Delegation, coding playlists and planners
Moving from an individual contributor to tech lead is not the easiest transition. What got you here, won't get you to the top of tech leadership
In this newsletter:
Tips for delegating tasks
A coding playlist
Our favorite paper planners
Tech Lead’s guide to delegating tasks
Delegating sucks — it slows us down, takes extra effort, and we’d much rather just do it ourselves. But what got you here, won't get you to the top of tech leadership. Here are some tips for how to delegate better.
Why Delegate
Leadership is the skill of organizing people and resources to do MORE together than one person alone. It’s harnessing the power of a team to pull together.
So, why delegate? Because it is the very nature of leadership to distribute tasks in a strategic way so we can accomplish bigger things together.
How to delegate
It’s so important to get clear on what successful completion looks like, so in addition to a conversation, use code to define success.
Whether it is unit tests, TDD, BDD or tools like linters or e2e testing using Cypress --- define your success in code and watch your clarity skyrocket.
This also allows for a built in accountability system to make sure the quality work is being done.
Reinforce with celebration
Nothing drives a team forward like recognition of a job well done. Putting the majority of your energy toward praising the kind of behavior you want to see repeated, rather than criticizing the behavior you don’t want to see, will yield much better results.
We attract more bees with honey than vinegar. 🍯
For more thoughts on how to give feedback (both negative and positive) check out this article.
Get clear on what kind of delegation you are using
There are, in fact, eight levels of delegation. Knowing which type of delegation is appropriate for each task will keep your team moving forward and allow you to maintain the appropriate level of authority.
1) Get the facts, I’ll decide
2) Suggest alternatives; I’ll decide
3) Recommend an alternative; I’ll decide
4) Decide; Wait for my approval
5) Decide; Act unless I say so
6) Act; Report results
7) Act; Report if unsuccessful
8) Act; Reporting not needed
Now what?
If you are stepping into leadership (or aspire to) the challenge is to think a few steps ahead.
Where can you combine the skills of leadership, clarity, patience and accountability to empower your team to achieve greatness?
At Clevertech we believe in developing leaders, investing in growth and always pushing ourselves to get just a little bit better. If you resonate with these values, click here to explore our current job openings.
Coding Playlist
Nothing like some great music to make the time pass - it can even create greater focus. One of our devs has curated an amazing coding playlist on Spotify.
Our Favorite Paper Planners
I have my entire life on my digital calendar, like everyone else, but - when it comes to planning daily tasks, tracking habits and setting priorities, I’m still a fan of pen and paper.
Here are a few of our favorite paper planners.
Monk Manual
Why we like about it: It allows you to organize the month, week and day. Gives prompts for daily and weekly reflection and helps identify the top three tasks each day - making staying focused on highest priorities easy.
The space for daily gratitude and habit tracking is also lovely.
Productive Weeks
What we like about it: Seeing the entire week in an easy to view spread. The minimalist design. It fits really well on the desk, allowing for you to have it always open and easy to reference and keep track of tasks.
Golden Coil
What we like about it: This planner is customizable, you can add whatever layout works best for your brain, it also allows for adding extras like habit tracking, special events, and note taking.
Passion Planner
What we like about it: It walks you through a framework that helps you get clear on what your life priorities are and then helps you plan your days and weeks around what is most important for you. It’s a great way to tie the day to day tasks to your purpose and values.
Delegating is also a great opportunity to give tasks to your team that will provide them with growth opportunities - levelling them up.