| Architecture & Important Decisions |
Guides large/important decisions. Often will have strong opinions on direction decision should go, but will allow the team to get there organically with gentle guidance. Often handles R&D tasks or spikes where necessary. |
| Code Quality Standards |
Consistently ensures that code is held to a high quality standard. Will adjust this standard when external forces necessitate it. |
| Conflict Resolution |
Facilitates team conflict resolution. Everyone on the team is heard, everyone understands the solution going forward, everyone agrees to move forward in the chosen direction. |
| Patience |
Allows team members to work at a pace that is appropriate for the skill level. Allows team members to fail and work through problems rather than dictating solutions, but also knows when gentle guidance is necessary to maintain an appropriate level of efficiency. |
| Appropriate Development Effort |
Often will adjust team's expectations on development effort needed. Will make sure an MVP is truly minimal and that a production bug is fixed ASAP. Conversely will consistently make sure major important refactorings are given the appropriate time and resources. Consistently knows when the solution is "good enough" and when pixel perfect polish is not necessary. |
| Team focus & Goals |
Consistently keeps the day-to-day work of the team aligned in higher level goals. Often will help define goals and how they are measured, and can be responsible for tracking them. |
| Project and Risk Management |
Consistently pushes back on PMs when work falls outside of defined goals and constraints. At the same time, understands that pivots happen and priorities can change. Consistently has open conversations about cost, schedule, requirements, and risk. |
| Product Solution and Collaboration |
Consistently collaborates with PMs and designers to come up with the best and most efficient software solution to solve the given problem that requires the least effort. |
| Communication |
Consistently communicates using a non-technical vocabulary when talking to non-technical team members. Provides a high level of transparency to project leadership. |
| Big Picture and Vision |
Fully understands the long term vision for the software being built and how shorter term goals or even day-to-day tasks fit into that vision. Understands how the team's work fits with other departments within the organization. |
| Empathy |
Consistently able to see the world from the view of other roles within the team: PM, designer, stakeholder, etc. |