What makes a strong software engineering?manager

The IT engineering department has become the core of a company. We tend to automate as much as possible and are depending on IT on a daily basis, for some of us on a hourly, minute or even second base. Think of trading floors, banks, e-commerce organisations, etc. IT must therefore always work and the software running it must be build solid, reliable and scalable to any situation that the company needs to handle. To build software that meets these requirements, a company needs a strong software engineering manager. What are the characteristics of such a leader?

Vision

A leader shows vision and passion. He/she looks where the market is going and how a company can anticipate on it. They set clear goals and direction. This can be on a technical level but he/she should be able to raise an opinion on product and business aspects as well. 

Software engineering process

A leader has deep understanding of the software engineering process. They bring experience on how to make software engineering more efficient and smarter. He/she brings ideas how to constantly improve this process and introduces effective ways of development. Furthermore, they take into account aspects as scalability, reliability and maintenance to make software development sustainable.

Technical background

To gain the trust and commitment from the team, a leader should still have a strong passion for software development. Most leaders started their career as programmers themselves and nowadays they still find the time to code and avoid the “Ivory Tower” effect. Being hands-on will help in making the team think in a different way, searching for technical solutions together or point to a technical direction the team didn’t think of yet.

People management

Strong leaders drive out fear and hire people they can learn from. They are capable of building high performing teams by coaching and giving autonomy to the teams and they know how to focus on the intrinsic motivation of each individual.

Decisiveness

The above points have no value if he/she is not decisive. A strong leader is capable of assessing the situation, outlining the different options and make clear, consistent decisions.

These 5 characteristics are subject to each organisation. With this I mean that some points are valued more or less important depending on the company and the stage they are in. For example companies growing from a start-up phase into operational excellence typically lack on the software engineering process and require a leader with strong experience on this subject. Other companies require somebody with a strong vision. So per company and situation, the characteristics need to be valued and assessed which are most important.