The technical team I manage now has just over 100 people. The team includes frontend developers, backend developers, testers, operations & DBAs, along with some client-side and AI engineers. The team used to have over 150 members, but after some layoffs, and with several people leaving during the peak "job-hopping season" in March and April, we’re down to just over 100. I have divided the team into 7 groups, each with a team leader, and the team leaders report to me.
How do I manage a technical team of over 100 people? I have gradually built up my management skills, starting from teams of 3, 5 people, then to 10+, 20+, and eventually teams of dozens.
Self-evaluation: I wouldn’t say my team is managed perfectly, but it’s going well. The atmosphere in the team is quite harmonious, and the team members are stable, especially the core colleagues, whose turnover rate is very low. As they say, "Working with me may not pay as much as at a big company, but it’s pretty comfortable." This is true. Our company’s salary can’t compete with the big players, and some of my colleagues are very skilled and could easily find positions in larger companies. The way I manage the team has been developed over time, and I can say it's self-taught, a bit of a "wild" approach.
Delegating Responsibility, Authority, and Accountability
The first and most important point is: delegating responsibility, authority, and accountability to the team leaders. I trust my team leaders a lot, and I don’t interfere with their work, nor do I micromanage. They have years of experience and strengths of their own, and I don’t feel I am any better than them. If I don’t need to get involved, I won’t. Every person has their own management style, and there’s no need to impose my style on the team leaders. Let them work in their own way. If the job gets done well, that’s what matters. I focus more on the result than the process because all roads lead to Rome.
In our team, the majority of the work scheduling is done by the team leaders; monthly and annual performance reviews for team members are also done by the team leaders; salary raises are decided by them as well. Once they’ve decided, I generally don’t make adjustments because the team leaders know their members better.
When it comes to hiring, the team leaders handle the initial rounds of interviews and make decisions on whether candidates are suitable. I take responsibility for the final round of interviews, mainly to give them a final check. It’s all very simple because of trust.
Managing the Big Picture
Delegating responsibility doesn’t mean I’m a hands-off manager. The key tasks are still my responsibility, and I work alongside the team leaders to complete them, such as major version upgrades, updates to technical frameworks, project refactoring, failure monitoring, and postmortems.
I also help team leaders with more peripheral tasks. For example, I frequently ask them if they’re facing any difficulties or have any needs. This way, when I communicate with the CEO or other departments, I can represent the team and try to secure better opportunities for them.
For example, recently the team leaders raised the issue that they hoped to increase salaries for the team to reduce the risk of turnover. My role is to discuss this with the CEO and HR to fight for the salary increases. Similarly, at the beginning of the year, when the company set KPIs, I took the lead in defining them. After that, I worked with the team leaders to break down the KPIs for each group, ensuring that everyone stays focused while leaving room for them to perform.
Getting to Know Your Team
The foundation of delegating responsibility is trust, and the basis of trust is understanding your colleagues. How do you get to know your team members? Let me share an example from when our department merged with another team of about 10 people. The first thing I did was create a table with their names, education, work experience, tenure, past performance, promotion history, technical expertise, salary, etc. With this information, I had a clearer understanding of each person. Later on, I made an effort to communicate more with them, learning about them more thoroughly, so I could identify those who were eager to grow and take on more responsibility.
Becoming Friends with Your Team
"Getting to know your colleagues" sounds simple, but it’s not that easy to do well. Our team now has over 100 members, and I can call each of them by name. It’s not because we’ve worked together for a long time, but even with new people, I make an effort to remember their names.
Why is remembering names so important? Let me give you an example. In the past, I had a boss who was two levels above me, and we didn’t interact much. One time, out of the blue, he called me by my name, and I felt really good about it. It made me think, "Wow, the boss knows my name!" That made a huge impact on me.
As a manager, calling your colleagues by name when you see them, whether casually or in work interactions, makes you seem more approachable. I also believe that we are all here together for a reason, and I hope to form friendships with everyone. Having a deeper connection beyond just coworkers can make things easier in the future. The tech world may seem small, but you never know who might help you later, or even become a colleague again. Having more friends along the way can only make the road ahead smoother.
Project Launches
At our company, project launches are usually done late at night. With such a large team and many projects, we have new launches almost every Tuesday and Thursday. Technically, I don’t need to be at the office when the team is launching a project. But in practice, I make sure to be there with them. I don’t interfere with the process, I just quietly accompany them. The reason I do this is that if a problem arises during the launch and a decision needs to be made quickly, I need to be there.
If an issue occurs, do we troubleshoot and resolve the problem, or do we roll back? I’m the one who needs to make that decision. By being on-site with the team, I get a more comprehensive and timely flow of information, which helps me make decisions more quickly. Additionally, by being present, the team feels more secure, knowing they have someone to rely on. No matter how urgent the issue, I remain calm and composed, because if I panic, everyone else will too. When that happens, decisions could be made in haste and mistakes could follow.
Leading without Anger
I have a close relationship with my colleagues, largely because I rarely lose my temper. In fact, I haven’t raised my voice or slammed a table in the office for years.
Many years ago, I watched a film where the actor Simon Yam played the leader of a gang. Others commented that his character had an aura of "leading without anger," which left a deep impression on me. I found that very cool and hoped to emulate it. I want to be the kind of leader whose authority doesn’t come from anger or aggression.
No Need for a High and Mighty Attitude
I don’t put on any airs in the team. I work alongside everyone in an open office space. The first rule I set for the team is: don’t address me as "Sir," just call me by my name. No need to call me "Boss" or "Manager," just my name will do. We’re all colleagues, and there’s no need to act superior.
Be Honest
If you want your colleagues to treat you like a friend, you need to make the first move and open up to them. I’ve told my core team members: "If you ever consider leaving the company, please let me know 2-3 months in advance. The earlier you tell me, the better. I want to try to retain you and address any dissatisfaction you may have, whether it's about salary, work pressure, or something else. If the request is reasonable, I’ll do my best to solve it. After all, you are a key team member, and I certainly don’t want you to leave. If you decide to go, just give me enough time to arrange for a handover. Although we always say we should have backups for core staff, that’s just an ideal—it’s impossible to have a backup for every key member at all times."
At first, they were skeptical, and didn’t tell me in advance when they planned to leave. Over time, they realized I wasn’t just saying things for show. If they told me early, I wouldn’t make things difficult for them, and I’d even refer them to better opportunities if possible.
Proper Tolerance
Last year, one of our systems caused a production issue that affected users. After investigating, it turned out that a DBA had made an error. The mistake resulted in a performance penalty, but I took full responsibility and only deducted money from my own salary. I could’ve deducted some from the DBA’s performance as well, but since they had been performing well overall and the mistake was a result of an overload, I decided to waive their penalty.
As a leader, you need to tolerate mistakes made by your subordinates. Everyone makes mistakes during their growth process. Additionally, when managing externally, you should protect your team members. So, when reporting the incident, I took full responsibility. However, internally, I still needed to give the DBA constructive feedback to ensure they learned from the mistake and wouldn’t repeat it.
Improving Leadership
Whether it’s handling projects or managing a team, I always strive to keep all stakeholders satisfied. I try my best to ensure that my leaders, boss, team leaders, and colleagues are all happy. The methods I use to manage my team are simple; there’s no complex strategy or secret. I treat everyone with genuine care and sincerity. Over time, people can feel whether or not you’re being sincere. When you treat people sincerely, they will treat you the same way.
I’m especially against those who use their teams as stepping stones for personal career advancement. These people often pump up their teams with motivational speeches, pushing everyone to work overtime to achieve results so that they themselves can climb the career ladder.
I believe a manager should focus on improving their leadership skills rather than just wielding power.
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