I was a software developer and now I am a technical lead. There is one guy in my team who seems smart and pushes stories from sprint to sprint, and never reaches out to anyone for help. I have to ping him multiple times to know what’s going on, and when I ask him he says it’s all going fine. I’m new to the team, so learning about team dynamics now. How can I inspire/motivate this guy without being rude so business doesn’t get impacted?
Set up a 1:1 and tell this guy what you just wrote. Sounds quite factual. I’ve been that guy and he’s probably bottled up and comes from a culture of blaming. You need to communicate that you’re there to help and not to judge, he needs to trust you on that. Work on being social with this guy. Your goal is to establish trust between you and the devs, so that they understand it’s okay to make honest mistakes and talk about them. You could probably lead by example and talk to the team about a mistake you made.
Thank you so much for your advise!
Snap is spot on.
He may have a case of imposter syndrome or have negative experiences with reaching out for help in the past. I've worked under senior leads that openly mocked devs who reached out for help (other companies, not Google). I recommend scheduling a weekly 1:1 sync with each engineer you're leading (20-30 minutes each). During these sessions, discuss their career goals, project milestones, weekend plans, etc. It can be as formal or casual as they feel comfortable. Let them lead the conversation. When appropriate, I'll briefly talk about what I'm working on, and mention "oh I got stuck on X, but person Y helped me out" or "I made this silly mistake". I've found that frequently meeting with your teammates and openly acknowledging your own mistakes helps them feel comfortable with admitting when they need help.
**Do this with all teammates. It'll give them a chance to open up without feeling singled out.
Agreed, a culture of trust and of admitting mistakes safely needs to be led by example (managers and other non ICs). I’ve been in blaming cultures but now I’m in a team with lots of trust in that sense. The quality of life and openness is radically different.
Thank you all!
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