I highly recommend finding a middle ground to work with the staff engineer. They have domain knowledge that you should respect. Instead of finding their shortcomings, ask for their opinion and offer help. They should feel that you respect their experience.

I know I am not giving you specific help here but hope you find these points useful. 

Thank you for asking. I have been there multiple times.

Here are a couple of things that helped me:

1\. Since my team has a lot of random work, I started to reserve 20% of my time for that work. It helped me take up new tasks without overworking or dropping existing ones.

2\. Inviting the team lead and manager to make decisions on priority and being upfront about what can and cannot be done. It will help you and your lead/manager understand your workload and expectations.

3\. Dividing your weekly tasks into three categories can help you track how many items you have in the high-priority bucket. If it goes above your threshold, push back and invite lead/manager in re-prioritizing. 

- \- High priority
- \- Low priority
- \- Long term