[madamelic]

Honestly... SWE management already is kind of already out-of-date and I say that as someone who is a SWE manager.

Most software teams can pretty much run themselves and the only real use a SWE manager has imo is running interference because the rest of the company are morons and/or chaotic and being the gopher for things the team needs. I think a manager who isn't also participating in the work should be removed as they are a net-negative.

If the rest of the company is calm and sane, in my opinion, you could have a team with senior+ ICs that take turns doing planning or doing a collaborative planning.