On emspace

emspace is a personal workspace for engineering managers. It is for the part of the job that lives somewhere between Jira, Slack, email, a notes app, the next 1:1 and your own memory.

It gives the work a little structure and leaves the management to you. It does not try to be smarter than you, so it’s fairly old-fashioned.

Why yet another tool?

I wanted to open something in the morning and trust that my work was there. Instead, I had unread messages, strategic browser tabs and an Apple Note whose formatting had become increasingly EMOTIONAL!!

I tried adapting some great general-purpose tools. They were too loose, too elaborate, built for different work, or one integration away from becoming a spacecraft. So I built something for the work as I see it.

Who is it for?

Engineering managers, heads of engineering, CTOs. The titles vary, but the mess is remarkably consistent. Especially structured people who have somehow ended up running part of their work from a notes app.

If that doesn’t sound familiar, that’s probably good news, and you may not need emspace.

Does it magically fix everything?

Not really. It does not run the team for you or ensure stakeholder alignment, and it still takes some discipline. I did manage to build a habit around it and I rely on it now, so maybe it can help you too.

How do I try it?

emspace is in beta, with access by invite. If you have a code, sign up. If you would like one, say hello.

Start with a small, real piece of work and see whether it’s useful. If it is, the rest will find its way into it later.