How to get things done as an tech lead?
You are a senior engineer or a tech lead who works in a company that has gotten big enough where it’s hard to “get things done”. There are always people with a different agenda than you and you have to work through multiple layers of bureaucracy to get your projects prioritized or even considered. But you know that it’s not impossible to get it done because things are happening and the culture is not worse than any other company - this is just what happens when the company starts to get big (if it feels impossible to get things done for everyone, it might be time to start leetcoding). So, let’s discuss what you might need to get the projects that you are interested in prioritized.
If you are in a traditional tech company, you’ve got your Product Managers (PM), Designers, Engineering Managers (EM), and other Individual Contributors (IC). In each of those verticals, there are folks at the IC level ranging from Junior engineers/designers to Staff or above. The EM could be a brand-new manager or a Director managing a team of 250+ engineers. The PM could be an apprentice or more senior like a Group Product Manager (GPM).
While seniority is by no means an indicator of proficiency in skills, it is a good indicator of the level of scope that those folks are operating at and what level of control they have over the team’s roadmap.
