Ramping Up as a TL

Stephanie Hippo

28 Feb 2024 — 5 min read

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You’re likely to switch roles, teams, or companies throughout your career, so it’s pretty common to jump into a new team where you might be hired specifically to be a leader. It can be a bit intimidating when you’re joining an established, bonded team as a new team lead. Everyone on the team has more domain-specific knowledge than you, and it’s easy to forget in the short term that you’re bringing in other skills that are vital to their success. If you’re jumping into a group as their new lead, here’s a playbook to set you up for success.

Multiple people walking or running up and down outdoor ramps. — Photo by Franzie Allen Miranda on Unsplash

Team History

I’ve had the benefit of being a long-time team member before. So when a new leader would join, whether that was a new manager, a new senior engineer, or a new program manager, I would try to run them through my 5+ years of history on the team, focusing on how our processes, strategies, and decisions came to be. What’s been tried before? Why did it work or fail?

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