How To Manage Tech Teams

Managing technical teams can prove to be really tough, it’s not as

straightforward as managing a team of digital marketers.

Overseeing a tech team as a non-technical person will prove to be

harder; the team operates on a different level and speak a different
language, which requires special skills to manage.

However, there’s a common misconception as regards tech teams —

they are believed to be synonymous with excellent product delivery. To
a large extent, this is not very accurate.

A team of the best professionals cannot exactly predict what the team
leader wants, it’s only logical to have a clear-cut guideline on how best
to manage a tech team.

The few tips provided below can help you get the best product delivery
from a tech team.

Completely Embrace the Role of a Product Owner

This is a technical way of saying “You have to own it!” The only way to
manage a tech team effectively is to take up full responsibility and act
as the intermediate between each team member.
As a product owner, your job is to coordinate every data collection,
analysis, and interpretation — you don’t have to do it yourself, just
make sure everything goes smoothly and timely as well.

Amazingly, this skill isn’t exclusive to managing a tech team alone, it

applies to every other field (although the practical work differs).

Your core duties should include:

· Overall project planning and allocation of resources

· Quality control of project deliverables

· Calculated risk management

· Monitoring each team member

· Managing project timeline

Provide Necessary Tools

The best gift you can give a tech team is to provide the necessary
software and technology they require (if not everything they need) for
project delivery. Getting the best out of a tech genius will require
investment on the team leader’s part.
To avoid substandard results, do not compromise on the resources
allocated to a tech team.

Delegate

It’s okay if you can’t handle every little detail of the project, there’s
always someone on the team who can monitor certain parts you can’t.
Acknowledge your limitations and give instructions to a “trusted” team
member, who can figure out valuable details that surround the project.

This culture will definitely increase productivity as well as a strong

team spirit.

Reward Problem-Solving

As programmers, data analysts/scientists, engineers, or any other tech

professional, they always want to prove they can do something, it’s not
always about the money.

They know real stuff and that’s why they enjoy technical practicality.
Each project is seen as a huge challenge and they want to solve it in
every way possible way.

Managing a tech team is quite different from managing a business

team, they are mostly enticed by power and money; a tech genius will
rather be recognized for a problem he solved than getting a huge
position.
Everyone loves to be rewarded for their hard work of course, except
tech geniuses are more particular about getting credit for every single
challenge they surmount.

Inform Your Team About Customer Feedback

Technical people want to know how helpful their work has been and
how it’s being used. They might not be overly business minded but
they’re hired to either save money or scale up ROI.

Leading a tech team will require you to show them data that depicts
customer engagement — this will help them understand what step to
take in order to improve product delivery.

Ask Appropriate Questions

You might get unlucky to manage a tech team filled with partly
introverted members, they tend not to speak up in most cases.

They only do so when it’s extremely necessary.

As a team lead, you have to ask thoughtful questions, these questions

must be targeted at the right source and at improving product delivery.

One very important question to ask is about documentation — Ask a

data science team if the data structures and algorithms have been
documented. Losing massive information is one mistake you won’t like
to make.
Encourage Creativity

As a team manager, your job is to make sure everything works out

perfectly, not to interrupt every activity. You don’t need to be 100%
intrusive in every analysis and procedure or give binding rules to every
activity, it’s their job know how a product can be best delivered.

Your job is to set clear objectives and give a timeline, leave them to
define how each objective can be met appropriately. Don’t dictate how
to achieve success to a tech team, they’re creatives, after all, they need
that flexibility.

Lastly, hire the right tech professionals.