HowToCTO
@HowToCto
🛠️ Bite-size CTO wisdom. I drop snackable CTO tips so you don’t have to learn everything the hard way. #HowToCTO
You should definitely be checking in with your dev team(s) regularly, both personally and professionally. Daily standup has become a bit of a cliche, but still provides great ROI, and weekly/fortnightly 1:1s are the perfect way to lubricate communication. #Communication #HowToCTO
Metrics that you track must be things you can act on. Dashboards are pointless if there are too many numbers or if they don't guide your actions in some way. If they don't prompt a behaviour change when you're off track then there's no point! #metrics #strategy #HowToCTO
Still on metrics, you should definitely be across your dev teams' happiness levels ("developer experience" or DX), velocity and software telemetry. You can't know where to spend time improving your software if you don't know how your users use it! #Data #HowToCTO
Even as a CTO you should still have one eye on the business side. At a minimum you should be across the customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, churn rate, retention periods and key KPIs for your industry/organisation. #metrics #HowToCTO
Informal interactions with your team are hugely important, and a great way to build trust. Lunches together, grabbing a coffee or just taking a quick break; and try to limit the work talk! #informality #HowToCTO
Be *painfully* clear about what success looks like. If you give vague goals then you get vague results, and that will be your fault. Set the bar, explain the “why,” then get out of the way. #EngineeringLeadership #DevManagement #HowToCTO
Team culture will happen when you drive it or not. If the culture is strong, the culture defines the behaviour. If the culture is weak, the behaviour defines the culture. #Culture #LeadershipInAction #HowToCTO
Psychological safety is the most important element of company culture (according to a Google study not just me!). Your software developers must feel safe to try big things, and even fail spectacularly, if you're going to deliver innovation. #culture #psychologicalsafety #HowToCTO
Getting your developers/engineers to (occasionally) interact directly with customers is hugely beneficial. Developers can identify quick wins faster than anyone, and letting them see how "real" people use the software is irreplaceable knowledge. #HowToCTO #SoftwareEngineering
Learning is part of the work, so make sure you build learning time into the schedule for developers. One hour a sprint is time very well spent! #DeveloperExperience #SoftwareEngineering #HowToCTO
Culture is king: 95% of employees value the culture more than the remuneration. Making people feel appreciated and giving them challenging and interesting mountains to climb is a key part of your role. #culture #HowToCTO
With permanent remote working you need to work much harder to maintain culture. It's a constant challenge to stay connected, and you need to become the "Chief Energy Officer" to keep everyone energized and motivated. The extra effort is worth it! #HowToCTO #leadershipmindset
Technical people (or any knowledge workers) need time to focus. Context switching is EXPENSIVE, so organise interruptions or necessary meetings in blocks and give your team as much uninterrupted focus time as possible. #HowToCTO #Focus #DoNotDisturb
The best developers probably aren't going on job boards. Your best bet if you're recruiting is to grow and use your network.
As CTO you're only as good as your team. TAKE YOUR TIME when recruiting new people (an extra month finding the right person is time well spent). I recommend multiple interviews, particularly for culture fit, a skill assessment and look for people who are excited about technology.
Tech strategy is like your office wifi password. If it's weak, unclear or not shared enough it either gets taken over, or everyone is left guessing. Developers make hundreds of micro-decisions, and with a clear strategy those decisions are easy and accurate. #Strategy #HowToCTO
Software development velocity is always tricky to measure! It can be a combination of story points, submitted changes or features being shipped. It NEEDS to be combined with how developers feel - if a team is happy and feels more production, they'll BE more productive. #HowToCTO
As a tech leader, communication is everything! Set clear expectations—and then deliver. #Excellence #Communication #HowToCTO
Forge strong connections with stakeholders across the business – it’s too easy to spend all your time with the tech teams, especially as things grow, but make the effort to connect with people on the business side. #Business #TechLeadership #HowToCTO
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