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Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

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Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#171

Post by dragonsky67 »

stackzero wrote: post #149

- You can't lead a team further than you have been yourself There is a constant need to spend time up-skilling, performing tech spikes, thinking ahead - 20% of people do 80% of the work. You should be in the 20% and also invest time with the people in your team that are in the 20% - Genuinely care about the people you lead and help them get better at whatever their goals are

Being a lead should not be a platform for showing how much of a star you can be, it should be a platform for sharing your knowledge and skill with your team. This allows them to grow whilst taking and take the work they are capable of doing off your hands. The only development work you should be doing is the work they are not capable (yet) of doing.

This should leave you time to plan, teach and review as well as attend the meetings and do the paperwork that inevitably comes with a leadership role.

Enjoy.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#172

Post by jm547ster »

crimsonalucard wrote: post #56
jaspal747 wrote: post #11

Few things I would like to say: It will no longer be about you. It will all be about your team. Make sure you create a great team, nurture them, train them, teach them how to think critically (in doing so yourself). Ask your team to write out everything they plan to do before they actually do it. Reason with them on what they wrote and what approach decisions they plan to take. Teach them to think long term. Writing…

If you find yourself teaching your team take a step back. The best managers build super star teams and gives the teams ownership and autonomy. You are in a good position if the team is teaching you, not the other way around. Try to build a team made up of people technically superior to you. And give them ownership, this is key. It is not just about finding engineers who take ownership. It’s about giving engineers own…

This does not apply in all circumstances. My jump into tech lead came as the old tech lead (15+ years xp) and young superstar(~4 years with wisdom beyond his years) departed from it.

The replacements were a developer just coming off a PIP and a new graduate with zero industry experience, having not interned. I still kept the focus on developing the team as much as possible but the candle needed to be burned on both ends: taking on a large majority of implementation whilst quietly fixing mistakes made as to not shake growing confidence were commonplace throughout the first 6 months.

Towards the end of our involvement in our product I’m proud to say that both developers had outgrew their ranks and delegation and trust came without thought. I was pretty close to burnout by the end of that year if I’m honest with myself though and my own career progression has without doubt stalled due to it

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#173

Post by JamesBarney »

First piece of advice is the title tech lead applies to several different roles. Everything from pm to architect to just most sr. Dev.

First thing to do is go to your new boss and get them to give you an exhaustive list of your new duties, responsibilities, what success look like, etc..

Also go to other people who have done well in that role at your company and ask them the same questions.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#174

Post by bransonf »

derekchiang wrote: post #169
jaspal747 wrote: post #11

Few things I would like to say: It will no longer be about you. It will all be about your team. Make sure you create a great team, nurture them, train them, teach them how to think critically (in doing so yourself). Ask your team to write out everything they plan to do before they actually do it. Reason with them on what they wrote and what approach decisions they plan to take. Teach them to think long term. Writing…

I think your advice is great for tech leads at big companies, but for tech leads at startups, I have to disagree with the point about "Work for your product - not your company." At a startup, the business objective has to come first and the engineering team has to keep the bigger picture in mind. "Long-term stability and robustness" won't matter if your company is dead. Build for the short-term and build fast while y…

I see where you’re going, but I think the advice still sticks.

If you’re at a startup, your product is your business.

The point about not hesitating to move fast is the biggest difference between startups and mature companies.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#177

Post by dharmab »

sub7 wrote: post #66
jaspal747 wrote: post #11

Few things I would like to say: It will no longer be about you. It will all be about your team. Make sure you create a great team, nurture them, train them, teach them how to think critically (in doing so yourself). Ask your team to write out everything they plan to do before they actually do it. Reason with them on what they wrote and what approach decisions they plan to take. Teach them to think long term. Writing…

Respectfully disagree on the "write it out first" advice. I'd argue "think it out first" or "talk it out first" is sufficient. I found while scaling my team tended to bury themselves in miles of docs that really did not serve the customer or the company. A janky kind of working prototype of a solution is worth a ton more than a well thought out doc.

My team has a rule- if it's not in writing at a permalink it doesn't exist.

A simple 2-3 line github issue is often enough. what and why.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#178

Post by dharmab »

abraxas wrote: post #139
smilekzs wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My understanding is that "tech lead" as a role in Big Tech is more of a gateway position to bridge the gap between IC and management roles, a transition for a well-performing engineer who otherwise has no experience managing a team to "bootstrap" and gain that experience. During this, coding expectations for said engineer naturally lowers, and is shifted towards the total productivity of the emerging "subtree".

From my cynical experience it's a way to "reward" individual contributors with a meaningless title to make them feel like they are advancing their careers. It's purely responsibility without empowerment. In my naive days I was told I was a "tech lead" and I was very proud until I realized this meant being a scape goat for project's misfortunes without having the ability to schedule other people's time and thus materi…

At my org "lead engineer" is a seniority title. The people you look for are the maintainers and core contributors- the people with access to approve commits, and the people who are highly active in design and code review.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#179

Post by mathattack »

Be very explicit in your interviewing. Follow a process. Have the same people ask the same questions every time. Ask for a rating immediately after the interview. See who are the good interviewers over time. Don’t count on recruiting to source good inbound candidates.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for a new and inexperienced tech lead?

#180

Post by kopos »

Congratulations on the move!

This may sound very pedantic, but please spend a week reading “High Output Management” by Andy Grove.

The biggest change that happens when you move from a individual to a team lead is that suddenly you have a team which you can leverage to get the needle moving.

This is a great opportunity to punch above your weight but also fraught with peril if not planned well.

There is a need for a mix of comradeship and accountability which is not easy to grasp. But please spend a week reading the book

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