Responsibilities of a Tech Lead
The Trident Career Model by Patrick Kua has three tracks. Each track represents where people spend most of their time or energy.
Archetypal Story
Individual Contributor
- 70–80% time spent on “Executing, doing”.
- Designing. Testing. Coding.
Management
- 70–80% time spent on “Managing the system”.
- Planning. Organizing. Supporting. Budgeting.
Technical Leader
- 70–80% time spent on “Leading Technical Topics & Teams”.
- Aligning Team. Technical Vision. Growing Tech Knowledge. Tech Risk & Tech Debt Management.
What is a Tech Lead?
“A Tech Lead is a software engineer, responsible for leading a development team, and responsible for the quality of its technical deliverables.” (source)
A Tech Lead is a Developer who is a Leader
A good leader is making sure that the team is moving in the same direction. The team moves further altogether, rather than simply people who are working “together”.
Leadership skills to invest in
- Empathy
- Self-Awareness
- Motivation
- Conflict Resolution
- Communication
- Coaching
- Feedback
- Influencing
- Delegation
The Tech Lead role is a leadership position, not necessarily a management position.
Surprises & Struggle
- Feeling Alone: “Outsider”. Different role. Shield/Filter.
- Uncertainty: No right answer. Binary habit. Imperfect information.
- People are puzzling: Unique. Different Strengths. Archetypes.
A Great Tech Lead
A great Tech Leader is really focusing on developing others, so the team will get better capabilities.
Tell or Delegate?
The goal is to reach a complete delegation, step by step. It’s about starting to shift responsibilities to other people, so they grow as well. It can also depend on the skills, motivations, and urgency of the task.
“Nobody is perfect, but a team can be.” - Meredith Belbin
Key points
- Tech Lead is a role change.
- It requires leadership skills.
- Others have been on this journey.
- There are many resources available.
- Move from maker mode to multiplier.
Recommended books on this field
- Extreme Programming
- The Manager’s Path
- The art of Leadership
- Peopleware
- High Output Managment
- Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager