As a leader of a creative team tasked with developing innovative digital products, you are likely to experience a range of difficulties. These could include grappling with an unfamiliar programming language, or identifying and addressing an underlying issue when it is not immediately apparent. It is essential that you remain diligent and persistent in order to ensure the successful completion of your project.
Projects with a slew of technological unknowns need careful preparation and management; otherwise, your team may be unable to work through them.
Nick Lee, the Engineering Director at renowned digital product agency Work & Co, recently published a blog post in which he outlined three ways in which team leaders can assist their teams in navigating the often-unfamiliar terrain of technological innovation. In his post, Lee highlighted the importance of providing a sense of purpose, creating a culture of learning, and staying open to change.
Before communicating, a team leader should learn
When working on a project with unknown technical features, team leaders must take the effort to thoroughly investigate it before proceeding.
As the team leader, it is essential to accept responsibility for having a thorough understanding of best practices and ensuring they are properly implemented. Finding the solutions to any challenges that the team may face and translating them into tangible steps is a key way to ensure that the team is working in an organised manner and not feeling overwhelmed.
Additionally, gathering feedback from the community can help identify upcoming trends, well-received libraries, and other resources that can be utilised to create a superior solution.
Team leaders must exercise caution and consider carefully before taking action when dealing with unfamiliar technical issues. It is important to recognise that there is often a substantial gap between how much one believes they know and how much they actually know.
Team leaders must resist knee-jerk responses in such instances and take the time to understand more about the issue before making a decision.
Talking about an issue with team members and other sources can help you look at it from multiple angles and make educated judgments.
Maintain team morale by setting realistic expectations
As a team leader, it is your responsibility to set clear, achievable goals for your team to ensure successful project completion. Additionally, it is important to ensure that both your team and any relevant external stakeholders are aware of and understand any potential issues that may arise during the course of the project. Keeping everyone informed and up to date on potential issues is vital to the success of the project.
It is important for technical leaders to set realistic expectations while still striving for ambitious targets. By being open and honest about the potential difficulties that may be encountered, stakeholders can be provided with the necessary information to recognise the team’s talent and hard work.
Additionally, team leaders can help to maintain team morale by expressing their faith in their team’s ability to handle any unexpected technical issues that could arise.
A team leader should delegate authority rather than accountability
Many team leaders often have a tendency to take on complex tasks or problems themselves rather than delegating them to their team members. While this may seem to be the most efficient way of handling them, it can be damaging in the long run. Not delegating tasks can lead to a situation where the team leader is overextended and unable to focus on other important matters, resulting in a decrease in productivity and overall effectiveness. Additionally, by not delegating tasks, team leaders are missing out on a great opportunity to build the confidence and skills of their team members, which in turn can result in a stronger and more efficient team. Therefore, delegating tasks to team members can be beneficial in the long run and should be considered by team leaders whenever possible.
This technique does not allow your team members to go outside of their comfort zone.
According to Lee, the more you trust the individuals on your team to make critical choices, the more they will rise to the occasion and amaze you.
Ultimately, it is important to recognise that no matter how thorough the preparation has been, there will always be unexpected circumstances. As a leader, it is essential to have the strength and resilience to accept any mistakes that have been made and work together with your team to find a solution.
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Summary
It is a tremendous job to lead a varied team of experienced developers through a project with technical unknowns.
Most people tend to think that team leaders must have all the answers, but this is not the reality. Leadership does not consist of having all the answers; rather, it involves helping team members to embrace the challenges that come with creating innovative software applications.
The ideas mentioned in this article may be used to create the next generation of cutting-edge digital goods.
The full article can be found here.
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