Becoming a tech lead is the next big step in your software career, and not just any tech lead – you want to be the best tech lead you can be! However, it’s not as easy as just climbing up the ladder of success; to become a great tech lead, you need to know how to do it right! This article will give you 5 steps on how to become a tech lead in the software industry by learning from other successful tech leads and mastering the skills they use day-to-day that make them so effective!
Who is a Tech Lead?
In software, there are lots of common titles: programmer, engineer, coder, developer. Most have direct implications about what you do (or how much you get paid). But tech lead is just that — a lead — which makes it hard to tell whether it’s mostly an administrative title or something else. This can be especially confusing for someone who has never managed programmers before. What exactly does one do? Can anyone really become a tech lead if they want to? Does being technical matter at all when managing engineers? These are common questions and more than likely very different answers depending on who you ask. The reality of tech leads might surprise you: The best tech leads don’t write code; instead, they focus on leading teams and inspiring them toward engineering excellence. Put another way: A good tech lead creates positive change within their teams that goes beyond mere management.
What Does It Mean to Be A Tech Lead?
A tech lead is an individual who's responsible for both architecting and implementing new solutions, but also for training other developers on how to do so. If you've worked as a developer for some time, you may be wondering if you can make that transition yourself. Is it hard? Do you need specific skills? Will anyone actually want to give you more responsibility? Read on for an overview of what becoming a tech lead entails—and what kind of people succeed at it. And if those things sound appealing, read on even further: we'll show you exactly how to become one yourself. Based on salary, top-earning IT jobs include application developers, systems analysts, computer programmers, and software engineers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that application development roles earn a median salary of $101,280 per year, while systems analysts earn $102,880; computer programmers take home $96,300 per year, and software engineers pull down $100,590 every year.
Why Do Software Companies Need Technical Leads?
The software industry is vast and there are many different positions. It’s hard to find exactly what you want without sounding like a generalist. Technical leads make decisions on how features are built, but they don’t usually come up with ideas. They work closely with developers, designers, project managers, and other teams at their company so they can stay on top of all of their deliverables. You don’t need any official qualifications or accreditations—the most important thing is that you can do your job well and understand what it takes to do your job well. Here are some of your main responsibilities To solve problems as quickly as possible: This isn’t just an issue for one team—you should have knowledge of every single department in your company. Each department works differently and has its own problems, so being able to adapt to each area is key. If everyone only reports directly to you then things will go more smoothly because issues can be dealt with swiftly. To prioritize tasks: As someone who understands every part of your company, you should be able to assess what tasks need completing most urgently. Everyone has their pet projects and things they enjoy doing, but often things won’t get done if people aren’t forced into prioritizing them.
What Are The Benefits of Having A Technical Lead?
Many companies have several software developers on staff, but few take advantage of having a dedicated technical lead. If you're thinking about asking for or hiring someone to fill that role, here are some of their responsibilities and perks: Technical Leads Take Over Ongoing Issues: It's one thing for every developer on your team to be aware of ongoing issues; it's another thing entirely when they're taken over by your tech lead. Working with customer requests is never an easy task, especially when they come in rapidly. When you have a technical lead who oversees those requests—whether it’s taking care of one-off tasks or monitoring issues—it allows other developers on your team more time to focus on bigger projects. Having A Tech Lead On Your Team Increases Communication: Any good leader will tell you that communication is crucial to success. Having an open line of communication can help teams make decisions faster, better communicate needs and changes to internal stakeholders, increase project efficiency, and create a strong sense of trust between coworkers—all things that can directly impact a business' bottom line. And since most development teams involve multiple people working toward different goals at once, there can often be miscommunication if no one has final say over how something should look or work. A tech lead provides just that; he or she can keep track of multiple development efforts at once while keeping them all on track with what needs to happen next.
What Is Required To Become a Tech Lead?
Becoming a tech lead is an extremely exciting time for software engineers. It can also be an extremely stressful time for these engineers. The added responsibility that comes with tech lead will affect each of them differently, and many of these engineers have no clue what they need to do to prepare themselves for it or if they are truly capable of doing it. As someone who has gone through and is still going through becoming a tech lead, I've compiled what I think are some important pieces of advice that will help you become one as well. What follows are ten attributes and actions that I believe all great tech leads possess; however, realize that every team and situation is different so there may be other attributes and actions necessary to succeed:
Remembering That You're Still An Engineer: If you've ever had a job where your responsibilities increased significantly over time, you know how challenging it can be to keep your head in your day-to-day work while dealing with everything else on top of it. Being able to continue performing at your best level is an integral part of being successful at both aspects of your job—you won't feel like much of a tech lead if you aren't contributing significantly as an engineer too.
Tips on Becoming a Successful Tech Lead
Coding Skills First, People Skills Second: To become a successful tech lead at any company, you must start with coding skills. You will be leading software engineers who write code and need to understand how it works. But, if your leadership skills are lackluster, no amount of technical expertise will get you very far. The second most important thing that makes for good tech leads is great people skills. Being able to explain things effectively and being able to explain why something should or shouldn’t be done is key when interacting with other team members. It also helps when dealing with management and customers outside of your immediate team. A good tech lead must be able to explain why something should or shouldn’t be done. If your tech lead isn’t up to scratch technically and doesn’t have those people skills, then you may as well not have one because he/she won't be doing anything but wasting their time and yours. This isn't about knowing everything about every programming language out there; I've met plenty of developers with tremendous amounts of knowledge in one area yet can barely program their way out of a paper bag where another area is concerned. What's more important than knowing everything there is to know about programming languages (or having top-notch design ability) is knowing which languages the best suit which problems. Knowing what tools best solve particular problems yields results. Having said all that... You still have to know coding basics too!
Soft skills
Perhaps more important than your technical expertise is your soft skill set. Soft skills are those that are difficult to quantify and hard to assess, but they’re crucial when you’re leading a team. The best way you can demonstrate your soft skills is by showing how much you care about your work and how much passion you have for it. Once I realized that my team wasn’t where I wanted them to be, I went above and beyond what was expected of me as their tech lead; after several late nights (and some caffeine), they were performing better than ever and our product was quickly gaining momentum on its competitors. Whether you want to become a tech lead or not, having a passion for your work will make you stand out from other applicants and ultimately help you build a reputation within an organization that’s doing exciting things. For example, I once got a job with Google based purely off my side projects. That's right—even though there weren't any current openings at Google that matched my qualifications, they knew I had an interest in social software and reached out to me directly because of it! If we didn't get word-of-mouth recommendations every day, we wouldn't have nearly as many open positions filled. - Matt Rayner (source)
Coding for Tech Leads
Great tech leads need more than coding skills. They must also possess leadership and managerial qualities. If you want to become a successful tech lead, it’s important that you hone these skills from day one of your career, no matter what level you start at—engineer or manager. At its core, technical leadership is about finding smart ways to use technology so your organization can be more effective and successful. You should also understand how teams work together in large organizations and how customers perceive your products or services. That’s why we talked with several other tech leads who have been around for years (and decades) about what makes for a great tech lead. Here are 10 tips they shared on topics ranging from becoming an effective leader to building trust with co-workers. Consider them next time you are faced with challenges on your team, whether it's in engineering or business operations. And note: Not all of these are directly tied to programming or technology; some will help as you move into management roles outside development departments as well. They'll help when making decisions affecting staff members on other teams, too. Enjoy! __ How do I demonstrate my talent if I'm not senior enough? __ If you feel like your boss doesn't understand just how good you are or isn't listening to feedback because you don't hold enough authority, consider working harder to communicate that. Then consider requesting feedback yourself through 1:1s and departmental meetings. Do people respect me as a leader? Do they listen when I speak? As previously noted, these things don't happen automatically. But by being thoughtful about how you approach others in meetings and providing constructive feedback (even if it means receiving constructive criticism yourself), others will notice those things over time.
Software Architecture Skills for Tech Leads
When you think of software architecture, what do you imagine? Picture a developer hunched over their keyboard hammering out method after method or perhaps see them scurrying around coordinating everyone's efforts on different parts of an application. They may be better thought of as magicians who need to understand every part of an application and are responsible for keeping everything running smoothly. Understanding software architecture requires more than technical expertise. It takes people skills too, as well as leadership qualities that turn developers into tech leads that help shape how their team works together. The transition can be difficult because it requires moving away from coding towards leading others and communicating why something needs to be done versus how to do it. These are some important attributes of leaders: 1) Improving Efficiency - Being a leader means maximizing productivity by helping your team identify things they don't have time for, avoid wasted time spent figuring things out when there's a right way to do it, cutting through bureaucratic red tape/delays/bottlenecks and ensuring your department/team stays focused on its goals. Leaders plan ahead, know how long tasks should take, assign new projects carefully and allocate resources effectively. 2) Defining Success Criteria - Success means different things depending on where you are in your career path; achieving one goal can mean failing another if those goals weren't clearly defined before starting.
Leadership Skills for Tech Leads
How to Be More Effective at Solving Complex Problems and Being Proactive: One of your main roles as a tech lead is problem-solving. You might need to solve problems that only you can solve, or you might have to help others solve their problems. Although everyone solves problems differently, there are some common leadership skills that most effective tech leads use. Learn more about problem-solving and tech lead leadership skills with these resources: How Successful Leaders Handle Conflict; 5 Tips for Resolving Conflicts between Co-Workers; The Leader's Dilemma; How Your Attitude Impacts Your Team; Leadership Skills for Dealing with Change; What Makes Someone an Effective Leader? ; Problem Solving: Developing Strategies for Decision Making, Use These 3 Steps When Looking for a Solution; 6 Ways That Productive Problem Solvers Think Differently From Others; 8 Signs That It’s Time To Find New Leaders For Your Company. A Focus on Customer Service As Technology Changes: If you want to become a successful tech lead, focus on customer service and meeting people’s needs. Technology changes rapidly today but customers don’t always keep up—they may be using outdated technologies or requesting services that aren’t available yet because they weren’t built yet.
Tips for Junior Engineers
Several parts of your job as a junior engineer will likely involve you doing things outside of your area of expertise. When you are asked to do something that falls outside of your lane, find out what sort of documentation exists for it and see if there is anyone else who can help you complete these tasks. Oftentimes, these jobs are an important part of becoming a software engineer, as they allow you to learn about other parts of the stack and have conversations with other engineers in non-technical roles about how their team’s code base works. If nobody on your team has any previous experience with how to handle such tasks, consider reaching out to engineers on other teams who might be able to mentor you or help guide you along. Finally, stay positive! Chances are you won’t know exactly how to accomplish everything on your list at first, but remember that learning new skills is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a software engineer. Even though you may struggle with some aspects of your job, try to focus on taking things slowly and finding creative solutions instead of hitting roadblocks. Although these kinds of tasks may seem tedious now, they are essential in helping you transition from junior to tech lead. So keep pushing forward: by working hard and experimenting when unsure about a project, soon enough you’ll come across opportunities that allow you to get more hands-on time than ever before. You just need to be patient!
The road from Junior to Senior Engineer to Tech Lead
When you’re just starting out as an engineer, there are endless opportunities for knowledge and skill growth. After all, you’re literally surrounded by geniuses who can teach you a thing or two. But as time goes on, and your job title advances, it can be more difficult to develop your skills. Once you reach a senior role, it becomes more challenging (and more important) than ever before to keep improving. Without that growth at every stage of your career—you may end up stuck on a plateau with few opportunities for professional development. So how do professionals advance their careers? Here are three things to remember as you rise through tech roles: 1) communicate broadly; 2) identify opportunities; 3) consider your motivations. Learn how doing these three things has helped engineers across industries become tech leads and rising stars in their companies. Be sure to read last week's episode, which offers more insight on moving from junior software engineer to senior engineering positions! *** Communication Broadly Communication is critical for developing new skills because it is so broad-based. How does broad communication improve one's personal competence? One way is through learning something entirely new. You've probably learned something new today already. Each interaction we have lets us expand our areas of expertise and exposes us to concepts we hadn't considered previously. As tempting as it may be, don't shut yourself off from learning anything new now just because you feel like you know too much about some topics. These little interactions actually give us incredible scope for self-development and improvement throughout our lives...so make sure not to let any conversation go without getting something useful out of it! Additionally, communication also helps people figure out what other people think they should work on next...which gives them even more choice over what they want their future careers or projects to look like.
Conclusion
The transition from developer to tech lead is a difficult one. You have to gain enough respect from your team members and coworkers while simultaneously building up your management skills so that you’re capable of taking on more responsibilities. The best way to make that leap? Follow these tips and be patient, because it will take time. Don’t worry if you feel you’re not quite ready, just focus on continuing your development as both a developer and an individual. Soon enough, people will start taking notice—and once they do, opportunities for advancement will present themselves. Don’t let them pass you by; seize them when they come along! Good luck! A tech leader must possess at least six characteristics: creativity, pragmatism, empathy towards users, teamwork capacity, ability to resolve conflicts, and clear communication. In addition, no matter how much experience he has or how capable he is at managing teams and resolving tasks within deadlines with the good technical quality he can't become a good leader without moral qualities such as fairness, honesty. He must also learn how to stay open-minded before new technologies so that he doesn't stick only with conventional practices and approaches but gives others an opportunity for developing their potential without egoism.
