Illustration by Darthblueknight

Individual Contributors Are Really Technical Managers

Domain expertise is just one of many skills you need to succeed on the technical career track

Tom Sommer
Aug 8, 2017 · 4 min read

You or someone you know might have felt like there is only one way to advance at work: By becoming a (people) manager! When we think about our career in 3–5 years, it seems like we are meant to have a battle between our head and heart: Do we want to take the ‘manager route’, advancing in the ranks? Or do we stay put, continue with what we are doing, because we love our work?

However, this one-dimensional career path is slowly fading away. Companies are recognising the need for people to advance on a technical track. One that does not involve any form of people management. Employees taking this career are often labelled Individual Contributors (IC).

What does an IC do? When I think of it, I sometimes have this picture of a software engineer in my head, sitting in a dark corner while hacking away at the latest framework. That might be an individual, but is certainly not the ideal representation when we talk individual contributors. But what separates the good from the average?

What Makes A Good Individual Contributor?

Before we dissect the traits a person on the technical track requires, let me briefly review the responsibilities of a people manager. First and foremost she cares about the people she is managing. Having regular check-ins, doing career planning, performance management, etc. But a good manager also needs to know enough about the technical domain the team works in. Prioritise projects. Set a strategy and vision for the team. Manage stakeholders. And much, much more.

An individual contributor — and especially one that is impactful past his own contributions — needs to do very similar things. Of course, most people management responsibilities fall away. However an IC still needs to be able to prioritise. Come up with a long-term strategy and plan for a domain. Handle the requirements (and tempers) of different teams. And, of course, be extremely knowledgeable in the chosen technical area.

As we can see, the list of responsibilities overlap quite a bit. Let us dive deeper into three underlying skills, all of which are necessary to be a successful individual contributor.

People Skills

You will not have to make people your first priority, however if you have climbed the technical career track high enough you are still managing the work of multiple people. You will need to be able to read moods. Give others well suited tasks to keep motivation high. ‘Hire’ the best people for the project and ‘fire’ those who do not match. As my colleague Lucas Wilson-Richter put it very succinctly:

Your skills as an engineer add to your ‘mystical impact factor’. Your skills at working with people act as a multiplier.

Project Management

Every system / project / initiative of a certain size needs to be managed well in order to stay useful and potentially get better. And guess what, if you are an IC, this responsibility is on you. If you cannot manage the project, deal with stakeholders in- and outside your team, or set clear goals and deadlines, your project will fail.

Technical Leadership

A good technical leader is often considered a domain expert. Intimately understanding a system, and being able to make the right decisions is crucial. In addition to that though, technical leadership is also the ability to up-skill those working on the system and to onboard new people.

This is probably the skill most people would identify as being crucial to succeed as an individual contributor — and it is an important one. However, I have put it last in this list to emphasise that it is not the only one.

The Technical Manager

Reviewing the responsibilities and skills an individual contributor has to master, it raises the question whether there is a better term for this career path. In my opinion, it is really technical management we are talking about.

In both — people and technical careers — you need to be able to manage to be successful. Your impact is defined by who you are influencing. It does not matter whether you are the lead of a department, or responsible for the system that underpins your business. And most of the time, companies need a lot of both to be successful in the long run.

Summary

It is great to see more and more companies introducing a technical career path. But are the people taking it really individual contributors?

Being successful on the technical track, requires much more than being a domain expert. It is necessary to manage well, work within a team, and lead yourselves and others. You need to become a Technical Manager.

Redbubble

The inner workings of our lives.

Tom Sommer

Written by

Writing about Leadership and Personal Development. Director of Engineering @ Redbubble.

Redbubble

Redbubble

The inner workings of our lives.

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