Step up from engineer to
your team's inspiring tech leader

Introduction

• Discover your peers and their experiences - each participant shares 2 past cases
• Meet the trainers - the experts you'll learn from
• Get a glimpse of what's to come and how to prepare and plan your time effectively

Leadership Principles - people

• Understand social and group dynamics and hierarchy
• Learn essential tools for managing groups
• Discover how effective tech leadership motivates individuals to collaborate as a cohesive team

Leadership Principles - business

• Understanding tech businesses - size, type, location, and culture
• Discover the role of tech teams in the larger context

Management Core Principles

• Navigating the shift from individual contributor (IC) to management
• Developing a new mindset - learn how to think about management
• Establishing fundamental leadership skills

Effective communication

• Understanding async vs. sync and written vs. verbal communication
• Identifying communication pitfalls
• Communicating up, down, and sideways
• Strategies for managing and preventing gossip

Team management and dynamics

• Delve into the essentials of team design, types, and construction, whether you are inhering or building a team
• Explore proven strategies for fostering team motivation and boosting morale
  
• Learn crucial techniques for preserving team health and managing expectations

Vacation

• One week free of classes to unwind. You’ll be able to strengthen your skills through team assignments further

Strategies to develop people

• Gain insights into each team member's strengths, weaknesses, and working styles
• Discover what drives each individual on your team and tailor your approach accordingly
• Leverage strengths and address weaknesses to optimize team performance
• Establish personalized growth plans to nurture talent and enhance skills
• Implement plans effectively, track progress, and evaluate outcomes to ensure continuous improvement

Finding and hiring the people you need 

• Learn how to recognize skill gaps and how to build a hiring strategy to address them
• Build your brand to cultivate a strong reputation as an employer
• Utilize diverse channels and strategies to attract top candidates to your organization
• Master the interview process and how to evaluate candidates based on both objective criteria and subjective factors

Dealing with firing people

• Learn to monitor employee performance objectively and consistently
• Understand the importance of setting transparent and objective performance expectations
• Develop communication skills to address performance issues and provide constructive feedback
• Handle terminations with sensitivity and professionalism, considering both corporate and personal implications

The course so far: reinforcement and exercises

• Summarize what you've learned
• Restate the most important principles and practices
• Discussions: cases that your peers put on the table

General metrics to keep track

• Health
• Performance
• Business and operational

Insights into product and technology

• Grasp a comprehensive understanding of the product and the underlying technology
  
• Manage dependencies effectively through clear communication
• Define and fulfill needs and responsibilities within the team
• Measure, plan, and deliver value effectively

Strategies for planning and execution

• Establishing a balance between order and adaptability
• Implementing effective processes and rules
• Facilitating synchronization and communication internally and externally
• Embracing iterative cycles for design, execution, measurement, and delivery
• Managing challenges and pivoting strategies when needed

Delegation and trust

• Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of team members comprehensively
• Implementing active delegation strategies to scale efforts effectively
• Encouraging diverse points of view to support shared responsibility
• Building trust through effective monitoring and communication
• Establishing redundancy and addressing points of failure proactively

Vacation

• Two weeks free of classes to unwind and celebrate the holidays. You’ll be able to strengthen your skills through team assignments further

Streamlining tech development

• Efficiently manage complexity and optimize costs
• Achieve operational excellence and robust failure management
• Ensure quality throughout the development process
• Manage dependencies effectively and facilitate redesign when necessary
• Ensure timely delivery and establish clear rules of engagement for code, testing, deployment, experimentation, and metrics

Enhancing team morale

• Foster positive work relations while maintaining professional boundaries
• Facilitate team-building exercises to strengthen camaraderie and collaboration
• Recognize achievements and celebrate successes, both big and small, to boost morale
• Offer support during challenging moments, such as valuation drops or layoffs, to maintain morale
• Allocate personal time for one-on-one meetings and skip-level discussions to address concerns

Decision-making

• Navigate complex challenges by effectively solving hard problems
• Strike a balance between authoritative decision-making and democratic processes
• Understand and address perceptions and realities around the delegation of responsibility

Managing conflicts in the team

• Resolve conflicts at the team level by fostering open communication and collaboration
• Address cross-team conflicts of interest through diplomacy and negotiation
• Seek consensus of interests to align conflicting agendas and priorities
• Employ both proactive and reactive approaches to conflict resolution

The course so far: reinforcement and exercises

• Summarize what you've learned
• Restate the most important principles and practices
• Discussions: cases that your peers put on the table

Final project presentation  

• We will have a presentation day for the coursework for people to calibrate with the different perspectives

Graduation

Congratulations! You’ve successfully completed the Upskill Team Leadership program.

Upon graduation, you will receive a Telerik Academy certificate – widely recognized in Bulgaria.