Software development is not just about creating well-crafted and sophisticated apps for the audience. The main thing that makes a striking difference in the growth of any software development company is the “leadership.”
A CTO carries several responsibilities on his/her shoulders which contribute to the growth of the company. Apart from planning future goals and objectives, it is essential to understand the pulse of the employees and encourage them at every step.
However, CTOs also need to know that acceptance is the key to maintaining a holistic environment. Then, it will be easier to tame the skills and approach for easier management.
In this blog, we will learn some of the essential truths regarding software development you must know as a CTO. Let’s start right away.
Truth #1 Releasing the App Doesn’t Mean You Don’t Need Development Anymore
The satisfaction of delivering the app and finally releasing it is an exceptionally eccentric feeling. But, does your job end here? Well, the answer is no for a CTO. Every app requires maintenance with regular improvements with new features that might be required later.
Thus, a CTO needs to think about long-term goals. Making necessary decisions such as handing over the responsibility to maintain the app’s stability and credibility is a critical decision that must be taken with proper discussion.
Also, several functional and financial decisions are undertaken by a CTO. However, even if the team doesn’t provide support after the app release, they must be aware of the process and prepare for future projects.
Truth #2 Features are Not Enough to Achieve Quality
Adding up new features one by one will not do any benefit if they offer no significant quality. CTOs may feel timebound due to excessive loads of work and meetings.
You also need to understand that not everyone will agree with your thinking. Disagreements can lead to healthy conversation to achieve your desired goal. Hence, it takes a lot of guts for your subordinates to be honest about their thoughts.
Let’s look at the following benefits of focusing on the quality of software.
- You can save a considerable amount of budget as you will not focus on several unnecessary components and their maintenance.
- Improve the app’s usability for the end users who may not use several features in a single app other than the important ones.
- It helps in decreasing the chances of downtimes and potential bugs.
Truth #3 Every Information is Important
If you think about what you will do with so much information then, you are underestimating its benefits. Thus, the more information any software development companies in India have regarding plans and approaches, they can go to more extent to preparing a concrete plan.
But, how you communicate certain information among the team is the main task. Holding the position of a CTO means you have to ensure that the communication flow remains consistent from both ways.
Truth #4 People Already Assume That You Know Everything Better
One of the benefits as well as a demerit of being in a higher position like CTO, is that people think that you always know about everything. It’s because developers are highly specialized in their field.
It’s also common for them to assume that you already know about the current status of ongoing projects which sometimes may not be true. Thus, getting updates from your team members is important to any confusion.
Who knows, you get missing information which clears your doubts and is a great clue to proceed with the development approach in a different way. Hence, every information is important.
Truth #5 Learn to Take Some Time
The rush in the corporate world may make you feel like you don't have enough time. Creating a slight pressure on the team can be helpful but don’t let anyone panic. Otherwise, it will do more harm than good which will affect the quality of the product.
Ultimately, you have to give extra time for testing and correct the mistakes from the beginning. A CTO has to understand that the team is making considerable efforts. Generally, any medium-sized project can be easily handled by 6-7 people with swift collaboration.
With every project and scaling the company, you need to expand your team accordingly. So, let your team take some time if they need it, it will only boost their enthusiasm and give them relief from unnecessary stress.
Truth #6 Large Number of People Are Involved in the Process
A CTO also needs to focus on main technological matters apart from developing the business. For this, developing a strong team by assigning efficient leaders is also part of the business. Hence, the team should be able to take care of the testing and designing process as well.
Also, acknowledging their efforts from time to time is the key to ensuring a healthy competitive balance. You may not be able to acknowledge everyone every time, but taking a step forward will help you go a long way.
Truth #7 Everyone Has a Limited Perspective
CTOs are always in a rush to create seamless and aesthetic products for clients. Asking everyone to think out of the box is easy, but it can be overwhelming sometimes. Understand that everyone has a limited perception of a certain matter.
Furthermore, you also may wonder why someone doesn't think like you. But, it is essential to embrace and allow different ideas.
Truth #8 Making a Completely Perfect Plan is Not Possible
Making a perfect plan is impossible because you won’t be able to settle on the final changes. Every product needs to be optimized regularly and implementation of best development and testing practices.
Many times, it can happen that everything goes totally outside of the planned ideas. Thus, having an agile approach is highly necessary to keep up with the ever-changing demands.
Truth #9 Technical Debt is an Actual Thing
What’s a technical debt? It means when you don’t fix the problem correctly at the right time. After some time, the problem gets bigger and bigger which can be hectic to solve. Hence, all these things drain out your budget and resources.
Upon that, taking up new projects altogether without resolving previous issues will harm the company’s reputation. And as a CTO, you wouldn't want that. You, as a tech leader, should be aware that the team resolves previous and upcoming issues promptly.
Otherwise, technical debt can cause you to work for months or years to fix those issues.
Truth #10 Not Every Meeting Is Essential
CTOs and other senior executives have to attend countless meetings. You will consider yourself lucky if you have fewer meetings lined up for the day. At the end of the day, you may even realize that not every meeting is important to conduct.
Yes, keeping everyone in the loop about ongoing progress and fallbacks is great. But, if you think that everything can be summed up through emails and chats, then it's still not a bad idea.
We all know that “Time is Money.” However, CTOs should keep regular meetings by keeping the focus on certain topics to avoid spending unnecessary time.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that CTOs play a significant role that extends beyond the technical issues of application deployment and coding. It can be sometimes tough to maintain a sanity in difficult situations.
Hence, learning the above truths about software development can help you navigate your ideas and efforts through major hurdles. In conclusion, you can now revolutionize your strategies to become unbeatable from your competitors.