So you’ve become a Tech Lead - great! Now what?€¦ · Sponsor and support the growth of your...

So you’ve become a Tech Lead - great!Now what?

Sarah Taraporewalla

1© 2019 Sarah Taraporewalla

DDD Brisbane, December 2019

@sarahtarap

SARAH TARAPOREWALLA

TECH PRINCIPAL @sarahtarap

5 STAGES OF TECH LEADERSHIP


5 STAGES OF TECH LEADERSHIPFREEDOM


My turn...I get to make all the decisions now…I’ll keep doing what I was doing yesterday

5 STAGES OF TECH LEADERSHIPCONFUSION


Why am I being pulled into so many meetings? Why doesn't the team get what they are meant to be doing? Why do I have to repeat myself so many times?

5 STAGES OF TECH LEADERSHIPOVERWHELMED


there’s so much to do. I don't think I can code any more

5 STAGES OF TECH LEADERSHIPLOST


Wait - what do you mean the code does that? ...I haven't looked at the code for weeks...

I miss coding

5 STAGES OF TECH LEADERSHIPCONFIDENT


Ok, so I'm going to code a bit and do the other stuff a bit...

and...how do I manage my time

What got you here, Won’t get you there


What is a Tech Lead?


POSSIBLE CAREER PROGRESSIONSAccording to Pat Kua’s Trident Model

11

MANAGEMENT INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP

© 2019 Sarah Taraporewalla

@patkua

POSSIBLE CAREER PROGRESSIONSAccording to Pat Kua’s Trident Model

12

MANAGEMENT INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR

TECHNICAL LEADERSHIP


@patkua

TO MAKE THE DEV TEAM AS EFFECTIVE AS THEY CAN BE


Sponsor and support the growth of your team members

MENTORSHIPINFORMATION RADIATOR

Facilitate the sharing information

PRODUCTIONISING TECH

Ensure all aspects of Tech are met, not just functionality

CUSTODIAN OF VISION

Inspire and lead the team to a shared vision

PM FOR TL

Deliver working solutions early and often

TO MAKE THE DEV TEAM AS EFFECTIVE AS THEY CAN BEIS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE TECH LEAD. THE REST IS JUST DETAILS


Custodian of Vision



CREATE, VISUALISE AND COMMUNICATE YOUR TECHNICAL VISION

What is your current state?

What is your target state?

What is your path to get there?

WHERE ARE YOU HEADED?


SOCIALISE YOUR ARCHITECTURALVISION, PRINCIPLES and GUIDELINES

John Lewis - http://engineering-principles.onejl.uk/

Monzo - https://monzo.com/blog/2018/06/29/

engineering-principles

UK Government Digital Service - https://

www.gov.uk/service-manual/service-standard

Scout24 - https://github.com/Scout24/scout24-

engineering-values-and-principles

SOME EXAMPLES


FACILITATE IN THE BOX DESIGN

What patterns will you adopt?

How will you structure your code and tests?

What tools will you use?


MAKE THE TEAM EFFECTIVE BY BEING THECUSTODIAN OF VISION

Create, visualise and communicate the tech vision

Socialise your architectural values, principles and guidelines

Facilitate in-the-box design


Project Management for Tech Leads


Deliver working solutions, early and often

DELIVERY vs CLEAN CODE DICHOTOMY

21

Del

iver

y

Clean Code© 2019 Sarah Taraporewalla

MAKE THE TEAM EFFECTIVE BY DOINGPROJECT MANAGEMENT for TL

Clear blockers for the team

Story prioritisation and Scope management

Play interference for long-running stories

Contrive clever ways to descope work


Information Radiator


Facilitate the sharing of information

INTERPRET TECH FOR NON-TECH PEOPLE

24

MAKE THE TEAM EFFECTIVE BY BEING ANINFORMATION RADIATOR

to project stakeholders

to Business

to other project teams

back to your team

out to the community25© 2019 Sarah Taraporewalla

Mentorship



MAKE THE TEAM EFFECTIVE THROUGHMENTORSHIP

Identify the gaps in your people

Offer effective feedback

Help the person to set their goals

Provide opportunities for growth, ownership over specific areas


Production-ising Tech


Ensure all aspects of tech are met, not just functionality

MAKE THE TEAM EFFECTIVE BY CHAMPIONING THEPRODUCTION-ISING YOUR TECH

Advocate for your sensible defaults

Driving for a smooth Path to Prod

Champion your CFRs

Focus on the right type of testing


CUSTODIAN OF VISION


PM FOR TL

clear blockers for the team story prioritisation

scope management play interference for long-

running stories contrive clever ways to

descope work


INFORMATION RADIATOR


to project stakeholders to Business

to other project teams back to your team

out to the community


identifying gaps providing feedback

goal setting providing opportunities for growth, ownership

over specific areas



advocate sensible defaults

path to prod CFRs

testing.

create, visualise and socialise the tech vision incl architectural values, principles and guidelines

facilitate in-the-box design, values, principles and

guidelines

MENTORSHIP


INFLUENCE STYLES

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

TIME MANAGEMENT© 2019 Sarah Taraporewalla

Influence Styles


Sphere of Concern

Sphere of Influence

SPHERE OF INFLUENCE


Sphere of Control

SIX PRINCIPLES OF INFLUENCE BY ROBERT CIALDINI


Reciprocity Once you’ve helped someone, they’ll be more likely to return the favour when you need it

Consistency and Commitment

If people commit to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honour that commitment

Social Proof People will do things that they see other people are doing

Liking People are easily persuaded by other people that they like

Authority People will tend to obey authority figures, even if they are asked to perform objectionable acts

Scarcity Perceived scarcity of a product makes consumers want it more

Leadership Skills


HighDirecting BehaviourLow

High

Supp

ortin

g Be

havi

our

Supp

ortin

g Coaching

DirectingDele

gatin

g

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL


SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL

39

Dev

elop

ing

Development level of an individual

Dev

elop

ed Low competence

High commitment

Low-some competence

Low commitment

Variable commitment

Moderate-high competence

High commitment

High competence


HOW DO YOU MAKE DECISIONS

40

Consequential

Inconsequential


IrreversibleReversible

GATHER EVIDENCE

SPEND TIME DECIDING

DELEGATE DELEGATE

KEY TO GOOD LEADERSHIP ISACTIVE LISTENING

Listen to understand their position, not assert your own

Pause…and uncomfortable amount of time

Paraphrase and question for clarity


MY RECOMMENDED READING LIST


Time Management


A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A TECH LEAD

08:00 : Personal Admin 📧 Email, check production logs, stats, analytics to see how the system is responding

08:30 : Coffee ☕ with a dev

09:00 : Standup

09:15 : Dev Huddle Discuss the stories in play, how to get them over the line, decide on who is pairing with whom

10:00 : Grooming the backlog with the PO, BA, IM

10:30 : Meeting with the architects to discuss upcoming design

11:30 : Story Checkin with all dev pairs to see how story is tracking, if there are any problems, how we can help

12:00 : Lunch 🥗 with Dev Team.

13:00 : Coffee ☕ with a dev

13:30 : Pairing on a story

15:00 : Story Elaboration with BA, QA on upcoming stories

16:00 : Catch up with technical stakeholders

16:30 : Story Checkin with all dev pairs to see how their story progressed, and what we need to carry over into the next day


A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF A TECH LEAD

45

Tue. Wed. Thu. Fri.

12:00

Mon.

Pairing w/ team

Lunch and Learn

Team Retro

Personal Admin

Showcase

IPM

Coffee with Dev

Backlog Grooming

Pairing w/ team

Personal Admin

Coffee with Dev

Lunch w/ devs

BA/TL/QA Story Check In

Pairing w/ team

Personal Admin

Coffee with IM

Social Lunch


Architecture meeting

Thinking time @ Desk

Personal Admin


Coffee with Dev

Stakeholder Lunch

Walk with Dev

Personal Admin

Coffee with BA

Lunch w/ IM/BA/TL

Thinking time @ Coffee Shop


Story ElaborationCo-Design sessions

Walk with Dev


THE EISENHOWER MATRIX

46

DO DECIDE

DELEGATE DELETE

Urgent Not Urgent

Impo

rtan

tN

ot Im

port

ant


EVERY GOOD TECH LEAD NEEDS A COMPANION


https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2019/11/19380788-low_res-doctor-who-series-12-8a638e1.jpg?quality=45&resize=960,639

CUSTODIAN OF VISION


PM FOR TL

clear blockers for the team story prioritisation

scope management play interference for long-

running stories contrive clever ways to

descope work


INFORMATION RADIATOR


to project stakeholders to Business

to other project teams back to your team

out to the community


identifying gaps providing feedback

goal setting providing opportunities for growth, ownership

over specific areas



advocate sensible defaults

path to prod CFRs

testing.

create, visualise and socialise the tech vision incl architectural values, principles and guidelines

facilitate in-the-box design, values, principles and

guidelines

MENTORSHIP


INFLUENCE STYLES

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

TIME MANAGEMENT© 2019 Sarah Taraporewalla

IF YOU ONLY REMEMBER ONE THING, REMEMBER THIS

49

BE VULNERABLE

SEEK FEEDBACK

LEARN AND GROW


@sarahtarap

SARAH TARAPOREWALLA

TECH PRINCIPAL @sarahtarap


So you’ve become a Tech Lead - great! Now what?€¦ · Sponsor and support the growth of your...

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