From Red to Green: Enhancing Decision-Making with Traffic Light Assessment
Be a techlead
1. L A A w a y D a y 2 0 1 4
BE A TECH LEAD
(Ricardo) Caval
rcaval@thoughtworks.com
2. MY JOURNEY
䡦 Became tech lead o my first job
䡦 By accident, was a small startup (5 people, 3 devs)
䡦 At Thoughtworks
䡦 Dev and then Tech lead at a project for a Large Energy
Company
䡦 Tech lead in a project for a Brazilian communication
company
䡦 Dev at Large Retail Enterprise
䡦 Currently Tech lead at a project for the Large Retail
Enterprise
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3. She has the technical delivery
responsibility of the project.
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WHAT IS A TECH LEAD’S RESPONSABILITY?
5. ROLE OF A TECH LEAD AT THOUGHTWORKS [1]
Based on Sam Newman’s Tech Lead Manifesto [2]
䡦 Clear and consistent technical
vision
䡦 Successful project
䡦 Team, proper understanding
䡦 Gain trust and build relationship
䡦 Unbiased technical decision
䡦 Resolve issues [where the] code
deviates
䡦 Project management and risk
management
䡦 Influence decision
䡦 Environment in which all members
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can contribute
䡦 Cross-functional requirement
䡦 Maintain accountability
䡦 Bring pragmatism
䡦 Address skill gaps
䡦 Grow the next tech lead
6. HOW DOES A TECH LEAD ACCOMPLISH ITS JOB?
䡦 Leadership
䡦 Facilitation
䡦 Mentoring & Coaching
䡦 Empowerment
䡦 Removing Blockers
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10. ENGAGING WITH YOUR TEAM
䡦 Ensure safety
䡦 Facilitate Technical Discussion
䡦 And address conflict
䡦 Defines and demonstrates ‘good’
䡦 On boarding
䡦 Delegation & chorus
䡦 Leading and building people
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11. DELEGATION
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The Skill/Will Matrix
Low Skill High Skill
High
Will
Low
Will
GUIDE DELEGATE*
DIRECT EXCITE
12. Problem-solving leaders are well
aware that not every idea is useful for
every problem, but they are even more
aware that every person is useful.
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FACILITATION
13. Leading the process is responsive to
people, giving them choices and
leaving them in control. They are
empowered in much the same way a
gardener empowers seeds—not by
forcing them to grow, but by tapping
the power that lies dormant within
them.
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LEADING AND BUILDING PEOPLE
15. ARCHITECTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
䡦 Governance
䡦 Think strategically, Set expectations
䡦 Draw the big picture
䡦 Back to the basics, SOLID, DDD
䡦 Coding
䡦 Peer review and Pairing
䡦 Ensure quality
䡦 Identify tech debt
䡦 Ask the team for pain points
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16. ARCHITECTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
䡦 Structures emerging design
䡦 No-design --- Enough-design --- BDUF
䡦 Discuss design, gather tech feedback
䡦 Vision & Metaphor
䡦 Identify CFRs
䡦 Removes moral hazards
䡦 Prevent isolated rogue members
䡦 Raise the awareness of real world usage of the system
䡦 Release It!, by Michael Nygard
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17. A TECH LEAD SHOUDN’T
䡦 Necessarily be the best at everything
䡦 Write no code
䡦 Write all the hard code
䡦 Tell everyone what to do
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19. MANAGING DELIVERY AND RISK
䡦 Risk Identification and Analysis
䡦 Spike the unknown, prove theories
䡦 Risk Mitigation
䡦 React quick and embrace change, rather than be
protective
䡦 Continuous Delivery
䡦 KISS
䡦 Jidoka
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20. MANAGING DELIVERY AND RISK
䡦 Prioritization
䡦 Manage Technical Debt
䡦 New debt is easier
䡦 Trust and Reputation
High$
䡦 Communicate and
over communicate
䡦 Highlight successes
䡦 Don’t deny mistakes, talk
about what is being done to fix
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The$Urgent/Important$
Matrix$
Important Goals Critical Activities
Distractions Interruptions
Low$
Low$
Urgency High$
Importance
"What$is$important$is$seldom$urgent$and$what$is$urgent$is$
seldom$important."$$
=Eisenhower$
22. ENGAGING WITH THE BUSINESS
䡦 Technical Point of Contact
䡦 Reporting
䡦 Frequent Communication with Seniors
䡦 Peer to to Product Owner, Project Manager and other
leads
䡦 Domain Knowledge
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23. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
䡦 But I’m not a manager/appointed leader
䡦 Best working groups are those in which leadership
comes from everybody
䡦 Appointed leaders is the most likely to break down,
because of pressure
䡦 But I’m not the Leadership type
䡦 Lead by innovation, instead of by motivation or
organization
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24. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
䡦 I’m loosing my technical skills
䡦 It’s hard to let go of coding and pairing
䡦 Leadership balances motivation, organisation and
innovation
䡦 It is a trade-off: Technical/innovative skills give place to
motivational and organisational skills
䡦 I don’t want to be all days in meetings
䡦 It also represents the opportunity to influence
decisions and direction
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26. REFERENCES
䡦 [1] Role of a Tech Lead
䡦 [2] Sam Newman’s Tech lead Manifesto
䡦 [2] Dan Abel’s Well Rounded Tech lead series
䡦 [4] Becoming a Technical Leader, Gerald Weinberg