Technical leadership: Understanding & Managing Technical Teams

Managing difficult people isn’t just a challenge; it’s a necessary skill if you want your team to succeed.

Technology teams are often comprised of a diverse range of personalities, and tech professionals usually possess high levels of expertise that can be challenging to manage and even harder to replace. The combination of the two can make managing technical teams them one of the most difficult jobs in the company.

In today’s fast-paced world, turnover is an expensive headache. The dysfunction of even one key team member can create problems for the entire organization, and mistakes and missed deadlines can be the beginning of the end.

If you are struggling to manage your team, you aren’t the only one. Due to the level of difficulty in working in the technology field, many individuals within it share similarly high levels of neurocognitive function, as well as similar personality traits and experiences that led them to pursue a career in technology. For example, they are analytical thinkers, complex, highly organized, and often reserved. Some of those traits can make them more challenging to manage. But information is power, and I can help you understand why leading a tech team may be a unique challenge and what you can do to overcome it.

Understanding your technical team

Technical people excel at logical thinking, which is essential for solving technical problems but often not helpful when solving “people problems.” Neuroscientists and behavioral scientists have long understood what most of us learn the hard way: people do not behave according to logic.

The area of the brain used for social thinking needed to solve “people problems” is distinctly different from the area of the brain used to solve technical problems. Like a computer, our brains are a series of networks, and each network performs different functions.

All of our lives, even before we are born, there are billions of neurotransmitters wiring and firing in our brains. Hebb’s Law tells us, “What fires together, wires together,” so the more you are using the area of your brain involved in logical thinking, the stronger it will get. Incidentally, the opposite is true. The parts of your brain related to areas you don’t use, like “people skills,” will not develop as well and may even diminish over time from lack of use. Think, “Use it or lose it.” In neuroscience, this phenomenon is referred to as neuroplasticity. The result: technical people often have a much more highly developed logical-thinking brain and can struggle with “people problems.”

How do you manage a technical team?

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to manage your emotions and the emotions of others to work for you rather than against you. People with a high EQ regulate their own emotions effectively and have empathy for others when they are struggling emotionally, whether it be through angry outbursts or shutting down and retreating.

Several additional markers for EQ are particularly important when managing and working with technology teams.

Self-awareness is fundamental.

Self-awareness is an accurate self-image that enables you to understand how others perceive you, recognize your strengths and weaknesses, and comprehend the impact you have on the environment you are in. Think about the person on your team who seems wildly unaware of how their behavior disrupts the rest of the team. Self-aware people are both realistic and optimistic about who they are, what their role is, and what they can achieve.

Resiliency is key.

Technology is all about innovating, and to innovate, you have to be able to take risks. Someone with a low marker for resiliency really struggles when they fail and tends to generalize their failure, seeing themselves as a failure, which undermines their sense of self and creates an aversion to risk. Do you know someone who is so afraid of failure that they struggle to get started or become demoralized when they fail? These issues are detrimental in the fast-paced technology culture, but people can sharpen and build upon their resilience.

Effective communication is essential.

I like to say, “You can have the cure for cancer, but if you aren’t able to effectively communicate it to others and create buy-in for your ideas, cancer will go uncured unless you can do it alone.” Many technology professionals struggle to articulate their ideas and communicate in a way that invites others to adopt their perspectives. I recently worked with a technology professional who believed that just because he said it, people should understand it. When others did not understand him, he would become frustrated and rude, so others avoided him. The key to effective communication is to listen to understand and speak to be understood.

Confidence is crucial.

It is a staple in the people we most often admire and respect. Confident people always seem to “have their act together” even when life is challenging. Confidence is having the fundamental belief that you can make stuff happen even when there are challenges and barriers. People who lack confidence are not likely to persevere or may not even try because they feel they lack the ability and don’t understand how to get it. Confidence is NOT the same as arrogance. Arrogance is often a coping mechanism for a lack of confidence, but more on that later.

Empathy is helpful.

Being empathetic is essentially the ability to put yourself in someone’s shoes and feel what they must be feeling. When we can empathize with someone, they feel seen and heard, and this helps build a connection. Do you have someone on your team who never seems to understand why others have problems? Does their inability to empathize make them popular? I’m guessing not.

Having high Emotional Intelligence (EQ) really is social capital! Whether you are training to manage a team, building a business, or advancing to the highest levels in your career, when you increase your EQ, challenges are minimized, and opportunities are maximized.

The excellent news for technology professionals who may have a high IQ but struggle with their EQ is that, unlike IQ, EQ is highly coachable. In my work with tech professionals, EQ training is one of the most sought-after services I offer.

Technical leadership for your team

While the perception is changing, and it’s now “cool” to be the” nerdy guy,” that wasn’t always the case, even just a generation ago. The vast majority of the struggles we all face as adults are a direct result of unresolved negative, painful, or even traumatic experiences we had as kids. And while it may not seem like what happened to your team member in middle school should be your problem today, chances are it is whether you realize it or not.

In my 20+ years of working as a coach, I know with nearly 100% certainty that the vast majority of negative or troublesome behaviors are a consequence or a coping mechanism resulting from negative, painful, and traumatic childhood experiences. If this sounds familiar, see how leadership coaching can help your company. 

Your technology professionals

Think about the team member who is passive-aggressive, procrastinates, shuts down when there is conflict, or is so arrogant that no one wants to work with them. These are all behaviors linked to negative, painful, or traumatic experiences that took place in childhood or early adulthood.

For many people, and technology professionals in particular, childhood and adolescence were not the epitome of a great time. Because kids aren’t particularly logical, being a “nerd” meant you didn’t fit in, and the natural inclination toward solo activities such as computers and video games doesn’t always prepare you to work and play well with others. The impact on girls and young women, people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other minorities is even more significant because of society’s biases and expectations.

I’ve coached many tech leaders who love what they do and would prefer just to be left alone, not because they don’t like people but because, deep down, they believe people don’t like them.  I’ve known some who would rather have their system crash than work with others because they struggle with feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and shyness.

Because technical professionals are often naturally gifted with strong logical thinking skills that become even stronger over time, their interpersonal skills may suffer. For the technology leaders and teams that work with them, this can create unique industry challenges.

Coaching for your technical team

Working with a Change Management Expert is the most cost-effective key to helping leaders and their teams overcome emotional issues and problem behaviors that disrupt workflow, create conflict, and undermine culture, resulting in high turnover rates, missed deadlines, and unnecessary risks to your bottom line.

If you want high-functioning leaders and productive team members who communicate effectively and work well together, schedule a conversation with Coach Monique to find out how she can help you, your leaders, and your high-value teams Unlock Bold Change™ in your lives and organizations.