by VijayDeveloper .
Leadership is not a service, it is a skill. Professionals working as a software developer for several years are given the chance to become a technology leader. However, remember that "with great power comes great responsibility."
There are a few things to take care of as a technical leader. Obviously, you don’t need to write code as much as you would as a software developer. However, there are non-code things that are now your responsibility.
10 tips to be a good tech leader
Maintaining a technology leader position without criticism from the team is impossible. This is not because of your inability, it is most often due to human nature. Nevertheless, efforts can be made to minimize criticism from the outside and become better at what you ultimately do. After all, now you are a leader.
In addition to leading the development team, the technical manager is usually also the one who selects people for the interview. Therefore, you need to know about the most important interview questions when recruiting new members of the development team.
To be a technical leader is not to command people, but to unite them to achieve success. The better the technical manager, the better the development team.
Here are 10 tips to help a novice or experienced technical leader get better in this role:
1. The realization that no one is perfect
Being a software developer is not easy. However, being a technical leader can be even more difficult. Being a technical leader is sometimes extremely useful when a team works well and enjoys work. However, achieving and maintaining this state is not so easy.
The value and patience of the technical leader are checked during working hours when the deadline sets in and problems arise with team members.
Since the team consists of people who are prone to errors due to human nature, the team is also vulnerable to chaos and imperfection. The technical manager does not need to lose motivation; instead, perceive mistakes as motivation for continuous improvement.
There are solutions to minimize this mess in teams, one of which is regular feedback. The technical manager must develop honesty and sincerity in team members. In addition, the technical manager must constantly improve self-esteem in order to become better and better.
2. Delegation is important
Delegation training is important in order to rightfully assume the role of a technical leader. With formal leadership of the team, task delegation is necessary. This cannot be missed.
Failure to distribute responsibilities across a wide range of issues is a serious obstacle to the team. Delegation is not the command of a development team, but a deliberate division of responsibilities.
To acquire new skills and rise in the ranking of seniority, it is important to take on new responsibilities. Therefore, delegating tasks to team members, if done correctly, can be a way to expand them.
During delegation, allow team members to volunteer to participate in the process, but not every time. While some of them are ready to accept the challenges, others may not have enough confidence. The task of a technical leader is to motivate and prepare such participants for decision-making.
Another thing to take care of when delegating is that everyone should have a fair chance of a new task. It will be wrong to give the same team member the same task again and again.
For tasks that no one likes to perform, it would be nice to create an alternating list that allows each team member to distribute the load equally.
3. Don't be a technical leader all the time
Being a technical leader is obviously a matter of great responsibility. However, you do not need to behave as a technical manager all the time and in any situations. Some tech leaders become gatekeepers and try to micro-control every aspect of the team’s functioning.
Software development requires a development team because it is a complex process. Therefore, a project cannot be developed by one person. Everyone in the team is important for the success of the work done.
Like any material thing in the world, sooner or later it will be transferred to another. However, try to get the most out of it when you have the opportunity.
4. Give attention and time to each team member
Perhaps the main thing in leadership is to have an individual relationship with all team members. For this, it is necessary to conduct personal lessons in order to contact each member of the team.
You do not need to follow the one-on-one mode when you are sitting opposite each other in the conference room or in the office. Try experimenting instead. Take a person for a walk, play a game together, drink tea or coffee together and so on.
Remember that learning is a bi-directional process. Not only subordinates learn from you, but you can also learn from them.
5. Learn to look wider around
The software developer is primarily involved in the task. When moving to the position of technical leader, focusing solely on the task is not the main one.
Instead, there are things that require immediate attention, and even some of them should be focused at the same time. Therefore, the technical supervisor must often switch between focuses.
The technical manager must have a wider overview of the system than any other member of the team. Simply put, the technical manager must be able to understand how the efforts of each team member fit into the big picture.
6. Learn from and share mistakes
Life is about making mistakes, failing, getting up, realizing what went wrong, fixing it, and then doing it again until you succeed. This mantra is applicable to all areas of life, whether it be personal life or professional life as a technical leader.
You need to be brave to make mistakes, and humble to learn from them. The importance of something learned from one's own experience increases when they are shared. Therefore, you need to share what you learned from your mistakes with subordinates.
Feel free to make mistakes. We are all human beings, and therefore we tend to make mistakes. It takes courage to accept mistakes, correct them and report it to those who find your experience useful. This is a way of enlightenment.
7. Manage for the most part, not all
A technical leader is the decision maker for most parts of a project, not for everyone. The technical manager must have a final opinion on all decisions, but he must at least listen to what the team members say.
No one likes a leader who has complete control over members or a team. It is more like a dictatorship than a leadership. A true technical leader encourages and empowers team members to make decisions on their own.
8. Prepare team members for better business integration
Typically, software developers who can communicate in a high-tech language and explain the same in similar terms are encouraged to take responsibility for technical leadership.
Communication between software developers and non-technical business representatives often ends in an unpleasant note. While business people are confused, technical people worry that they do not understand the point of view.
Software developers who are able to communicate about a technical project in a way that is understandable to people not related to this area will get a chance to become a technical leader.
However, in some cases, the technical manager becomes the only source of communication between the technical team and the rest of the non-technical business personnel.
While the technical team believes that the technical leader is the only person who can speak their own language, the business sees the technical leader as the only person who can explain the product in a simplified way.
This approach may be useful in some scenarios, for example, when a team works on time, but not on a long-term basis. In the case when such a technical manager goes on vacation or falls ill, there is no workaround to establish appropriate technology for non-technological communication.
Great technical leaders understand this situation and therefore try to combine the members of the technical team with the business in order to avoid the above scenarios. This is easy to do by inviting some of them to business meetings and inviting you to join the conversation.
Thus, those who study the mechanics of explaining technical things to ordinary people pass on the ability to other capable team members. Great technical leaders also ensure that the development team has the resources to successfully complete the project.
9. The same appeal to everyone
The main mistake that should be avoided when assuming the role of a technical leader is to prioritize one team member over another. This creates a gap between the leader and other developers. A true technical leader is fair to every member of the team.
It is unfair to treat one member of the team with a special attitude, and to others - as usual. The leader not only holds everyone together, but also supports equality. For a team, each member is important. That is why this is the team in the first place.
10. The middle path in coding
When a person becomes a technical leader, the responsibility for coding is reduced. However, some people continue to code to the same extent as before. If you code all the time, you only do one part of your multifaceted work.
On the contrary, some newly appointed technical leaders refuse coding. Both scenarios can be equally harmful. As a rule, software developers who can quickly write high-quality code receive technical support.
Therefore, it is important to maintain and develop the ability to actually program (coding). It is advisable for the technical manager to spend 30-60 percent of the time working with the code.
Output
These were our 10 tips to defend the role of technical leader. In addition to programming skills, the technical manager must be able to sympathize with and understand the participants. A good understanding of the business is certainly also important.