10 Strategies For Building A Happy And Motivated Tech Team
For many modern companies, the technology team plays an integral part in the business. They’re the ones who address critical problems, develop customer solutions and keep workflows moving with up-to-date tech tools.
It makes sense, then, that a leader should focus on keeping their tech team motivated and satisfied in their jobs. But how do you properly thank and encourage this hardworking group for their efforts? To find out more, we asked a panel of Forbes Technology Council members how they keep their own tech teams happy.
1. Create A Culture Of Radical Transparency
I bend over backwards to make sure that there is radical transparency, where every single team member knows exactly what we are doing and why. I encourage brutal honesty to force discussions of the facts. Also, everyone is an owner. Every team member should treat the company like it’s their ship, and if they don’t, they get off the ship. – Charles Silver, Permission.io Inc.
2. Share Their Impact On The Bigger Picture
It is imperative to the success of the entire organization that the tech team understand the impact their work has on the success of the company. Team members are motivated when they understand the overarching goals of the business and how their individual contributions play into achieving these goals. And just as important and warranted is celebrating their impacts and contributions—large and small. – Kam Eshghi, Lightbits Labs
3. Connect Their Work To A Meaningful Purpose
The best way to sustain team motivation and happiness ultimately requires working on meaningful projects. The sense of purpose and making a difference is what gets our tech team out of bed each day. In our agriculture projects, it’s knowing that what you are doing with technology architecture is fundamentally advancing farming practices around the world. – Mark Pryor, The Seam
4. Prioritize Professional Development And Accountability
Provide opportunities to expand their knowledge through training and different work assignments. Provide flexible work arrangements. Show your trust in them by holding them accountable and responsible for their decisions. – Ray Murphy, Leo Cyber Security
5. Promote Top Performers
Give them achievable goals that they can hit, and give them exciting new projects to work on and always show them the big vision of what impact they are making. Promote the top-performing people periodically. Finally, have 1-on-1 meetings weekly, and have a coaching and career plan. – Gaurav Bhattacharya, InvolveSoft
6. Clearly Articulate Goals
Our tech team is supremely talented. I find the best way to keep them motivated is to clearly articulate what the goal is, and why—and then give them space to get there! Something we’re trying to get better at is better celebrations upon hitting our goals. That’s the next area for improvement. – Rory San Miguel, Propeller
7. Give Everyone A Voice
We aim to align everyone on the company vision and encourage them to voice how best to realize this together. Most developers like to work towards short-term goals where they have the freedom to decide how to accomplish these. We find that team-members are most motivated when their work is well matched with their individual abilities, inclinations and personal development ambitions. Finally, everyone loves recognition, so we encourage show-and-tell sessions and celebrate successes as a team! – Tom Salvat, CONCURED
8. Set Measurable Success Criteria
I’ve learned that to keep the team motivated and happy, they need to believe in the company’s vision. If they believe in the vision, they will contribute valuable insights and suggestions—which leads to growth within the company. Also, measurable success criteria is a must so everyone knows exactly what is needed. – Robert Morcos, Social Mobile
9. Respect Their Autonomy
Smart, creative people thrive in an environment that respects their autonomy and values their contributions. Recognizing and rewarding positive contributions is essential to maintaining team morale. A good manager understands that their role is to support the unique needs of all team members, not to enforce arbitrary constraints. – Mike Segal, DigitalX
10. Keep Challenging Them
Give them challenging assignments! When you work with the very best people in the industry, they need challenges beyond new features and fixing bugs. Giving them the flexibility and the challenge to work on advanced/fun projects is key. Also, providing them with good visibility where we stand vis-a-vis the competition (when we lose or win POCs for example) is a great way to get them more engaged in the business and motivates to improve the product further. – Galina Antova, Claroty
Expert Panel, Forbes Technology Council
Successful CIOs, CTOs & executives from Forbes Technology Council offer firsthand insights on tech & business.
