cjameskeller

I've been a tech lead in a couple different roles, oddly enough, as a contractor. But the environment differed significantly between the two, as did the team size. I'm starting with a new role as an FTE, on an existing (previously troubled) project and was hoping to get some further advice from others who are or have been in the trenches...

What does/did your day-to-day look like, and what would you consider reasonable quarterly goals/plans?

*Example daily "checklist"*:

* Check for anything in need of urgent triage with team * Assign focus blocks of the day to specific tasks * Check JIRA (comments, Status, Backlog, A/C & Validation scenarios) * Check Slack * Check Email * Check Repo (my PRs, others) * Actively seek out work, and get to know other teams & leadership * What is a valuable place to refactor, improve, help out other efforts, etc? * Help troubleshoot * What recurring issues do we face? * Help team members to grow (1:1s) * Demo, set up meetings, ensure visibility and external communication * Update team via JIRA, Slack, or email * Over-communicate! (Regular, Consistent, Clear, Contextual, Human) * Including meeting notes / new info * Daily status summary to communicate any key items needing follow-up * At minimum, send to yourself! * Schedule meetings for more complex/long/etc issues or questions * Build a positive "brand" within the company * Learn new skills, both soft and technical

*Other items may include*: Reviewing to ensure exactly what is in/out of release, validating in PROD with Product & QA, parking-lot discussion time after standup if needed, possibly pairing with someone when time allows, seeking recognition for team(members), ensuring everyone has proper access to repos & tools, reviewing stories in advance to clarify reqs and technical details ("BA" work), etc.

What else comes to mind? Or what thoughts do you have about the above?