notes · research summary

Project Oxygen: do managers matter?

In 2008, Google began with a radical question: do managers actually matter? It sounds simple — but in a company built around engineers, data, and algorithms, it was a genuinely provocative question. The HR team decided to answer it with data. The result became Project Oxygen.

Goal one: remove the managers?

The initial aim was to see whether traditional management structures could be removed — or at least made marginal. Maybe technical teams really do work better without managers?

But the data had a different opinion. Analysis of thousands of feedback records, exit interviews, performance reviews, and one-on-ones showed that teams with good managers had:

• Higher job satisfaction,
• Higher productivity,
• Lower turnover.

Good manager → better team → better performance. Which produced the second question: what makes a manager good?

The ten behaviours of great managers at Google

This time Google went after precise data: employee feedback, periodic surveys, internal interviews. The result was a list of eight key behaviours, later upgraded to ten.

1. Coaching, not commanding. A good manager doesn't just give orders — they coach. They support, listen, give constructive feedback, and help people grow.
2. Empowering without micromanaging. They create a safe space where the team makes its own decisions, then step in at the necessary moment to support — not hover.
3. Caring about the team's growth and well-being. Not just KPIs: professional growth, inner motivation, work-life balance, mental health.
4. Focusing on results. Define goals clearly, create resources and transparency for reaching them. Not control — real outcomes.
5. Communicating effectively. Listen well, speak clearly, deliver vital information on time. In a crisis: empathy and clarity.
6. Developing others' careers. Help members grow — not just when they ask for a promotion, but with a plan before they do.
7. Having a clear vision. Not only "what do we do" but "why does this matter" — and sharing that vision with the team.
8. Technical skill enough to guide. No need to be the team's best coder, but enough to understand the challenges the team faces and give meaningful advice.
9. Collaborating across teams. Not just their own team — the whole organisation's success matters, not one department's.
10. Deciding decisively, logically, transparently. Gather information, decide with reason, and share the reasoning with the team.

Lessons for all of us

Whatever industry or company we're in, these are universal principles of human management and effectiveness. If you're a manager, the list is a checklist for reflecting on your own performance. If you're on a team, use it to give your manager effective feedback. And if you're growing into leadership, these are skills to start practising now.

If you're looking for a practical, precise resource on managing software teams — whether you lead or you code — I recommend my Persian translation of Leading Effective Engineering Teams. And for what Google discovered next — what makes teams themselves effective — read the Project Aristotle note.