As a software engineer, you will have learned that "naming things" will remain one of the most difficult tasks in our industry. It is, therefore, no surprise there are multiple meanings when companies use the term, "Tech Lead."

After interviewing many people playing technical leadership roles, establishing a European-wide Tech Lead training program in his last company, and training 150+ Tech Leads around the world, Patrick will share his lessons learned about what exactly a Tech Lead is, and what it takes to make the role successful. If you currently have or would like to take on a leadership role for an engineering team, come to this session to hear some practical tips that will make you a more successful Tech Lead.

Have you ever had troubles understanding a comment in a code review? Made a joke, and it fell flat with half of your teammates? Struggled to get a clear response from a teammate who’s three floors down, or on the other side of the planet? — Communication is the foundation of how we all work together. The way we communicate has an enormous impact on each of us individually, for teams and organisations. But communicating well is incredibly hard.

The great news is that communication is something all of us can always get better at, so let’s learn together, and from each other. Based on learnings from work with different engineering teams, this talk aims to inspire you to be more deliberate in how you communicate, and find better ways to hear others, and be heard. Leave this talk knowing the golden rules of emoji use, why every team should have communication guidelines, and what steps you can take to communicate more inclusively, empathically, and effectively with your teammates—and about the great effects it can have on you and your team."