A technical lead is an experienced software developer with a deep understanding of technology and the capacity to lead a team of software engineers and technicians.
Technical leads should have strong technical skills such as programming, security, computer engineering, software development skills, and leadership skills such as guiding, motivating, and ensuring productivity. In addition to good communication skills, be it written or verbal. Good communication skills provide a proper understanding of responsibilities and set clear instructions and expectations. And last, a technical lead is a multitasker and should have the ability to lead several projects simultaneously, meet deadlines, and improve decision-making and organizational skills.
The technical lead has a challenging position; there are so many responsibilities on the technical and management level. However, focusing on the right objectives and bringing measurable metrics to ensure constant improvements to the process and production environment is the best way to ensure success.
Below are the seven metrics essential to the success of a technical lead.
Agile Process Metrics
Four Agile process metrics help technical leaders to plan and make informed decisions about process improvement:
Lead time: this metric measures how long it takes from an idea to a delivered software
Cycle time: this metric measures how long it takes to change the software system and deliver that change into production
Team velocity: this metric measures how many sprints of software the team typically completes in an iteration
Open/close rates: this metric measures how many production issues are reported and closed within a specific period
Production analytics
Three critical metrics that measure the overall software system’s performance in its current production environment that every tech lead should track are:
Meantime between failures (MTBF): this metric measures the time between failures for devices that need to be repaired
Meantime to recover/repair (MTTR): this metric measures its time to repair those failed devices
Application crash rate: this metric measures how many times an application fails divided by how many times it was used. This metric is related to MTBF and MTTR
Using the proper reporting and charting tools is also part of the success formula for every tech lead. The right tool saves time and reduces the margin of error in reporting, especially when using Jira Software.
Andreas Springer _Actonic_
Head of Marketing
Actonic GmbH
Germany
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