Leadership Strategies for High-Performance Development teams

Getting products to market fast is vital for organizations that want to make an impact on their target audiences. That means investing in top talent for software development teams, including experienced individuals and those with their finger on the pulse of emerging technologies. Putting together a team of expert IT professionals is a start—but without great leadership in place, team performance could stagnate.

The importance of building high-performance teams for digital development

Gartner states that digital tech initiatives are the top strategic priority for businesses in 2023 and beyond. However, delivering those initiatives relies on structured, collaborative teams packed with personnel who are willing to learn new skills and embrace new ways of working.

Unfortunately, skilled software engineers are in short supply. There could be a shortfall of four million developers by 2025, meaning talented individuals can demand better pay and working conditions—and will expect excellent leadership and team management at the organization they choose to work for.

How leadership transforms teams

DevOps team leaders need to drive innovation and productivity, but they also need to be empathetic and understanding of the needs of their people. Part of this involves creating an environment where innovation and problem-solving can thrive. This means listening to developers and not considering them “subordinates.” While leaders might have the final say in the decision-making process, they should value the experience and skills of their team members.

Team managers also need to be ready to deal with conflict, such as software engineers unhappy with a lack of clear goals or silos caused by a lack of collaboration. Dissatisfied software engineers have plenty of other prospects for work, so it’s good business sense to ensure that staff feel valued.

McKinsey reports that business leaders and team members have different ideas about what drives job loyalty. Surveyed employers felt that people left their jobs due to poor work-life balance, health, or pay. However, employees firmly stated that feeling undervalued by the organization or a leader was a top reason to quit. Shifting leadership strategies to create a sense of belonging and importance is a major step toward improving performance.

Practices to drive high-performing software engineering teams

How do leaders balance promoting productivity while ensuring team members feel valued? In addition to leading from the front—i.e., ensuring leadership practices embody organizational values—there are practices that can develop more collaborative and innovative environments. These are ideal for nurturing creativity and innovation and addressing business challenges.

1. Create a safe and nurturing environment

Developers aren’t just a useful collection of software design skills. They are humans, too. This means they have insecurities and self-doubt, and often need great leadership and soft skills to help them overcome those aspects.

For example, if an engineer has a great idea to improve the speed of a messaging service but has seen that a manager doesn’t welcome new ideas, they may never speak up. This could prevent a time-saving, profit-boosting innovation from ever being created.

Conversely, developers who don’t normally think “outside the box” might feel encouraged to do so if they see their peers constantly praised for being curious and putting ideas forward. Being open to one idea could boost how many ideas get put on the table.

Team members need to feel that their team is a safe space to take risks and that they won’t be putting their job in jeopardy for being bold or creative. When engineering leaders make workspaces feel safe, productivity can improve by almost a quarter. Part of this is ensuring that failure doesn’t lead to punitive action. Leaders should be able to tell the difference between failure due to lack of effort and failure due to trying something new or working with a variety of teams or stakeholders.

If something goes wrong but the effort was genuine, praise the effort, don’t punish the failure. A key step to this is leaders being willing to acknowledge their own mistakes.

2. Promote collaboration via connected teams

Teams that work in isolation rarely have the same success as those that gain input from various areas within an organization. Leaders should incorporate frameworks that encourage communication between teams, which can lead to the sharing of skills and ideas that can benefit the entire company.

Leaders could also set up mentoring programs between teams, which helps individuals foster new relationships as well as upskill their talents. Open communication should also include understanding the long-term aspirations of team members and how leaders can support those. Personnel doing remote work should not be forgotten during these considerations.

3. Improve developer experiences    

Developers want fast, simple ways of working that empower them to complete complex tasks with relative ease. Project managers that can remove roadblocks in processes and provide excellent tools and environments see more success than those that believe developers will just “get on with it.”

Leaders can improve the experience of their teams by:

• Encouraging automation of repetitive tasks
• Setting clear expectations and business-relevant metrics to measure success
• Providing quiet times and spaces for deep focus
• Creating safe environments for experimentation
• Gaining feedback from users
• Listening to team requirements and taking action

Leaders who are open to making changes to improve the working life of their teams automatically create space for innovation. Ensure teams understand the impact their work has, since making a meaningful difference can be a major motivator.

Leaders can make the difference between good and great teams

With the software development market expanding at a rate of 11.7% per year, there are plenty of opportunities for high-performing software engineering teams to drive profitability for their organizations. However, teams are only as effective as their leaders. Team managers should encourage cross-collaboration between teams, immediately stop “punishing” mistakes and instead frame them as learning opportunities, and provide career development opportunities. They should also ensure that developers have the best tools available and work to remove friction in the development process.

Adservio supports organizations in creating IT assets that promote productivity and drive profits. We can help teams understand digital transformation strategies that take businesses closer to their goals. Contact us to find out more.