3 Practices of a Growth-Minded CTO

The tech world is increasingly competitive, and managing software engineers is no small feat. To keep up with the fast pace, you need to become a growth-minded CTO.

The growth mindset, first explained by Carol Dweck, is the belief that you can achieve any outcome with the right effort and enough persistence. In this case, we’re referring to your ability to leave behind some of the practices that are “expected”. Instead, exploring new, dynamic practices that can push your team towards the results being pursued.

Here are some practices you can integrate into your management approach to help you become a growth-minded CTO.

Become a Growth-Minded CTO

Bring individual expertise to surface

Working with engineers provides you with a wide variety of skills at your disposal. Engineers are often trained for more than the primary tasks given to them, providing a high level of competency to their teams. You can maximize their expertise and apply them to client’s projects as needed.

Create a clear outline of the comprehensive skills of each member of your team. Put this information in one database where it can be accessed easily. Whenever you have a task or client requirement at hand, you can easily decide the competency of your department to handle such. You also know the exact people to assign to that team.

The advantages of this practice are not just for your company alone. Your software engineers also get the opportunity to use their skills, further strengthening their experience. They could also gain some control over their career directions. Engineers and developers can further decide if they want to grow in their current roles or move in a new direction. Both options could be beneficial to your company in the long run.

Regularly integrate new talent to your team

Don't underestimate the benefits of bringing fresh, inexperienced members to your team. They are more likely to make suggestions that your veteran members would quickly rule off as “impossible”. They also look at problems with fresh eyes, from a fresh perspective. Trainee programs help junior level engineers learn from experienced team members. But the experienced engineers could also learn from the new blood.

That being said, ensure that you recruit promising trainees. They should display the ability to learn quickly and manage with the pace of your teams. Trainees should be a positive addition to your teams, regardless of their inexperience.

Encourage divergent brainstorming sessions

Brainstorming is essential to the output of technical teams. It’s how problems are identified, solutions are preferred, and skills are integrated. But how brainstorming happens is also important.

Beyond the identified problems regarding internal issues or client requests, encourage your teams to take the initiative. They can develop their interests in areas that they are passionate about. But they have to share with their teams and potentially, in cross-teams. Their potential ideas will eventually have some benefit to your company, whether in improved skills or direct solutions to in-house problems.

With all the team and cross-team activities happening, your management should ensure that everyone has equal access to the facilities provided. Meeting Room 2 is the meeting room scheduling app for the job. It shows the availability of meeting rooms in the office and is used to reserve spaces for teams to work and collaborate efficiently. Check our Meeting Room 2 here.