How to Lead a Team of IT Professionals
Leading a group of highly skilled, knowledgeable, A-players in the IT space is always challenging. Leadership is a challenge, no matter the field, but in IT, you’re dealing with a group of highly in-demand professionals who could easily find a job elsewhere if you fail to support and lead them. It would be best if you had a plan that works. Here are a few tips to improve your leadership skills and satisfy your IT teams.
How Can You Lead a Team of IT Professionals?
Seven Tips for Tech Leaders
Leading a team of IT professionals can be a challenging but gratifying experience. Here are a few tips for how to effectively lead a team of IT professionals:
- Set clear goals and expectations
Collaborative goal setting is key to gaining the trust and buy-in of your entire IT team. It’s crucial for any leader to communicate what they expect from a team and to make sure that everyone is working toward the same goals. But don’t set these goals in a vacuum and then dictate them to the team. So, discuss goals openly, welcome these goals enthusiastically, praise and reward them, and make things happen with your team. - Foster an open and collaborative teamwork environment
Encourage open communication and collaboration by being willing to listen to ideas and concerns. While you may not always act on them, you will always listen with an open mind. - Provide support and resources
Make sure your team has the resources, training, and support they need to be successful. This can include training, access to the latest tech tools, or even hiring more warm bodies to help carry a heavy production load. - Be a strong mentor and leader
Mentorship is critically important for new IT employees but particularly for women or other under-represented populations in the IT space. You can help by providing guidance and support to team members and being a role model for how you want them to work and behave. This effort should include supervision and actively helping by providing the support your employees need to improve. - Keep an open mind
If the unofficial motto in IT is “always be learning,” you should also apply this approach to your leadership style. Be willing to try new methods and techniques and be open to new ideas from your team. Don’t kill innovation by shutting it down. - Stay organized and on top of projects
Use project management tools for leadership and not just production. Having a clear plan for a product or project is one thing, but good IT leaders also have a strategy for managing their teams. This initiative should include career mapping for individuals that seek to keep IT workers long-term as you strengthen their skills and build a clear career path for your teams. - Give feedback and offer rewards
Motivation is always an issue with any group of employees, including in IT. IT leaders need to provide more positive feedback than constructive criticism. Lead by the carrot and not the stick, and you will inspire loyalty in your IT teams. Mistakes happen on any job. But it would help if you found a way to make any crucial conversations with IT employees more of a teaching moment and less of a beat down.
Need to Hire IT Professionals?
By following these tips, you can effectively lead a team of IT Professionals and help them succeed in their work. The Custom Group of Companies is standing by to help you lead by offering highly qualified human resources to teams just like yours. Call on us for top IT talent in the New Year.
