Last updated on 2019/11/05
While this could easily devolve into a discussion regarding Engineering Management and people putting mirrors on their monitors, that is not the point of this post. I have actually directly observed this practice – come on – who wants someone looking over their shoulder at work? The original post idea title was “Monitor Mirrors” until I realized that that was definitely not the intent of this topic.
What is intended here is a discussion about how to have better meetings with people. I first saw this secret weapon many, many years ago during my first real development job. The VP of the IT group (where development was located) had a big fancy corner office. I did not have many occasions to go into that office, but back in the early 2000’s he was one of the people that could command multiple monitors for his office. Even though the pace of technology has sped up in the past 20 years, a few things remain constant. One of those is the axiom that Engineers cannot have enough monitors. Show me an Engineer and I will show you someone that would like another monitor to connect to their system. We just like data and screens and electronics and therefore, the more monitors the better.
However, that VP that I mentioned did not use those multiple monitors for himself. He actually had them back to back on his desk. He couldn’t even see one of them. It took me a while to see them in action, but one day there was a presentation that I either got to see or was going to be a part of presenting and I ended up in there checking out said presentation on that monitor. It was great! I got to see firsthand what was being discussed and I didn’t have to get up close and personal to do so.
Ok – as I tend to do, it is time to take a side trip down soapbox lane. There are 2 things around this topic that tend to make me crazy. One is someone else coming in and attempting to drive without me asking them to. The second is someone else attempting to drive while I am giving them instructions on something. By drive I don’t mean anything to do with a vehicle. I am talking about a mouse. Or a touchpad, I guess, but let’s leave those looneys out with the people that use tabs over spaces. I seriously just pissed a lot of people off and am chuckling at the thought of half the people that might ever possibly read this just up and walking away, never to come back. At the risk of being further sidetracked on my current sidetrack – tabs vs spaces and touchpads vs mice are some of the topics that will rile up any Engineer in the same vein as trying to argue Star Trek vs Star Wars (May the force be with you all the way!!).
Have you ever worked with someone that wants to show you something? They come in and insist on grabbing your mouse and leaning over you to type on your keyboard and you always end up with that awkward almost hand-holding because you can never get your digits out of the way fast enough and then their axe spray/ perfume/ musk/ cologne/ B.O. washes over you because they are definitely inside your personal space? Yeah – this is the first thing that makes me go crazy. Seriously, how about some boundaries here?
And… then there is peeve #2. Sometimes patience is hard! Have you ever been explaining something to someone and you want to be the one to shove them out of the way and grab the mouse and start driving to that one button on the screen that you just can’t believe they don’t see, that one right there in the bottom right just where you said it was? The one that you are surprised still exists since your eyes have been locked on it, burning a hole in the monitor for 3 minutes now while someone else flailed around witlessly with their mouse at every other single point on the screen except for the spot that they needed to be?
So that might have gotten a little bit dark a little bit quickly. My bad! Back to the topic at hand. As an Engineering Manager if you don’t want people coming to your personal workspace and trying to take over and drive your mouse and keyboard, consider setting up a mirrored monitor! After observing this setup for the first time nearly 20 years ago I have seen similar setups many times since then. I have been fortunate enough to have my own setup for a few years now and I cannot extol loud enough the benefits of having this secondary monitor. Currently I work off of a laptop but there are 4 screens in my primary office setup. My primary screen is my laptop screen. It is closest to the keyboard and is also the highest definition monitor. To the upper left is my first secondary monitor which I use for private info that I am going to leave up for a while. Directly above my laptop screen is my mirrored monitor. I have it setup this way as the monitor is at roughly eye level with anyone sitting across from me. This allows me to focus on them directly while we are meeting or having a 1-on-1 with only minor deviations with what we are discussing while glancing at my shared monitor. Then on the wall to my left is a 40″ tv that shows the other mirror of the monitor. This allows both of us to see the information being discussed while focusing on each other. It is a great setup.
Engineering Manager Secret Weapon Conclusion – don’t hesitate to requisition an extra monitor and setup your own mirrored monitor setup. It can save your sanity, preserve your workspace, and give you another way to have smooth and seamless 1-on-1s with your team. That is, unless you just like people pushing into your work spot and taking over. Enjoy!
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