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Do You Need a
Software Team Leader?
Łukasz Wróbel
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About me
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Architect;
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team leader;
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high-traffic websites:
○ nk.pl;
○ Gadu-Gadu.
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author:
“Memoirs of a Software Team Leader”.
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Getting in touch
lukaszwrobel.pl
@lukaszwrobel
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Agenda
1. Trying to answer the question.
2. What can a leader help with?
3. The cons of hiring a leader.
4. The second approach.
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No content
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1. Trying to answer the
question.
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So, do you need a leader?
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The most honest and concise answer is:
I don’t know
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Because I don’t know you.
?
?
? ? ?
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A more detailed answer would be a bit fuzzy:
It depends
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What do you work on?
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Who do you work with?
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What do you want to achieve?
Clues rather than answers.
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2. What can a leader help
with?
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Strict requirements
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Quality;
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efficiency;
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scalability;
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security;
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…
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Leadership should stem from experience.
Experience is one of the ways of building
authority.
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Coherent vision
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Everyone should participate, but…
Subjective distortion.
Democracy.
Projection.
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How good bad are the team
members?
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Maturity, responsibility.
It’s good to learn those.
Some people need to be taught.
Some can be shaped.
Setting a good example.
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Facilitation
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Discussion;
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knowledge exchange;
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moderation;
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mediation.
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Leader can reduce costs.
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Salary
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Mediocre developer: x
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Good developer: 1.5x
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Team leader: 2x
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6x + 2x < 6 * 1.5x
8x < 9x
Even if leader doesn’t do anything besides making
the team work.
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Team growth may be tempting, but:
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Overgrowth;
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communication overhead;
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effective coordination.
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Five good developers together = not
necessarily a good idea:
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Quarrelling a lot.
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Each of them may be right.
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Either democratic or effective.
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Recruitment.
Developers are in demand these days.
A blend.
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Avoiding problems to come;
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expandability;
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maintainability;
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monitorability;
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…
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3. The cons of hiring a leader.
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Trust or protection?
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Self-organization?
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Achieving maturity?
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Self-confidence?
Not what a Scrum Master should do!
Protection
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Building trust.
Customer, other teams.
A long-term process.
“I don’t like it, but I believe you.”
Trust
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A firm hand
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No room for discussion;
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here is the decision;
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it should take you this amount of time;
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lack of knowledge transfer.
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My precious
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I’ve got the power.
And a sieve.
Seems interesting?
I’ll take care of it.
Here are the leftovers.
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Favoritism
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I like you more, so…
I have the power, remember?
Not a robot, but:
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Correct: judging by skills, attitude,
experience.
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Wrong: matters of personal concern.
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It already works
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Self-organizing team.
Why should anything be changed?
Change for change’s sake might be a good idea,
though.
Room for improvement?
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Wrong choice
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Incompetent leader.
Seems good, but…
Knows how to pretend.
Affects everyone around.
At best, is being ignored.
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4. The second approach.
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To some extent, I meant it.
Even more questions than
before?
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Hire or designate?
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Seems more natural.
It may be unfair, though.
Sometimes it just can’t be fair.
Designate?
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A new star is born.
A sheriff?
Expectations.
Hire?
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Fresh air.
Not a head start.
A challenge.
Hire?
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http://leanpub.com/memoirs-of-a-software-team-leader/c/DoYouNeed
30% discount for my eBook:
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@lukaszwrobel
Thank you!