What do you do if your junior system architects lack assertiveness and confidence?

It can be intimidating for a junior level system architect to speak up in a meeting filled with senior technical staff in attendance. Continue to work on building your knowledge as a junior system architect. Additionally, get in the habit of speaking up. Don't hesitate to offer your take. One advantage you have as a junior system architect is a 'fresh set of eyes'. You can offer up new ideas to old problems. Be bold. You'll never make progress or advance your career meaningfully keeping quiet.

Mentoring is the one of the great way to influence, indulge and train the juniors. Every one needs genuine guidance, and this helps motivate, take up challenges and be proactively effective.

In my experience, lack of confidence and assertiveness in junior architects rarely come from limited knowledge, but more so because a technical problem can potentially have a large number of solutions, each with caveats and long-term implications. These decisions are tough, and it's natural for junior architects to feel uneasy. A mentor can definitely help build the mental framework necessary to navigate this complexity by establishing key evaluation metrics and how to evaluate solutions in terms of quality attributes, budget, company culture, and dev team expertise. This, in turn, will naturally increase assertiveness and confidence in the junior architect.?

Giving them opportunities to architect and letting them know that it is ok to make mistakes but learning from them will give them the needed confidence to experiment and learn. Also reviewing their work and giving objective feedback ensuring they improve their skills also will help them build confidence

Select mentors with deep systems architecture expertise and strong interpersonal skills, training them in effective communication, confidence building, and feedback methods. Ensure mentor-mentee compatibility and define clear objectives aligned with the mentee's development needs. Structure the program with regular sessions and progress tracking through tools like IDPs. Focus on developing key skills through practical scenarios and real-time problem-solving. Incorporate regular evaluations and encourage two-way feedback. Utilize technology such as collaborative platforms and online learning to enhance the mentoring experience.

Organize practical workshops to introduce junior architects to the latest technologies and innovative architectural models, including new programming languages, frameworks, or cloud deployment techniques. Engage them in solving practical cases that simulate real-world challenges, enhancing their technical understanding and confidence. Provide training in public speaking and negotiation, essential for effective communication and conflict resolution. Incorporate regular feedback and self-assessment to help juniors identify improvements and gauge progress. Utilize online platforms like Coursera, Udemy or LinkedIn Learning for supplemental courses and create forums for knowledge sharing among peers.

In our past role as CSA's we offered ongoing "Office Hours" These had great attendance and participation when we had a skill or feature we were showing off... However over the ongoing months our participation was not as high when we started using them for fielding questions. What I learned from this is break it in two parts, ALWAYS have a guest speaker, discuss how some project went great and what we can do for future deals to help other customers. After having the "Ice Breaker discussion, break into workshops and invite the question and answer sessions for all guests to participate in.

Assign juniors to lead small projects, enhancing their real-world application of knowledge and readiness for bigger roles. Encourage them to make decisions autonomously, providing a supportive framework for initiative. Establish a mentorship system for guidance and feedback, helping them navigate technical challenges and refine skills. Promote continuous reflection on projects to identify improvements. Integrate simulation tools for safe experimentation with designs before actual implementation, fostering independent problem-solving skills.

Practical experience is worth 100 times more than any theory. You learn what is important, why it is important and how you can make a change.

Train juniors in constructive feedback, covering active listening, specific non-personal feedback, and response to criticism. Include role-playing to practice feedback in a safe environment, reducing assessment anxiety. Establish regular feedback sessions to normalize open work discussions and use digital tools like Microsoft Teams for continuous exchanges. Encourage mentors to provide regular feedback and juniors to review mentoring, promoting two-way feedback. Implement 360-degree reviews for comprehensive performance insights. Regularly analyze feedback to adjust training and help juniors create action plans for skill improvement.

Giving constant feedback is the key to success. Most companies have rules to do it once a year or so - this won't make any change and won't have any impact on your performance. You need to be in exchange all the time.

Set clear project objectives to eliminate uncertainty and boost junior architects' confidence. Grant them autonomy to handle project aspects within their capabilities, gradually increasing responsibilities as they grow more confident. Encourage initiative and leadership in discussions, enhancing their impact and value. Ensure each junior has a mentor for support and independent solution exploration, and provide regular, constructive feedback. Organize knowledge-sharing sessions and celebrate successes to build confidence and a sense of belonging. Utilize tools like JIRA or Trello for efficient task management.

My observation is that junior architects struggle to influence especially because they could be intimidated by senior folks, who would have more years of experience. The key to success is to pitch new design ideas from a value proposition/impact standpoint and draw in senior folks towards building the best solution for the problem. Leaders could coach them regularly and provide feedback after all the stakeholder conversations, to build confidence and to empower them to confidently pitch their architecture and host meetings. Efficient and effective stakeholder communication skill is a high priority to be successul with system architecture work.

Empowerment becomes real when a Jr. Architect is given goals to meet, Let them come up with a few responsibilities that they feel they can do. Make sure they are inline with your own objectives and make sure both parties know how to measuring the success of each. Doing this keep the Jr Architect encouraged and empowered that they are doing a great job and can see the success themselves.

- Implement regular one-on-one meetings to provide personalized feedback and discuss career goals, which can enhance their confidence in decision-making and asserting their ideas. ??? - Provide opportunities for juniors to lead small projects or parts of larger projects can help them build assertiveness through hands-on experience and responsibility. ??? - Establish a mentoring program where juniors are paired with senior architects who can guide them, share experiences, and boost their confidence through supportive interactions. ?? - Celebrating successes and acknowledging improvements, as part of positive reinforcement, can motivate junior architects to continue developing their assertiveness and confidence in their professional roles. ??

One of the proven ways of learning and gaining sound, long-lasting understanding of any topic is to *teach* what you have learned. Write mini-essays on the new topics you've just discovered, have a dev journal for jotting-down all the problems and solutions you've encountered, give a short, ten minutes long training to your co-workers showing different aspects or approaches to the problem you were facing. Deep-dive into the technical aspects by exposing yourself to (a very uncomfortable) criticism and take as a fact of life that: - you will fail with your attempts to understand - you will make mistakes when explaining stuff to others - you will struggle and you'll have to push through the unknown - you will get stuck and feel incompetent

This is very useful for all but I've been talking to new joiners and college pass out colleagues in my organisation on couple of below points based on their interests.... 1. Where do you want to be, 5 years from now? If you don't know now, you can come back to me one week later, if you have decided upon, then I can give my two cents.... If he is really serious about his future, he will come then understand his passion and guide. 2. I talk to them about copyright, patent, etc. and see if he is interested. Explain them on what he is doing currently can be copyrighted, etc. Ive found few kids are very enthusiastic about these and mentor them accordingly These are few I try to get connected with the team and encourage them for their growth.

Before jumping in to offer solutions I personally would first find out if the person is aware of these traits that they seem to be exhibiting. The first step is always self awareness.