Four area’s that CTO’s at Global corporations are focusing on right now

Based on an article by Alexandria Hewko on the fellow.app website

Four area’s that CTO’s at Global corporations are focusing on right now

What is a CTO?

The chief technology officer (CTO) sits at the C level of a company. They are responsible for all decisions relating to the technology in the company—including the adoption of tools, production of software, and concerns around the company’s infrastructure, network, and employee usage of tech products.?

CTOs are the strategic leads on projects that combine business goals and operations with IT planning and processes. In SaaS companies that produce software applications, CTOs closely oversee the production of this software as well by managing teams of developers or technical personnel.

Four areas of focus for international CTO’s

? Management

? Remote Work

? Workspace Culture

? Hiring

1) Management

Develop multiple tools.

Former Shopify CTO, Jean Michel Lemieux, shares some deep insights on what it takes to get into leadership. He believes that being in multiple situations can challenge you in different ways, and therefore help you build a wide-ranging set of skills to tackle various problems.?

In his own words, Lemieux describes this by saying,

“As leaders, as you progress you have to develop multiple tools for different situations and I think the the leaders I’ve seen I’m not gonna use the word fail because that’s that’s pretty dry but people have been the least effective you know, because I think leadership, your job is to is to probably get more out of the situation you’re in, your team etc, by bringing context and all that.”

Track goals

Being transparent with your team is an incredible way to stay aligned and connected. Better yet, setting goals together and being transparent with your progress can further help your team grow higher, together.?

Having objectives and key results?is a common way that engineering managers can set high-level objectives for their team with expected key results that help measure projects’ success.?

2) Remote work

Master the tools?

Making use of digital tools can help your team automate time-consuming tasks, delegate work efficiently across the wider team, and track project schedules—this is true across all areas of work, but especially in fast-moving and detail-oriented roles like product development.?

Brendan Ittelson, the CTO at Zoom, shares his personal testimony to how the adoption of digital tools helps his team thrive both in-office and while working remotely! He says,

“I believe managers need to be good at promoting and using technology to help lead their employees from wherever they choose to work be at home in the office or combination of the above. Moreover, the entire workforce will require training on how to incorporate these tools in ways that increase collaboration to keep teams efficient, regardless of location. So investing in those sessions in technology, and really focusing on your teams, I think is critical as we look at the future.”

Remember that change is constant.

Being agile and open to change, especially in a remote world where communication can be more difficult, is a critical skill to develop. Hannah Henderson is an Engineering Manager who shares this valuable insight on what it means to maintain great communication across remote teams in times of change:

“On a remote team, it is especially easy for information to fall between the cracks. It is important to set up a process that acts as a communication forcing function. There’s no need to run around after folks trying to extract information and context, let your process be the heavy.”

In addition to strong communication, you want to be mindful of staying transparent, keeping your team looped in on potential changes as early as possible, and communicating the key reasons a given change is taking place. This helps your team adapt to changes early and keep productivity high.?

3) Workplace culture

Invest in your people.

In a time when finding great talent can be tough, we recommend looking at the talent that’s already thriving inside of your organization. Look for the team contributors who are demonstrating leadership skills, because these people can be your new team leads. Find the people who are interested in growing their skill sets and are great at balancing risk in new projects—these people can help you lead that next new venture.?

Foster psychological safety

Psychological safety in the workplace means that your team can trust you to trust them. It means that as a leader, you provide a welcoming and supportive environment that encourages team members to take educated risks, come forward to admit failure, and dive deeper into why projects didn’t work out so they can learn better from them next time. Having this supportive environment is super important when driving innovation in a fast-growing company, as innovation is what will help your company establish or maintain a competitive advantage.?

4) Hiring?

Hire with intention.

When you’re scaling fast, it’s easy to forget to hire with intention. In other words, it’s easy to forget to think about the strategic value that this new hire needs to bring to your team and to consider the long-term goals of that person’s role within the company. Otherwise, you can accidentally bring on a team member who is only geared for the short term, or who doesn’t really align with your company’s culture.?

In a recent article, Allan Leinwand, the current CTO of Shopify, shared his experience on hiring while scaling:

“Have I hired correctly every single time? No. But, I take the time to hire with intention. If you hire wrong, your new staffer may not be focused on the right technology, they might not focus on scaling properly, and may not understand the priorities of the business. If that happens, guess what you’re not doing? You’re not reading blogs or listening to podcasts. You’re not coding on the side or participating in hackathons. Instead, you’re doing performance reviews, and scheduling meetings with HR to make sure you’re giving the proper feedback.”

Create inclusive job descriptions.

According to the Harvard Business Review, women don’t usually apply for a job unless they feel they’re 100% qualified—confidence, willingness to take risks, and fear of wasting the hiring manager’s time are top reasons this happens.?

As a leader of your department, you have the power to change this statistic by creating an inviting and including job description that appeals to a wider candidate base.?

Some ways companies do this include:

? Instead of putting a years of experience or time as a requirement for the job (for example, “7+ years’ experience in web development”), word this requirement so it speaks to the depth of experience (for example, “extensive front-end development experience on Java or Python web projects”). This can help qualified candidates see their skills specifically called out in the job description and be more likely to apply.

? Clearly describe that qualified candidates only need to meet 75% of the description, if willingness to be trained on the job is a part of the candidate’s skill set. This helps close the skill gap that exists in the tech industry.

? Be transparent about interview and selection processes and include a salary range in the job posting. This helps build extra confidence for those that need it and ensures that whoever is selected for the job is getting fair pay.

Parting advice

Leading a team of smart, curious, and innovative engineers has its benefits and challenges. On one hand, you’re surrounded by incredible talent, new ideas, and creativity all day long. On the other hand, if you’re not paying enough attention to hiring intentionally, managing your workforce efficiently, and empowering your team to grow in their careers, you risk losing it all.?

Did you enjoy reading this post? Please consider clicking the “Like” button and sharing it on LinkedIn, Facebook & Twitter!

Searching for a CTO/IT Director

When searching for a CTO, the CEO, management team, and board of directors should reach out to an experienced and trusted Search or Recruitment firm that has the experience and knowledge required to help attract and retain the best fit for their business.

If you are looking for a proven strategy to attract and retain a top performing CTO, drop me a private message or email me at [email protected]. Let’s discuss.

The above summary is based on an excellent article written by Alexandria Hewko on fellow.app website?