Please note: I am using the term Head of Technology as a synonym to Head of Engineering.
Preface
Why am I creating good vs. bad comparisons for various roles? In short: Because it helps me with my recruiting & feedback reflection process and it makes the game more transparent for anyone working with me. The long version of this article can be found in Why am I writing good vs. bad comparisons for various roles?
Good Head of Technology / Bad Head of Technology
A good Head of Technology will be a good manager. A bad Head of Technology will focus on being the best coder.
A good Head of Technology is obsessed with the operational excellence of the tech department. A bad Head of Technology will say I am here to supervise the coding.
A good Head of Technology has a good understanding of the company’s tech stack and it’s long term business impact. A bad Head of Technology just heard of a new fancy framework and will implement it directly.
A good Head of Technology sees it as his job to make his teams work quantifiable. A bad Head of Technology will argue his teams’ work is not measurable.
A good Head of Technology understands that a good alignment with his product colleagues is crucial also for his own success. A bad Head of Technology will blame the product for not delivering.
A good Head of Technology can explain “The business why” for all major projects of his team. A bad Head of Technology will argue this new thing is better than what we have now.
A good Head of Technology works alongside other stakeholders in the company and ensures constant feedback loops. A bad Head of Technology builds a tech silo because tech is so complex and nobody else can understand it anyway..
A good Head of Technology will translate the business strategy into a technology strategy. A bad Head of Technology will say “business people” don’t really understand technology.
A good Head of Technology has a planning and controlling mechanisms in place, to understand how much work goes into the product roadmap (feature development & iterations), tech roadmap (reworking the tech infrastructure ) and maintenance. A bad Head of Technology is surprised how much work his team spent on maintenance last month.
A good Head of Technology can pitch why an engineer should be joining his team instead of someone else’s. A bad Head of Technology will say we pay a good salary.
A good Head of Technology understands that software development extends beyond coding skills. A bad Head of Technology bases his assessment purely on code quality..
A good Head of Technology is a good Project Manager. A bad Head of Technology will say agile methods don’t need project management.
This post first got published on LinkedIn as Good Head of Technology / Bad Head of Technology.
I wonder not to see a word about architecture, setting right processes and quality assurance. Yes, most of that can be implied from other points, but IMHO it would be beneficiary to mention those explicitly (assumed it matches with the vision of the Author).