The Team Lead role was introduced at Nebulab to enhance project management and provide a clear point of reference for clients and the internal team. The Team Lead is a hybrid figure that combines technical skills with management and communication abilities, positioned between the Engineering Manager and the Individual Contributor.
Similarly to any other role in Nebulab, Team Leads are expected to share the general principles outlined in General principles.
Your Work
The work of a Team Lead has deep consulting roots and involves managing and ensuring the success of projects by combining technical skills with management abilities. Daily activities involve:
Being the primary point of contact: Act as the main point of contact between the client and the project team, ensuring clear communication of project goals, updates, and expectations.
Running ceremonies: Send invitations and lead daily stand-ups, conduct sprint planning, and organize retrospectives and other necessary meetings to keep the team aligned and improve processes. The exact combination of ceremonies will change depending on the project.
Project status monitoring: Track the project’s status, ensuring progress aligns with expectations, and intervene if the project is moving too slowly.
Client request management: Respond promptly to client questions on Slack or during calls, providing updates and explanations about the project status.
Meet with leadership and other Team Leads: Participate in weekly or monthly meetings with other Team Leads and the CTO to discuss project status.
Fostering collaboration: Ensure the team responds quickly and collaborates effectively, addressing any issues with proactivity.
Deadline management: Assess the feasibility of deadlines and communicate any issues or delays to the client and Nebulab leadership.
Coding: Actively participate in coding and contribute to the project development.
Skills and Responsibilities of Team Leads
Team Leads at Nebulab must balance a variety of skills and responsibilities to ensure project success. This involves coding, project management, client communication, and the development of marketing content and reusable practices. Below are detailed descriptions of the key skills and responsibilities for a Team Lead.
Coding
Team Leads are expected to actively participate in coding to contribute to the project’s development. While they won’t be coding as much as an Individual Contributor, their involvement ensures they stay connected to the technical aspects of the project. This allows them to provide valuable insights and support to the development team while balancing their additional responsibilities.
Project Management
Team Leads are responsible for organizing and leading various project management activities. They organize and lead sprint planning sessions to define the tasks and goals for the upcoming sprint. They maintain and prioritize the project backlog to ensure the most important tasks are addressed. Additionally, Team Leads provide time and effort estimates for tasks to help plan and allocate resources effectively. They also conduct retrospectives to review the team’s performance and identify areas for improvement.
Client Communication
Effective communication with clients is crucial for the success of projects. Team Leads are responsible for collecting and clarifying project requirements from clients to ensure the team understands what needs to be delivered. They communicate project timelines and updates to clients, ensuring they are informed of progress and any changes. Additionally, Team Leads manage and resolve conflicts and issues that arise during the project, maintaining a positive relationship with the client.
Marketing Content and Reusable Practices
Team Leads play a role in identifying and documenting significant project milestones and launches for marketing purposes. They identify key achievements and project launches that can be highlighted in marketing materials to showcase Nebulab’s success and capabilities. Additionally, developing and documenting reusable practices and tools is essential for improving efficiency and quality in future projects. Team Leads are responsible for creating and documenting best practices, libraries, and mini-products that can be reused in future projects to streamline processes and enhance productivity.
Challenges and Rewards
One of the primary challenges that Team Leads face is balancing their time between coding and their other duties. While it is true that Team Leads will likely have less time for coding due to their additional responsibilities, this shift is essential to meet the current market demands and client expectations. Clients now expect super-professional and proactive consulting, where engineers are not only technically skilled but also business-savvy and focused on adding actual business value.
By sacrificing some coding time for proper project management, Team Leads can open up more possibilities, build trust with clients, and ensure deadlines are met. Effective project management leads to better client relationships, more successful projects, and a stronger reputation for Nebulab. This balance allows Team Leads to contribute significantly to both the technical and managerial aspects of projects, ensuring overall success and client satisfaction.
Being a Team Lead can be challenging, but it is also rewarding. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
It will feel uncomfortable: Doing things out of your comfort zone is rewarding but can be uncomfortable. Learning a new set of skills is always hard, at first. Embrace the challenge and growth that comes with it.
It’s okay to ask for help: Whether it’s your manager or the CTO, leadership is there to support and assist you. Don’t hesitate to reach out when needed.
Coding less can help ship faster: While you may have less time for coding, your work in project management and leadership is crucial for helping the team progress faster and ensuring project success.
It’s okay to make mistakes: Understand that making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process. Each mistake provides an opportunity to grow, improve, and gain valuable insights. Embrace openness, communication and feedback.
General Work Description
The Team Lead is an Individual Contributor responsible for ensuring the successful delivery of consulting projects. This role involves a combination of software engineering, project management, and technical leadership skills. The Team Lead works closely with the CTO or other leadership members to oversee complex and high-urgency projects.
Career
The career of a Team Lead at Nebulab focuses on the successful delivery of consulting projects without direct involvement in people management. This role serves as a pathway to higher seniority roles and represents a natural progression from an Individual Contributor to more senior positions. As engineers progress in their careers, some form of leadership and involvement with a broader community becomes essential.
We are still evaluating whether the Team Lead position will evolve into a separate career track or remain a unique role within the organization. Regardless, the Team Lead has the opportunity to develop advanced project management and technical leadership skills, significantly contributing to the overall success of the company and its clients.