Dev Leaders Are Overloaded

Software development leaders are busy. Within tech-enabled companies, the software development team is often one of the most crucial groups. They are involved in digital transformations or new product delivery. But there is a myth that development leaders tell themselves: free time is just around the corner. What we have come to find after talking with over 50 software development leaders is that free time never comes. In this busy world, development leaders need context today that shows them issues before they become problems tomorrow. 

In modern companies, development leaders are playing an increasingly crucial role. The role has transitioned from “code oversight” to broader business influence. Established companies are undergoing digital transformations. Software development costs have increased over the last five years and have become more unpredictable. Integration and connectivity are “must haves” to deliver the expected customer experience. Teams can complete more faster with advanced tooling and AI assistance. It is easy to see how development leaders become overloaded. 

As CTO at my last company, it looked something like this: We refined the three-month roadmap in alignment with business objectives or OKRs. We had new product features that needed to be completed, so we assigned resources. In the middle of this effort, a personnel issue arose that delayed the roadmap. After resolving that, Sales requested a change in the scope of the feature release. By this point, we were already discussing the next quarter’s objectives! It is a never-ending cycle of tasks to complete and issues to resolve. And that is the job. So, free time never comes.  

What development leaders come to realize is that they need to be continuously connecting with their team and working to identify issues before they evolve into problems that affect roadmap delivery or the team's well-being. Development leaders should utilize productivity dashboards, burndown reports, and other tools to ensure things are on track. However, these tools do not provide the full picture. They are part of the reason the myth exists. We might examine our reports, see that we are on track, and perceive light at the end of the tunnel. 

With these tools, they see the what but not the why. They see lagging indicators when something has gone wrong but miss the context that shows issues before they become problems. What leaders come to understand is that in this state of “being overloaded,” you must have a complete picture of what is going on and why. It is exactly in these times that you cannot afford to have big issues or challenges sneak up on you.  

DevClarity Pulse was created to complete the picture for development leaders. Using our AI-powered platform, we combine developer input, manager feedback, and dev-specific data points to help you keep a real-time pulse on your development team. Rather than being caught off guard by issues affecting productivity and developer retention, you can spot them ahead of time and act. Reach out to us today to learn more and help us develop the first true dev management platform.