The job of a technical leader is very different from an employee or team member. If you want to become one, you need to have a leadership spirit.
Before we jump on the essential tips to become a good tech leader, let’s revisit what a technical leader is.
A technical leader, aka technical lead, is someone who has the ability to lead, direct and manage technical projects. They may collaborate with software development teams, engineering teams, or other groups involved in technical work.
Can you spot the terms “lead, direct, manage, collaborate” in this definition?
Well, they’re the fundamental skills every leader should have, not just the technical leaders.
In order to become one, you also need to understand what specifically a technical leader does.
Following are the responsibilities taken care of by technical leaders:
Alright, now you know what a technical leader is and what they do.
Let’s discuss how you can become a good technical leader.
An inspiring technical leader will have the following traits:
It’s always recommended to have development experience before you turn into a technical lead.
That’s why employers seek leads with more experience in computer science or other fields related to computer science. Hence, you must gain experience in software development if you want to become a technical lead.
You can either work in a company or organization and then seek a technical leadership position anywhere you want.
However, many tech leaders find it hard to find the right balance between technical and non-technical skills. They either code for full-time or stop doing it at all.
When you stop coding, you will not understand the real purpose, implementation, or maintenance of your project. As a result, you may face difficulty solving some technical issues and make the wrong decision, which will result in a more complex software system. This will also diminish your team’s trust in you.
Hence, the best approach is to spend some time coding along with your team and planning and monitoring the rest of the time.
You might already know that for a technical leader, it's important to be in contact with a variety of experts, including your peers, superiors, and colleagues.
Hence, to be a successful technical leader, you must work on your communication skills. If you possess impressive communication skills, you have the ability to have straightforward, clear, and effective communication.
Here is how you can improve communication in the workplace:
You should become aware of your team members' talents and issues, as well as their aspirations, in order to know your team. The most effective way is to interact with them face-to-face.
When you know your individual team members, you can easily spot misalignments in the team formation. It helps you make the environment more harmonious and productive.
Also, while listening to the team members, you may feel mentorship. So guide them in their career as well as their life whenever possible.
Technical leaders must provide technical guidance to their team, taking full responsibility for doing so. Technical activities such as direction are included in the technical guidance, for example.
What type of technology your team should employ in a particular type of project or how to overcome certain roadblocks are some of the questions that you should address.
It's crucial for a technical leader to know about project designs, product specifications, and the technologies that are best suited for different situations.
Before deciding on a technology for the next job, you should ask yourself if you need to use it. What are the various components of the system you are working on? Do you know who works on those parts, what their jobs are, and how they contribute?
Having a good understanding of all of these things will help you provide better technical advice to your team, resulting in higher productivity and your team’s reliance on you.
If you’ve ever worked at large corporations, you may have encountered some foolish arguments or conflicts over process improvement or the implementation of new tools or technology.
In a large setup, people generally aren’t ready to change.
It's your job as a technical leader to advocate the change and make it happen. Even if the environment is negative, you must learn and create a positive environment. If you see a process is slow or going in the wrong direction, strive to improve it.
You need to embrace a mindset for continuous improvement. Start by understanding and experiencing the same pain everyone else is experiencing.
But, How can you improve team efficiency and satisfaction? Is there a way to advocate for reform?
Yes, there is.
You can involve your team in the change management process. For example, consider gathering their feedback before coming up with a new strategy. This way, they’ll feel like a part of the process, helping you drive evolution.
It is crucial to recognize that things will not always operate as you want them to as a technical leader. Software engineers often encounter issues while developing an application. You and your team will encounter a large number of issues.
Sometimes a feature will not operate, or the application will not deploy properly. Builds will fail, the application may crash on live, or you may not meet your deadline.
You must prepare yourself to deal with all of the above issues or failures. Remain calm and don’t overreact to mistakes. When you spot an error, or a team member makes a mistake, inform the person politely and ask what they think about the issue rather than blaming them. You are a tech lead, so you must take ownership and correct problems.
You and your team members share the same problem, so you should work together to solve it. When you help fix the issue and learn from the mistakes, you will be appreciated as a dedicated team member.
When your team achieves something, celebrate with your team members. Appreciate your team members, encourage them, motivate them, and they will gladly cooperate with you. If someone on your team has an innovative idea or approach to solving a specific problem and it succeeds, the person should be credited and rewarded. This will promote collaboration, cooperation, and originality in your team.
Among the greatest difficulties for new technology, leaders are finding a method to delegate some work and still stay involved. Because you're a technical pioneer, you have many responsibilities, so it's not feasible to focus on every task. You must find a method to delegate some of the jobs and still remain involved. In this manner, you'll be able to focus on the more critical issues.
It is important for team and project operations to delegate tasks appropriately. If you fail to distribute tasks among developers, you will be swamped with tasks. This will slow down the entire process.
Following are some recommendations to delegate tasks to developers:
A tech lead should have an overview of the entire architecture, as well as how their job connects with the rest of the system. In addition, you should be able to see how every member's work fits into the big picture.
The tech lead act as a lookout in the crow's nest, monitoring the horizon for potential dangers if the sailors on a ship are busy hauling rope, managing the sails, or maintaining the vessel. The ship must remain properly balanced in relation to the islands and other ships surrounding it, so they must take care of the ship and ensure that it floats well in the water.
It's important to present team members with a broad view of the application's architecture. Logical, deployment and other architectural views should be considered when determining how individuals' tasks will fit into the architecture.
For example, a whiteboard session or a meeting with developers will help you understand the overall picture. Remember that quality attributes such as scalability, performance, and usability matter as well.
If you want people to listen to what you have to say, you need to embrace your own knowledge in terms of work and general life. So, make sure that you comply with all the tips we’ve shared in this article.
Lastly, having a profound grasp of technology and design is crucial if you want to become a tech leader. The challenge is doubly difficult. Working with both technology and a group of people is difficult, but you can succeed if you believe in yourself and your capabilities.
If you wonder where you can source such talent, don’t stress anymore. Notchup is a platform dedicated to helping tech companies find the right talent for their remote teams. The platform includes cutting-edge technologies to assist in the formation of highly effective, cross-border teams.
