Tech Lead in a Broken Team? What You Need to Do First - Dev Leader Weekly 150

TL; DR:

Learn before changing the system
Clarify your authority and expectations
Automate recurring release pain incrementally

Tech Lead in a Broken Team? What You Need to Do First

Imagine stepping into your first tech lead role and discovering that every release needs four to six hours of manual testing. Old bugs keep coming back. Delivery dates seem disconnected from the engineering effort. The team is overloaded, and overtime is starting to feel like part of the plan.

Where do you even start?

My answer is not, "Walk in and fix everything." You do not have enough context yet, and trying to change the whole system immediately is a great way to burn trust before you understand why the system behaves this way.

You need to learn, align, build relationships, and then create momentum with one measurable improvement at a time.

This content is only available for members.

Become a Member

Or subscribe to the free Dev Leader Weekly newsletter for C#, .NET, and software engineering content every Saturday.

The Hidden Cost of Being the Team Hero - Dev Leader Weekly 96

Welcome to another issue of Dev Leader Weekly! In this issue, I discuss the trap of becoming a hero on the team and what you can do about it!

Navigating a Mid-Career Tech Stack Shift - Dev Leader Weekly 89

Welcome to another issue of Dev Leader Weekly! In this issue, I discuss what it looks like to do a role switch with a new tech stack or language.

When Should You Tell Your Manager A Developer Is Struggling? - Dev Leader Weekly 149

Welcome to another issue of Dev Leader Weekly! In this issue, I discuss when team leads should raise concerns and how early coaching protects the team.