Updated: Category: Developer Experience
Moving from a developer role to a tech lead position is an exciting but demanding transition. Although solid coding abilities are essential, effective leadership entails much more. As a tech lead, you’ll need to juggle team coordination, project planning, and stakeholder management, all of which are key aspects of project management.
In this post I try to capture on how I think one could propell their career to great heights.
Tech Lead, Team Lead and Project Manager
A Tech Lead is a multifaceted role that combines technical expertise with leadership responsibilities. They are responsible for guiding the technical direction of projects, mentoring team members, and ensuring that projects are delivered on time and within budget. Tech leads must balance their technical skills with project management capabilities to succeed in this role.
The responsibility of a Tech Lead can be confusing when there are additional leadership positions within the organization. It is important to clearly define the duties for these roles:
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The Tech Lead (also known as Lead Developer) is responsible for the technical well being of the product.
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The Architect is responsible for the architectural well being of the system or solution. This role may be covered by the Tech Lead.
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The Team Lead is responsible for the team cohesion, team improvements and the well being of the developers.
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The Project Manager is responsible for the coordination between projects, customer development and delivering the project on time by helping/supporting the teams which are involved in the process.
Skills
With the added responsibility comes the need for additional skills. Tech Leads must learn these to be effective in their role. Some of these skills may be shared with others (e.g. a product owner, scrum master, architect, or project manager). Nevertheless, it is important to know how apply these techniques to collaborate and lead effectively.
Time Management and Planning
In an agile environment, effective sprint planning and time management are essential. Tech leads must break down tasks, estimate effort, and ensure that deadlines are met without compromising quality. Poor time management can lead to burnout, missed deadlines, and inefficient workflows.
The team may be part of a larger setup such as an Agile Release Train or Value Stream which the Tech Lead must navigate.
Learn how to work in agile environments. Understand the Agile Manifesto by heart. If required by the coorporate jungle, take a course from the Scrum Alliance, the SAFe Agile Software Engineering or SAFe Architect. But more so, know what lean and “agile* really means.
Team Collaboration and Communication
Technical responsibility involves leading and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Tech leads need to cultivate a productive team atmosphere by establishing clear objectives, offering feedback, and addressing conflicts. Effective communication and interpersonal skills are essential for building trust and promoting team unity.
A tech lead is more than just a senior developer; they also serve as a mentor and a decision-maker. It’s vital for the team to grasp project goals and stay aligned to achieve success. Clear communication helps avoid misunderstandings and facilitates smooth project execution.
Carry out and lead regular stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives to foster an open and transparent team culture. Encourage feedback and knowledge sharing to improve collaboration. Learn effective communication skills through role-playing in a group setting.
Risk Assessment and Problem Solving
Tech leads need to be skilled at recognizing and managing risks. This involves anticipating potential issues, developing contingency plans, and adapting to changes in project scope or timelines. Project management techniques enable tech leads to tackle these challenges while keeping the project on track.
Every project faces unexpected issues. Whether it is scope creep, bugs, or changing requirements, a tech lead must anticipate risks and have a plan to address them before they become more serious.
Use risk mapping techniques to manage possible changes. Having a contingency plan in place will help keep projects on schedule.
Delegation and Task Management
As a developer, you are responsible for developing software. As a Tech Lead, your role shifts to ensuring that the software is implemented correctly and people work on the right tasks while maintaining efficiency. Overloading yourself with tasks can lead to burnout and decreased productivity.
Use risk mapping techniques to manage possible changes. Having a contingency plan in place will help keep projects on schedule.
Stakeholder Management
A Tech Lead frequently engages with customers, suppliers, product managers, and executives to ensure that development efforts are aligned with business objectives. The capacity to convey technical challenges in business terms is an essential leadership quality.
Solution: Develop presentation and reporting skills to communicate technical updates clearly. Use dashboards and reports in project management tools to share progress updates with stakeholders effectively.
Use risk mapping techniques to manage possible changes. Having a contingency plan in place will help keep projects on schedule.
How to pursue your growth
My recommendations to software engineers to focus and accelarate their career growth:
Create clarity
- Take control and be intrinsically motivated. That way are in charge of your growth and career; don’t leave it to managers and leaders, instead use them to your benefit
- Focus on being a generalizing specialist and full-stack engineer rather than specializing too early. Understand the fundamentals. See also my article about Expert Generalist.
- Keep an open ear and listen very carefully to the challenges raised by leaders and peers, and use it to identify opportunities for yourself beyond the daily grind.
- Practice interviews every 1-2 years to stay close to keep you sharp and keeps you up-to-date on industry expectations.
Focus your project contribution
- Increase responsibility. Take on work that sets you apart, such as non-technical but necessary work. Like taking notes, coordination with vendors. This builds goodwill and credibility. You will be noticed by management and will speed up promotions.
- Increase ownership for the entire software lifecycle, even if it’s not in your job description or the expectation. This mentalitity is what sets your apart from others.
- Deal with increasing complexities. Work on more complex projects as you progress; staying on edge helps to excel fast.
- Be part of interviewing new people. You will learn about engineering in other companies. This could be as simple as talking to potential candidates at conferences and meetups. It also provides you with visibility and reputation.
- Onboard new employees. You can set expectations, explain best practices, and in your preparation and the exchange, you will improve yourself.
- Obtain deep domain context. This enables you to translate and challenge stakeholder requirements, adds value beyond mere development.
Work on your soft skills
- Communication and soft influence. You will be dealing more and with different kinds of stakeholders as you move up the ladder.
- Practice strategic thinking. Think about impact and how your ideas and decisions align with vision, not just requirements.
- Practice writing. Clear concise documentation is a key element of engineering (e.g. concepts, solution approach, team onboarding)
- Practice speaking (internal or public). It helps with conveying complex technical information and large architectural changes.
- Seek out conversation through 1:1s and forums. This provides you a broader perspective
Further Reading
I find this book useful:
Have a look at my collection of gems about SocioTechnical Engineering and Engineering Skills.