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Some thoughts about traits of tech teams cultures

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In this post, I will try to share some thoughts on some traits that make a good tech team culture. I am not (yet) a manager, those are only personal opinions and are based on my experience on the teams I have worked on.

  • The most important aspect in a good tech team culture is the mindset of the people, and not at all the technical abilities. If you have people that want to learn and grow, are not arrogant, that understand that feedback is about work and not about the person, that have a sense of ownership and responsibility, you will most likely have a good tech team culture. That is what makes modern tech hiring a bit disappointing, which only focuses on some coding tests that are almost never used in practice, and which are completely overlooking soft skills.
  • On the same topic, and as the Oracle of Omaha famously said : "“You’re looking for three things, generally, in a person: intelligence, energy, and integrity. And if they don’t have the last one, don’t even bother with the first two.” Integrity is, one of the most important traits your team members should have. It doesn't matter how smart your team is if you only have dishonnest people.
  • There is no stupid question. Nobody cares if you ask your stupid question 1000 times. What matters is shipping and results and nothing more.
  • They treat you like a human, not like a chatgpt clone. If you are having a hard time dealing with some technical subject, they do support you and help you to grow, with the condition that you also want to grow and have the right mindset
  • If a team member gets stuck in something, he/she should get help very quickly. If everyone is busy all the time, there is a problem.
  • There is confidence, unless proven wrong, on the team members. There is no need to micromanage everything they are doing
  • If you make a mistake, they'll try to help you grow instead of blaming you. A manager who blames his people for any mistake they do will for sure have a very toxic team culture
  • Gossip talking is not allowed. You should be dealing with professional grown adults who are not there to talk about each other in their back. This is the manager's job to not let that happen in my opinion.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me, on any of my social media accounts, for any question or to discuss this topic if you want. I will be more than happy to chat