Monday - Friday 8am to 5pm EST
Office 16701 Melford Blvd, Suite #400 Bowie, MD 20715


Leading a team has its difficulties. To achieve goals, you have to consider a number of factors. These include the strengths and weaknesses of every team member, their skill level, and their personalities. Leaders of technical teams such as yourself need to assess these same characteristics and use many standard management approaches. However, tech workers—Software engineers, web developers, and other professionals in the IT field—tend to be extremely task-oriented and possess a passion for solving problems. As such, you need to adjust your management procedures a little bit. So, what are the best ways to improve your technical team’s performance? Use the following 10 techniques to get you and your technical team on the right track.

  1. Use Github or another repository

The IT industry is based on the intense use of software processes and development. Given the amount of work required to create and update programs, it is necessary to keep track of code as much as possible. The best way to do this is to use Git, which is a popular version control system (VCS). If you don’t know what a VCS is, it is a system that records changes to a file or set of files so you can easily go back to previous code versions if need be. Github or Gitlab are two of several web-based hosting services that enable access to Git. Git’s reliability, ease of use, flexibility, and support for small or large projects facilitate the creation and delivery of work. Taking these benefits into consideration, it would be wise to use Github or another service for your team.

  1. Leverage a task management application

A must-have tool for any business or organization is a task management application like Trello, Jira, Asana, and Todoist. They make planning workflows, large or small, much easier by providing a central location where all tasks are listed, team members can communicate with each other, and leaders like yourself can prioritize work and set deadlines.

  1. Get to know your team members

Like every leader out there, to effectively guide your team to success, you must learn about the abilities and shortcomings of each worker. Once you have a good grasp of what these are, you will be able to delegate tasks to the right people and increase the odds of success. Becoming acquainted with team members also allows you to develop strong relationships with them, which builds loyalty and trust and boosts productivity.

  1. Communicate with your team

Talking to your technical team consistently is a recipe for success. Ask them questions to get a feel for how projects are progressing or learn about any problems. You also want to ask them for their ideas or suggestions on how to make workflows run more smoothly. The point is you want to create a work culture where your team feels comfortable about offering feedback. When you give them performance feedback, show them data so they know, on a factual basis, what impact their work is having. For example, don’t just tell them customer reviews are low; verify why with data.

  1. Be available but don’t impose on them

All good leaders should be regularly available to address problems or situations staff cannot handle themselves. At the same time, however, it is key not to micromanage workers because that is just getting in their way. For tech workers this is especially true since most of the time they are highly organized and perfectly capable of completing tasks without assistance. Even during a crisis situation, give your technical team members the space they need (but still be available to answer questions or provide information they request).

  1. Delegate

As alluded to in number three, knowing the capabilities and personalities of your team members enables you to delegate the right tasks to the right people. Also, don’t just give them technical tasks; give them the opportunity to learn non-technical and managerial work as well so they learn new skills and grow professionally. As for yourself as the team leader, be sure to acknowledge weaknesses you may have and delegate a task to someone who knows how to do it. Additionally, establish clear objectives, encourage creativity, and set parameters so your team knows what they can and cannot do.

  1. Reward results

Everyone likes receiving praise for a job well done. It motivates people to work harder and confirms that they are a valuable part of the team and company. As leader, then, giving credit when due is a crucial part of the job. Credit can come in many forms such as awards, bonuses, or pay raises. Not everyone is motivated by money, though, so it is essential to make each person feel like an important part of the team in other ways like involving them in decision-making.

  1. Prevent burnout

Technical work environments are generally pretty stressful. The pressure to meet deadlines and fix problems sometimes create an enormous amount of pressure to complete tasks at all costs, even if that means staying up late or even working on weekends. The result of working this hard is, inevitably, burnout and that should be avoided. As a leader, if you see a team member struggling, take that person aside and ask how you can help. Repetitive tasks lead to burnout as well since people get bored of doing the same thing over again. To counter boredom, give your team members a variety of tasks, including ones that challenge them.

  1. Train and develop your team

To build a knowledgeable and loyal technical team, it is imperative that you have a training and development system in place. As employees gain skills and experience, you can promote them to positions with more responsibility. Not only will they be loyal, they will continue to be productive and valuable team members as well. Moreover, training is also necessary because technology is constantly evolving. Keeping your team up-to-date on new technology trends and advancements is a must if you want your business to grow and your team to remain interested in working for you.

  1. Invest in updating infrastructure

Nobody wants to deal with outdated technology, especially tech workers. Also, investing in infrastructure makes suggestion #9 possible and helps you avoid the operational and security risks associated with running outdated technology. To ensure your team performs at the highest level, following a strategy to regularly update physical and virtual technology—hardware, software, networks, servers, computers, etc.— is not optional; it is required.