I saw a funny post from Irina Stanescu, ex-Google/Uber engineer & author of The Caring Techie newsletter, which I recommend. Here's an excerpt:
How to annoy a Tech Lead in 7 easy steps:
- Come up with fake ad-hoc emergencies without providing any clear explanation of where the urgency is coming from
- Ask for on-the-spot estimates without allowing time for scoping the work and then advertise those estimates to higher-ups as if they’re accurate
- Assign work straight to their team members instead of checking in with them first - it’s very disruptive to the team flow
- Start sentences with “why can’t we just...”, when you’re not a technical person familiar with the codebase
- Invite them to meetings with no context or agenda
- Ask them to put in temporary quick fixes - it’s never just temporary
- Never prioritizing addressing tech debt during planning meetings
These are funny & painful at the same time because they ring true. I've worked on teams where all of these things have happened.
If you're lucky, a great tech lead can see through most of these & will be able to disarm the offender without interrupting the team.
As a team member, aspiring tech lead, or someone already in team leadership, look out for these common practices from PMs & managers. They don't mean to do harm, but they seriously undermine your team's autonomy & focus.