According to the
article, one must combine “tech” and
“lead” talents to achieve desired results in technology leadership.
That is, in order to gain success, support coming from both the team and the
management remains fundamental. Moreover, the
author tries to resolve the seemingly undefined position of the technical leader in
an organization who happens to carry with him/her profound responsibility while
bearing almost insignificant formal authority.
The author divides the 36 steps
into 3 essential phases (e-pages):
·
“Set yourself up for success” (Steps 1 to 15)
·
“Build your relationship with the team” (Steps
16 to 26)
·
“Build your relationship with the management and business people” (Steps 27 to 36)
Extracting
insights from the article, may I invite you to enter your opinion on whether you AGREE
or DISAGREE with the following propositions? Please include your rationale (why
or why not).
a.
Only technical people can lead the organization
toward technological change (from step #3).
b. Every single member of the team must understand in depth the reason behind why the organization needs to keep abreast with technological innovation. Simply abiding by the instructions from the higher level of the authority is not enough (from step # 14).
c. “One mind” is better than “many”. A centralized mind-set is more beneficial than participative decision-making in establishing an IT framework/architecture/design (from step # 15).
d. Motivating human resources is a great deal in sustaining technological lead. The entire organization must be committed to change. A single opposing soul is a deterrent to technological success (from steps # 16 to # 26).
e. Purely delegated responsibility unsupported with formal authority will not bring the organization to successful technological leadership (from step # 27).
f. The technical leader must not accommodate top management’s suggestions in modifying IT architecture/design (from step # 28 and # 34).
A. There must be a balance between business knowledge and technical know how. A leader has to understand business requirements and technical requirements to relay the message across both stakeholders - the programmers and the users.
ReplyDeleteB. it is always important to involve everybody in planning. But I still believe that break-out groups must be formed to keep the entire working team going. Some issues are best resolved using circle groups dedicated for such purpose.
ReplyDeleteC. I agree. With the influx of suggestions, a great leader has to learn how to filter and to make use of the pros and cons to come up with an informed decision. A leader should take full responsibility in the times of trouble and should give credit to the right person in the times of victory.
ReplyDeleteD. Opposing souls are always present in all organizations. Their opinions should be valued as well as they strengthen great leaders' arguments and decisions. They serve as check and balance. The only danger is that when they eat so much time causing a paralysis in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteE. A basic standard operating procedure: bring an authority document before proceeding. Similar to law enforcement and tax administration, cops and examiners could not just call one's attention for assessment without valid authorization. One must remember though to be equally accountable and responsible with this authority.
ReplyDeleteF. A technical leader must realize that top management officers are also stakeholders of the project. As such, their opinions should also be valued and assessed against the goals and objectives of the project. If deemed inappropriate, the technical leader has to make these officers understand why. What is important is to stick to what will benefit the organization the most.
ReplyDeleteHi. Greetings from Hua Hin. Yes, I agree that there must be a balance between technical knowledge and business acumen for a leader to effectively carry out his responsibilities to the organization. However, it seems difficult to find someone who is excellent in both given a more specific field of study, which is either business or information technology. How can this be resolved?
ReplyDeleteIts important that a technical lead is one who is always willing to learn. Most technical leads would start from the bottom but not everybody gets to the top. One who gets to the top do so because he is willing evolve himself. He arms himself, understands his organization's mission and vision and he develops his leadership skills. He knows that technological innovations are game changing and he is in it to deliver success for his company.
DeleteThere's certainly a lot of wisdom in the shared "36 steps to success as technical lead". As indicated in the article, these guidelines are for those who lack experience in leading others while having been given a technical leader responsibility.
ReplyDeleteThe following are my take on Melody's propositions:
a. Only technical people can lead the organization toward technological change (from step #3).
You cannot give what you do not have. As a technical lead, you must have certain technical expertise to properly guide your team. For technical people to successfully lead technological changes in their organization, they must also have the right business acumen to relate what they do to the overall scheme of things for their organization. They must also have "people skills" as they surely must relate with different types of personalities. They must be able to shift from purely technical support to technical leaders.
Thus, my response is yes, but with a qualifier that these technical people should also have the business acumen and people skills to lead successful technological changes in their workplaces.
b. Every single member of the team must understand in depth the reason behind why the organization needs to keep abreast with technological innovation. Simply abiding by the instructions from the higher level of the authority is not enough (from step # 14).
Yes, it is important that team members know how they are contributing to the attainment of their organization's mission and vision. It is the job of the technical lead to ensure that each team member is aware of his/her role to the success of any IT project.
c. “One mind” is better than “many”. A centralized mind-set is more beneficial than participative decision-making in establishing an IT framework/architecture/design (from step # 15).
As the saying goes, "Too many cooks spoil the broth". This is also true with managing IT projects, developing systems architecture/design and deployment. It can become unwieldy if you pre-maturely open yourself to too many suggestions.
d.Motivating human resources is a great deal in sustaining technological lead. The entire organization must be committed to change. A single opposing soul is a deterrent to technological success (from steps # 16 to # 26).
It is always good to get everyone on board but the reality is that this may not always happen. As a technical leader, you will get to steer the ship and learn how to manage these hitches in an open environment. Learn to manage opposition and how to turn them around in your favor.
e. Purely delegated responsibility unsupported with formal authority will not bring the organization to successful technological leadership (from step # 27).
Delegation without authority is a recipe for failure. The technical team - technical lead and team members must be properly created by the management with their terms of reference (responsibilities/expected output, resources, etc.) in pursuing the project.
f. The technical leader must not accommodate top management’s suggestions in modifying IT architecture/design (from step # 28 and # 34).
Steps 28 - 34 caution the technical lead that he cannot open himself to unrealistic expectations. There is a time to solicit ideas and feedback from key stakeholders. It is critical that during the design phase the technical lead should already involve key stakeholders or process owners. Deviations from the originally approved design would cost additional resources (time, money) and adjustment of project timeline.
That said, some requests especially coming from the management may have solid business reasons. A technical lead should also be flexible and be ready to negotiate for additional resources and adjusted timeline given new deliverables.
A. The project (or change) is technical in nature hence requiring not only basic knowledge about specific technology but expertise. However, he or she also needs to be adept on business case since technology per se cannot stand alone in the business environment. It has to have a business implication for it to become important and useful. Hence, the lead person must also have good knowledge about business.
ReplyDeleteB. Understanding the reason why certain actions are done or why a particular course of action was taken would improve effectiveness and efficiency since people are motivated towards success. Moreover, by understanding the reason, they could provide better insights or suggestions how to proceed with the project.
C. A participative decision-making is not efficient in IT-related project. The majority may not be always right. While the lead person would be open to suggestions, he or she should make the decision and own it.
D. An opposing soul may even provide a different vantage point. He or she should not be ignored. The challenge on the lead person is how to better explain the project and turn the opposing soul into any ally.
E. Delegation of responsibility should me made formal, including authority is the proper way to successful project.
F. Tech lead should accommodate top management suggestions if it has a good business case. Changes brought by unclear requirements should be avoided by detailed user requirements made at the onset of the project. By wary about changes thought because accommodating ALL changes would result to the project remaining unfinished because of the moving target (the requirements keep on changing).