Team Leading / Coaching
Since 2007, I had the opportunity in several projects to assume responsibility as a lead developer, coach or technical director. My range of duty was from ensuring architectural quality and code quality, up to managing and ramping up new teams, budget management, and scheduling. This includes team sizes from three up to twenty team members, both onsite and remote, and international teams.
Team leading for me is mainly about enabling and empowering the team. That is, understanding their needs, eliminating any obstacles, and supporting them actively to achieve the common goal.
This means that I'm in charge of many things: from coding to bug fixing, from coaching and leading, up to getting coffee and candy for everyone, if needed! For me, it’s absolutely crucial to be part of the team, being a fellow, and not only a manager.
I believe coaching is an important tool of any leadership role. I consider software development as a creative process which requires constant learning from all the Team members and their Lead. Hence, whenever I’m in charge of a team, I use coaching as an enabler for tackling new challenges, creating innovation, eliminating pitfalls and establishing a trustful work environment.