In 2023 I helped multiple companies improve performance and develop a healthy culture by training their Tech Leads build high-performing teams: from groups of 5 up to 20 people, some with years of experience and others just at the beginning of their leadership journey, there are some patterns that apply to all of them:
⏱️ They all struggle with time management
I found this to be the biggest struggle Tech Leads have. Juggling people, tech and business, all at the same time, makes them feel like they are always behind and overwhelmed.
And so I started digging into this topic.
One thing I quickly noticed is that they struggle to answer the question: “What are all the things you are working on at the moment?”
The lack of awareness on all current workload blocks them from planning and forces them to prioritise “what feels more urgent”, which is usually other people's priorities.
And getting this awareness can be achieved by visualising your work on a board, which is the first step of my 3 step “Take control of your time” process.
🔗 You can find the whole detailed process here: Take control of your time in 3 steps
👥 They are always surprised on how much dealing with people is part of their role
They worked so hard to get better at tech by solving different problems, working with multiple tech stacks, deep diving into new technologies every day and now they realise that does not help them much in their day to day role as a tech lead.
The hard part is accepting that what got them here it’s not what will move them forward and that now they have to develop a new set of non-technical skills to be effective.
📑 They like tools and frameworks even when it comes to people
Tech Leads love taking a tech approach to dealing with people: from feedback models like SBI to diagrams and drawings for ensuring alignment and metrics to measure people engagement and performance.
Using these tools is a great place to start but soon they realise they need to top it up with skills that cannot be put in a format: empathy, vulnerability, listening, setting the right expectations and that it’s when things get more complicated.
Most of the Tech Leads I work with on an 1-1 level after the training struggle with these particular topics.
📍Each has their own leadership style based on their previous experience
🔗 In this article I cover the different Tech lead styles.
😨🏖️ Most of them are afraid of going on vacation
They are afraid of leaving their team alone, thinking it cannot properly function “on its own”.
This usually means they don’t trust their team members which leads to an over controlling tendency.
Letting go of control and developing that trust it’s one of the hardest things to overcome as a tech lead but, I promise you, it’s totally worth it.
Your team will thank you and you will be able to enjoy your vacations 😉
Speaking of which, I hope you had a great end of the year vacation 🙂
Happy New Year! 🎉
If you found this article useful, please share it with a friend and consider subscribing if you haven’t already. For more similar content, follow me on LinkedIn. If you have any questions, email me at anemarifiser@gmail.com. Thank you! 😊
Until next time,
Ane
Great summary, Anemari! Transitioning from a senior engineer to a leadership role in the "people" aspect of things surprised me too.
Luckily, because I had worked with my team before, I had no trust issues and didn't feel I can't leave them alone. And even when new people joined, I also encouraged them to take responsibility, building trust and influence.
I am 100% sure that I sometimes get afraid to go to vacations. I fear of missing out sometimes. Good points you raised here!