T Is for Tech Lead: The Role and Responsibilities

When I became a technical lead at one of my previous jobs, it was unexpected for me*, but at the same time logical from the point of view of career growth. I got bored working on one project, but then I immediately had the opportunity to manage a team of developers and several projects where I could really help.

The main problem was that while in development I was still somehow developing (and this is a hard skill that is easier to improve), then in leadership I mainly relied on intuition. The mentoring school helped me simplify my interaction with the team. However, looking back at that period, I understand that I did a lot of things wrong. At the time it seemed normal, and the team (I hope) was happy. But as we know, just because something seems normal doesn't mean it's right. It is always useful to look around and discuss experiences with colleagues.

I always tell tech leads that one of the most important parts of their job is proper delegation and allocation of resources. It's good if the technical lead is able to complete any task in the project, but in this case, why do we need developers with a lower grade? If a leader takes on everything, it hinders the team's growth.

Let's say we have learned to delegate. But now we have no tasks. What to do?

Here we come to the key role of the technical lead - creating technological challenges (challenges) that help improve the project. They can improve the quality of development (Developer Experience, DX) and improve the user experience (User Experience, UX).

When you become the technical lead of a project, you are actually responsible for everything that happens in it. This means that you should at least use your product in test scenarios, collect feedback from users (friends, acquaintances, colleagues) and plan improvements. Even if this is not directly your area of ​​responsibility. Being a technical lead means not only managing technical aspects, but also developing the project as a whole: both from the technical side (technical backlog) and from the functional side (product backlog).

But the most important thing is not to take away normal development from the team. Give developers the opportunity to grow the same way you once grew.